WONDERSTRUCK Wednesdays

I’ve got a thing for alliterations, and Wonderstruck happens to be one of my all-time favorite words (both for its meaning and the way it rolls off my tongue) and so #WonderstruckWednesdays were born several years ago! This year, I was excited to roll it out TODAY with my 2nd grade students! The main goals of Wonderstruck Wednesday throughout the year are to:

-Help students develop questioning strategies and techniques to relate to texts.

-Encourage students to develop high-level thinking and questioning habits.

-Compel students to open their eyes and consider a new idea or perspective.

-Teach students to read, annotate, understand and collect information from nonfiction texts (Close reading)

-Inspire students to walk through the world and allow themselves to become WONDERSTRUCK by the magic in every moment.

Here is a brief and very adaptable synopsis of how I roll out Wonderstruck Wednesdays! Click on the links for resources & inspirations!

First: I had the students stop and wonder. I modeled this by wondering some things out loud (Why do my hiccups go away when someone scares me? How long would it take me to walk from my house in Pennsylvania to my Grandmother’s house in New York? Why does the moon look close enough to touch some nights, but other night’s it is so far away? Why don’t I like broccoli, when my husband loves it?) Amidst their giggles, they were starting to get the idea, but still having some trouble wondering on the spot. So we played a little game called “WONDER around the room”. We talked briefly about the difference between wandering around and wondering around. Wondering around the room is purposeful and intentional. The students go to a spot in the room (armed with their questioning word prompts: Who, What, When, Where, How, Why, Does, Do, Will..) and allow inspiration to strike, and write down that wonder. Perhaps a picture of an animal in the room will get them wondering about that animal etc. I tell the students to move quickly to their first chosen location and jot a wonder.

After that, the wonders came easy and the students start bustling around the room and moving their pencils across the paper almost as fast. After a few minutes we regrouped at our seats. Next, I had the students share some of their wonders and I compiled them into one big list of questions. We discuss how sometimes we are wondering something and someone else knows the answer. Other times we can look up the answer in a book, a website, or by asking an expert, and still other times, our wonders are just “brain-candy” (nom nom nom) that we can enjoy, hypothesize and theorize about (in 2nd grade language: guess, predict & infer) but we may never really know the answers.

Next, I introduce the “Wonderwall” which serves as a place in our classroom to wonder about books we have read or content we are studying, and then try to find the answers to these wonders through research or conversation. Whenever the students hear the song “Wonderwall” by Oasis (my throwback to my own “wonder years” and the music of my youth) they can jot down a wonder relating to what we are currently talking about, and post it to the wall. If ever a student feels that they know or can find the answer to a posted “Wonder” they let the class know! (this part comes later and is very exciting!!)

To demonstrate this, I shared the story “Journey” with my students. I modeled a few wonders but mostly left the story up to the students to interpret and consider. They posted their wonders on the WonderWall at the end of the story, and spent a few minutes reading each others wonders as well (For more on the exciting turn this took, when the author responded to our tweets, check out my blog on Journeys).

Later, with the stage set for questioning, exploring and wondering, I introduced my students to our main tool in Wonderstruck Wednesdays: Wonderopolis.org. Wonderopolis is a tremendous resource of kid-friendly non-fiction texts having to do with just about every topic anyone has ever wondered about. As an introduction, I chose a Wonder of the Day to display on the smartboard. We watch the intro video (included on most “Wonders”) and made a list of things we already know about this topic on our trifold. Next, we read the text together. I had the students read along as I read it aloud. In the spirit of Close Reading, the students read this text several times. They read it a second time with a partner and highlight important facts. A third time they choral read it and circle unfamiliar words. We discuss the new words as a whole group and create definitions and pictures to help with comprehension & retention. Then we identified the main idea of the text, and filled in some supporting details from the facts that they had underlined earlier. Through the course of the school year, our Wonderopolis time will evolve. Sometimes we will look specifically for Facts Vs. Opinions, Cause/Effect, Sequencing, Author’s Purpose, and any other Reading skill we happen to be studying. Also, although I will lead the students through this WonderTime in a whole group setting for now, we will eventually work towards the students searching the site independently and interacting with the text on their own with differentiated expectations/graphic organizers to complete.

