A Place for Wonder

Making Space for Curiosity in the Elementary Classroom
2 ed
ISBN: 978-1-032-90973-8
Verlag: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Buch, Englisch, 190 Seiten

In A Place for Wonder, Georgia Heard and Jennifer McDonough share how to create “a landscape of wonder,” an elementary classroom where curiosity, creativity, and exploration are encouraged. For it is these characteristics, the authors write, that develop intelligent, inquiring, life-long learners.

But in a time of increasing standardization and mandated curriculum, what spaces still remain in schools for children’s ideas, questions and curiosity? The first edition of the best-selling A Place for Wonder introduced readers to a set of small, but powerful practices that opened up endless possibilities for children’s creativity and curiosity in the classroom. Now, in this second edition, Heard and McDonough expand and update their ideas across the elementary curriculum, sharing engaging and accessible ways to bring wonder to every part of the school day.

In this book teachers will learn strategies for teaching in ways that align with both the standards and curriculum we teach and center children’s questions and creativity. The authors share powerful and practical examples for doing this work in classrooms including:

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Setting up wonder centers, discovery tables, and observation windows to engage children from the moment they walk into the classroom each morning

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Centering children’s curiosity in writing through wonder journals, wonder poems, wonder book clubs, and nonfiction wonder writing

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Using outdoor spaces to create simple, but engaging connections with nature including the one small square activity and listening walks

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Connecting with families and the community to support inquiry and curiosity in the classroom and beyond

In this second edition, Heard and McDonough expand their focus from nonfiction reading and writing to include practical, engaging and inspiring ways teachers can center curiosity and wonder in the areas of science, social studies, math, and social emotional learning.

A Place for Wonder will help teachers reclaim their classrooms as a place where true learning is the norm.

Zielgruppe

Professional Practice & Development

Autoren/Hrsg.

Heard, Georgia

McDonough, Jennifer

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1. Why Wonder Matters: The Science of Wonder 2. Creating a Classroom of Wonder: Spaces, Centers, and Moments 3. Wonder in Language Arts 4. Finding Wonder Across the Curriculum

Über Autor(innen)

Georgia Heard has taught writing and poetry for over 25 years in urban, rural, and international classrooms. She was the 2023 recipient of NCTE’s prestigious Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children. Her numerous other books for teachers include Heart Maps, The Revision Toolbox, and Finding the Heart of Nonfiction. Georgia Heard received her M.F.A. in poetry from Columbia University and was a founding member of the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project.

Jen McDonough has been a kindergarten, first grade, fourth grade and seventh grade teacher and, more recently, a literacy coach for the last twenty-four years. She is the co-author of A Place for Wonder: Reading and Writing Nonfiction in the Primary Grades with Georgia Heard and the co-author of Conferring with Young Writers: What to Do When You Don't Know What to Do, both published by Stenhouse Publishers. Jen presents to teachers and schools on reading and writing topics and is currently the Lower School Director at The Pine School in Hobe Sound, Florida.