For the past four years, our school community has started with a Community Read. This shared experience has every student, teacher, and staff member read the same book to connect everyone across all grades. Our past book choices have included Potato Pants! by Laurie Keller, Amy Wu and the Perfect Bao by Kat Zhang, and Boxitects by Kim Smith.

This year, we focused on the power of curiosity. Together, we explored asking questions and noticing the world around us using the book The World Needs the Wonder You See by Joanna Gaines. Below is the step-by-step plan we used to bring this book to life. 

Forming a Committee

Since the Community Read is a school-wide program, I asked for volunteers, and a group of five faculty members agreed to be a part of the committee.  Our main goal was to determine the best activities for students from preschool through third grade. We met over the summer to create our plan, which was later shared at our back-to-school meetings in August.

Our main focus was on creating a school-wide Learning Wall. This felt like a natural fit because several of our faculty members had participated in a professional development book club over the summer, reading the book Evidence of Inquiry: Exploring, Questioning, and Documenting with Learning Wall by Jessica Vance. 

Pre-Reading

Our Community Read program took place over three weeks, beginning in the third week of school. This timing allowed teachers and students to settle into classroom routines before introducing something new. 

Learning Wall Question

To spark curiosity, students were invited to reflect on the question: “What does wonder mean to you?” Each grade level received a different colored paper leaf and wrote their responses on it. The leaves were then displayed on a large tree on our school-wide Learning Wall, located in the hallway across from the library.  For preschool, they did one or two class leaves.  For kindergarteners, students wrote one word or drew a picture on their leaves. 

Wonder Bags

Wonder Bags were introduced and shared among classrooms. There were three sets of three bags:

  • One set for Preschool and Junior Kindergarten
  • One set for Kindergarten and First Grade
  • One set for Second and Third Grade

Each bag contained an unusual object. Classes brainstormed what the object might be used for and recorded their ideas on a paper inside the bag before passing it along to another class. Over the three weeks, each group had the opportunity to explore all three bags. When the bags were returned to the library, the objects and written ideas were added to the Learning Wall.

See, Think, Wonder Pictures

We promoted observation using a set of photographs. These images were paired with the prompts “I See,” “I Think,” and “I Wonder,” and placed around the building for classes to discuss as they walked by. These visual prompts were changed each week during the Community Read to encourage new observations.

Week #2

One of the goals of a Learning Wall is to make connections between ideas. After the leaves were added, I used two different colors of string to link those that shared common themes. This visual web helped students see how their ideas were part of something larger.

Teachers read and discussed The World Needs the Wonder You See with their classes. After reading, students reflected on the story and recorded their thoughts on notecards, which were placed in the “grass” at the bottom of the Learning Wall.

Classes also went on a Wonder Walk. As students explored, teachers took photos of the things that they were curious about. These pictures were printed, and the class wonderings were written on cloud-shaped die-cuts. These photos and questions were then added to the Learning Wall. 

 

Week #3

During the final week, teachers were encouraged to reread The World Needs the Wonder You See and take another Wonder Walk. This time, students were given an orange square and asked to focus their curiosity on just one small thing. We called this activity One Small Square, inspired by The Teacher Bag Blog Post about developing the sense of wonder.

  • For preschool students, teachers photographed each child’s square and transcribed what the student observed.
  • Kindergarten students drew their own small square and wrote two things they noticed inside it.
  • First and second graders created drawings and used the sentence starters I think and I wonder to express their ideas.
  • Third graders drew what they saw in their small square and wrote a short paragraph describing what they wondered about it.

All of these projects were displayed outside classroom doors to show how wonder looked across the school community.

   

What is Next

This year’s holiday concert will be focused on the theme of wonder, as our music teacher weaves a story through song that celebrates curiosity and discovery. Then, in the spring, we will have a nonfiction author visit, which will allow us to continue to ask questions.  These ongoing experiences ensure that our focus on wonder continues to grow throughout the year.

Reflection

We most definitely began the year with a strong sense of wonder. By placing value on asking questions and making observations, we’ve set the stage for curiosity to continue. Some of the things students noticed and the questions they asked were nothing short of amazing. The Learning Wall was a place where students would stop to see what was shared. It was great to have one place to collect and celebrate the ideas created over the three weeks.

We realized that our plan was quite ambitious to fit into a three-week window.  Additionally, the concept of wonder proved challenging for our younger students, especially in preschool and kindergarten, so teachers had to make adjustments. This will be an important consideration when selecting a book for next year.