How do you encourage a sense of WONDER in YOUR students?

Trifold Resource: Created by UpperGradesAreAwesome

Cause & Effect: Avoiding Comparisons & Embracing Teachable Moments

For the past six years as a 4th grade teacher, I have been intentional about learning everything there is to know about 9 & 10 year olds. In that time, I only really scratched the surface, but along the way I became a very confident and learned teacher of 4th grade students, standards and curriculum. Now, in my first year as a 2nd grade teacher, that confidence (that comes with years of trying and falling short and trying again until you finally get it right #Grit) falters and my learning curve shows as I start afresh on the quest to learn all there is to know about 6 & 7 year olds: How they tick, how they learn, what they need to know (and I daily hear this song in my head: “Started from the bottom now we’re here”) Some days it’s exciting, some days it’s humbling. Everyday (because of where I work and the students I am proud to serve) is a privilege, and so it goes.

There are aspects of switching from teaching an Intermediate grade to a Primary grade that are completely new. I rarely taught phonemes, letter formation, and consonant blends to 4th graders. That’s all new, and finding my way through new material (that I haven’t really considered since college) is interesting and exciting- like visiting a foreign country and finding your way through streets, towns, coasts, and villages that you’ve only studied in maps and seen in pictures (read: adventure..for better or worse) The part of my change that has been (at times) the most unnerving, is how much of what I’m expected to teach in 2nd grade is reminiscent of what I taught in 4th. The first couple of times that I saw a familiar concept, I got excited- Example: Main Idea & Supporting Details: I thought “YESSS finally something I know inside and out, something I have resources for and tried and true methods of teaching! Hooray for spiraling curriculum! Hooray for familiar territory!” The trouble is, that when I attempted to teach a concept to 2nd graders in the same way that I had taught it to 4th graders, I found that my confidence quickly deflated as my once stellar lesson now fell flat in the criss-crossed-applesauce laps of students I was determined to be MORE for (more than the version of me who is still figuring it all out). Ugh.

Through this, I’m gaining a deeper understanding for the concept of “fundamentals”. I’m also learning that in all adventures (life, love, career, etc) it really is true what Theodore Roosevelt said, “Comparison is the thief of joy.” If you look at something through the lens of what WAS, instead of through the lens of what IS, well then you’re not REALLY seeing what you’re looking at- and so you will miss the joy of what is while looking back at what was (Pardon me, as I wax philosophical). So this week, when I saw the recognizable concept of Cause & Effect in my curriculum, I went through the typical cycle in my head. First, a happy flutter at the familiarity in this unfamiliar territory. Then a quick spinning through the mental rolladex of successful methods I know from my experience- I pause at an old favorite, a video clip from Benjamin Button that I’ve loved and used with my fourth graders that illustrates Cause & Effect Beautifully (and by beautifully, I’m not referring to Brad Pitt, promise.) I decide quickly, that it won’t work for this grade level (as it was a stretch even for late 4th graders). I find some 2nd grade Cause/Effect resources on TPT that go with the series "If You Give A Pig A Pancake" and I saddle up for some trial and error once again.

About halfway through first period Math class, we all jump as some posters that were stored above my cabinets, come dislodged and fall to the ground. Along with them comes a life-sized cutout of the Little Old Lady who swallowed the fly, and as she hangs there dangling from my cabinet wall...it happens...educator LIGHTNING strikes! As my students complete their daily math “quick check” I scrap the plan I had and embrace the new one forming. I rush to my classroom library, on a new mission- In the 5 minutes it takes them to finish their work, I locate the books I’m looking for, find a video clip to go with it, and sneakily fill my mini super soaker up with water and hide it out of sight.

