Running out of ideas for ways to kick start your school day?
Many schools are encouraging activities that allow more conversations among
students; hoping teachers will take a back seat or rather a vow of silence in
order to let their students weigh in on issues.
We started “Think About it Thursday” to fill this need. It
turned out to be awesome! Each Thursday, we pose a question to our students and
give everyone a small copy of the question to glue in their journal.
They always have an opinion! Some students
can’t decide between the choices so they pick both and justify why.
After writing, they insist on sharing. Some students even
like to tally the opinions of the class. If time doesn’t allow for whole group
sharing, try team share or a buddy share. Have fun!
Click here for some printables to start you off. If you come up with any good
ones, let us know!
As a kid, I remember having so many random thoughts. Things
like “I wonder what my teacher’s pajamas look like,” or “I wonder what fish do
all night.” Most of the time I made up
an answer, but sometimes I would try to find the real one. I started “I Wonder
Wednesday” with my class to reinforce creativity and inference skills.
Every Wednesday, I give my students something to wonder
about. Everyone gets a small copy of the idea to glue in their journal. We enjoy discussing our thoughts in small
groups or as a class. Some students even explore further to try to get answers
to things like, “I wonder where all the plastic bottles go,” or “I wonder how
chocolate is made.” Now our week
consists of Tell me Tuesday, I Wonder Wednesday, and Think about it Thursday.
Lots of higher order thinking going on in first grade!
Here are some of the I Wonder Wednesday printables we like to use.