We start with the @BrainPopJr Interactive video that was part of my originally planned lesson. Then we have a discussion about Cause & Effect. I’m not deepening knowledge here, but introducing the words AND concepts to my students for the first time, and so, the pressure is on to make it memorable. We read through the books I found: giggling, reenacting and interacting with our “little old lady”. I can see the concept is starting to take root. The vocabulary (differentiating between “cause” and “effect”) is still coming along, but I can see the seed has been planted (and into very smiley soil) and this makes my teacher-heart happy!

At the end of the lesson, I pull out my little super soaker for another real-life, meaningful, connection to cause and effect, and because, well, if your job affords you the opportunity to pull out a super-soaker with purpose, you should totally do it! Throughout the rest of the day we related every single thing back to cause and effect and I could see synapses firing and dendrites growing. At the very end of the day I explained to the students that I really had another Cause/Effect lesson planned, but BECAUSE the little old lady fell from the ceiling, the EFFECT was that I got this idea to take us in a totally different direction..and sometimes magic happens that way.

Celebrating International #DotDay

Last year, I read about International Dot Day for the first time, after it had already officially passed. Inspired, I made myself a promise that THIS YEAR I was celebrating it in my classroom too! When the day snuck up on me with about 3 days to spare, I realized that I had better “make my mark” FAST and “See where it takes me!” I was so fortunate that my new team of 2nd grade teachers was excited and supportive as I shared half-formulated ideas, and the result was a dot day/ dot week that was impactful for my students and a contender for the #bestweekever ! I’m working on a vlog about it on the ChristinesScene YOUTUBE Channel, but here’s a sneak peak and recap of our learning and celebrating with Peter H. Reynolds' Book: The Dot!

Monday: We kicked off on the official International Dot Day! We started with a pod meeting for the whole 2nd grade. We shared the book via Tumblebooks, and lead a discussion about the story. In the pod meeting we focussed on how we each have our own individual mark to leave (On the world, our school, each other) but we also can add our “mark” to someone elses mark to make it something collaborative and beautiful! To solidify these metaphors, the students created their own unique coffee-filter dot (to be displayed in our pod area through the year) but they also came up to our collaborative art area to leave their “mark” on a long roll of paper. For this, the kids left thumb prints in different colors. Once everyone had left their individual mark, we asked them to come back up, and choose someone else’s mark to add artwork to. We encouraged them to build on someone else’s mark and, using their own gifts, talents, and imagination, make something different and beautiful. We discussed how we can work together as a team to make a bigger impact than we are working alone. We discussed celebrating and appreciating our differences and realizing that we ALL have something unique and important to contribute! I loved watching thumbprints become squiggles, faces, flowers, spacecraft, lions, and planets when the kids were able to build on them, and make their mark! It was a fun and uplifting experience!

Back in the classroom we used dots in our math centers, the students worked through their problems and explained their thinking in small groups. #mathchat


Later, with my own class, we went on a bit of hunt for “dots” around our classroom. We took pictures of the dots we found and talked about how each one is different while being the same “shape” and how each “dot” has a unique plan and purpose in our classroom- just like US!

Tuesday: On Tuesday, we read the story again. I asked the class, “Anything stick out to you today that didn’t yesterday?” (because I often ask this question when we read a text more than once.) The students talked about how Vashti told her classmate at the end to “put his name on it”. We talked about how every choice we make, and every action, is our way of leaving our mark. We talked about how important it is to make sure that we are PROUD enough of the things we do and say to have them framed for everyone to see, with our name at the bottom. We talked about the words we speak, the work we turn in, the way we treat others. The metaphor was really coming together. Then in reading class, we talked about character traits. The students read over and discussed a list of popular character traits. I asked them to highlight the ones they would want to be associated with. They highlighted the positive traits and then chose several that they wanted to have as their own “mark” on our school or the world. We tied this in with our discussions about the growth mindset and a list of synonyms we have in our room for “Grit”. The students wrote down their most desirable character traits on sticky-dots and then came up and posted them on our poster to show the mark they wish to leave on the world or our school community. They were each so proud of their dots, and it became very ceremonial as they each came up, announced their “mark” and clapped for one another without prompting. At the end we looked at the poster and decided that the world and our school will be even better places, once we’ve made our marks!

Wednesday: On Wednesday during our Daily 5 Centers, we had one center set up for painting- we called it the “Dotday Creativity Center”. Each student was provided with a canvas, paintbrushes and paint. They were able to paint anything they like, but leave a dot in the middle untouched. In a writing center, the students were asked to write a few sentences about the mark they wish to leave on the world, they had a wordbank of synonyms for grit to use in their sentence of “how” to recognize that leaving your mark on the world will take Perseverance, Determination, Tenacity, Moxie, Drive, Backbone, Grit :)

Thursday: On Thursday, we used our math dots again. We also continued with our Painting Center and another book discussion. We sang the “Dot Day” song, we talked about how from very far away, even our whole world is just a Pale Blue Dot! We talked about our school’s Founder, Milton Hershey, and how HIS mark on the world is still effecting kids today, long after he passed away. We wrote letters to him letting him know that we are trying to make him proud and using his gift (this school) wisely to empower us to leave our own special mark. We displayed these along side our other dots.

Friday: Our artwork was dry and it was time for us to sign our names to our canvasses. We reviewed all the activities through the week and had a little ceremony for each student to sign their name to their dot. We read the story one last time, and each student left for the weekend with a “DotWeek swag bag” full of items to remind them about “leaving their mark”! We brainstormed some ideas for our #KindnessMatters project this year and decided that together we are sure to leave a mark of Kindness on our corner of the world!


Can’t wait to keep reading about other celebrations and to start planning for next year! Please share with us how YOU celebrated DotDay this year, or how you’re making your mark in your school.

Adieu To Summer

Summer 2014 from Christine Halliday on Vimeo.

There’s just something about summer. It’s intoxicating to everyone, with the longer days that seem to give you more time with the ones you love, the warm sun and gentle breezes that call you outdoors with your dinner plate, or the book you’re reading, or a blanket and a loved one. The wedding invites start coming in, the backyard smells of smokey goodness, the streets come alive with the sounds of kids playing and laughing and memory-making. I love lakes and mountains and Green, I love sea and salt and sand, I love making dinner reservations on Tuesdays, and spur of the moment day trips on Thursdays. I love summer! I love the way the sun feels on my shoulders, I love the way kisses are saltier, freckles are more plentiful, friends stay longer, and the suitcase is hardly unpacked before you pack it up again. As much as I LOVE my job, I do love my time off to really plug in to the rest of my life for a while. I love the clean break, the gentle melancholy that always accompanies the end of a school year. I love feeling spent, like I’ve truly laid it all out and given the year, and that class all that could until the very last bell. I love the sense of renewal I feel a few weeks into vacation, when I break my rule to “stay away from school related material” and start pinning teaching ideas on pinterest, or reading educational blogs and reaching out to my colleague-friends (also known as the FRAMCO) to toss around ideas for the new school year coming. I love the freedom that summer provides me to really think through and reinvent aspects of my craft, and reflect on what works well and what needs refining.
I’ve been told that I “do summer” pretty well, and because I’m very intentional about how I spend my summers, I’m apt to agree. I have learned a lot about balance in the last decade of my life and I apply those lessons to summer as well as to the rest of the year. I allow myself the break from “work life” to accept the soul-nurturing and renewal that comes for me, when I have time with the people I love, a little adventure, some lazy mornings and freedom from commitments, and the chance to reflect on the kind of teacher that I am compared to the teacher I want to be.
At the end of each summer, I feel excited and rejuvenated, and ready for a new school year. I AM a girl who needs closure though, so just like I make a video to mark the end of each school year, before I can move on to summer, I also annually make a video compilation of my summer, to enjoy when the weather gets cold and I need to dig into the “invincible summer” within me to keep me warm and energized. What strikes and humbles me every year though, is how incredibly blessed I am to have found a job that nurtures my passion and ignites my soul so that despite incredible summers, I’m always ready and excited to begin a new school year! #LongLiveSummer and all that it stands for!

Admission...I've got Abandonment Issues, and I'm about to jump this ship!

A little over a week ago, a new teacher friend of mine (thanks to social media) encouraged me to join the (@Teach Thought Reflective Teaching) 30 day blog challenge, and I tentatively agreed. My hesitation wasn’t about the idea, the prompts or the challenge itself, as much as it was about the fact that such a challenge completely goes against an ideal I’ve developed recently about writing. I LOVE to write. I also love sharing ideas, thoughts, and generally throwing musings out into the great void that is the internet. The thing is, that after spending the last two years pursuing my Master’s Degree., I found that I started to like writing a little (just a teensie bit) less. The Catalyst? Well, it was surely because in the scope of my courses, the writing was always very controlled, contrived, and the deadlines weighed on me like the gravity on Jupiter. I just don’t like writing THAT way. I recognize that daily “challenges”, prompts, and requirements are highly motivating for many amazing writers, but I’m just not wired for it. With deadlines, and formats and citations (Oh MY!), I feel frustrated and rebellious instead of motivated and inspired . So post graduate courses, I’ve been writing A TON, on my own terms, and I’ve found my love of moving my fingers across the keyboard has been renewed… I’d like to keep it that way, and I’d like to be done forever with writing anything that doesn’t excite my spirit and stir my soul, when there are so many things that DO...like my plans for #DotDay which I have to get back to now, instead of worrying about blogging deadlines. So I will happily read the blog posts of others, and I will even answer some more of the prompts this month- but I’m not an official member of the 30 day challenge because I’m staying true to a previous challenge I gave myself, to stay true to what I know and love and to stay away from commitments that may steal my joy or burden my weeknight’s! :)

Day 10 - 30 Day Blog Post Challenge

Share five random facts about yourself.

1. When I was a little girl in New York, the great Ninja Master found me on the stoop of our brownstone, and taught me everything he knows about stealth, honor, and discipline...or at least that’s the way the bedtime story goes when I tell my kids, and though we giggle through my reenactment, I love it that they go to bed wondering if I REALLY made it all up :)
2. I’m a late bloomer as a “girlie-girl” who loves pretty things and an occasion to be “fancy” but my roots keep me loving action/superhero movies, converse sneakers & video games.
3. If I’m in a used bookstore, I can’t resist buying books that have someone elses notes and thoughts lovingly scribbled into the margins. It’s magical.
4. I have an irrational fear/anxiety of people dressed up in mascot-type costumes (a’la Chuck E. from Chuck E. Cheese)
5. I’m pretty intentional about my role as the metaphorical author of my life-story, if I don’t like the way the plot is going, I’m great at editing and getting things back on track!

Share four things from your bucket list.
1. Revisit Italy as an adult with my husband (but this time, see The Whole Boot)
2. Make Bucket lists with my children and help them start crossing things off :)
3. Take a group of students from my school on their first trip to Disney World.
4. Teacher Space Camp

Share three things that you hope for this year, as a “person” or an educator.

1. As a person, I hope to stretch myself to make the most of my “one wild and precious life”, to live wonderstruck, and walk through each day with an open mind and heart.
2. As an educator, moved to a new and vastly different grade level this year, I hope to acclimate as quickly as possible and surpass my own expectations of myself to be the kind of teacher my students deserve (Confident, Creative, Engaging, Fun, Resourceful and Gritty!) ;)
3. World Peace ( Sorry, I couldn’t resist. )
Share two things that have made you laugh or cry as an educator.
(Pictures are worth a thousand words??)

Share one thing you wish more people knew about you.

With social media, this question is becoming obsolete. There are pieces of me scattered all across the blogosphere and twitterverse but they’re all just pieces. If I want someone to know more about me, I share more :) and that’s the beauty of face-to-face!