Bear Has a Story to Tell gets these students wondering.

?

I am continuing the inquiry exploration with my kindergarten students.  We've been learning about fiction and nonfiction books. We've been learning about our "Wonder Wall," the place to get answers to the things we are wondering about. I thought it might be good to model being inspired and developing wondering questions.

I read Bear Has a Story to Tell by Philip C. Stead and Erin E. Stead.  It is fun to read and explore with students.

I read the book.  We stopped and asked questions during the story and then, we reflected on it briefly at the end. I then posed this question, "What are you wondering about after reading the book?"

Here are their answers:

"What do bears eat?"

"Why do bears eat before they sleep?"

"Why do bears hibernate?"

"sleeping"

"winter"

"snow"

"snowflakes"

"leaves falling"

"What do mice do before winter?"

"What animals hibernate?"

"The busy time before winter for all the animals."

"Were bears other friends hibernating too?"

"animals"

"seasons"

"autumn"

"How things change."

"How long do animals hibernate for?"

I see four kindergarten classes.  All the wonderings were wonderful, but this group of students quickly honed in on one subject and used our wonder wall words. Interesting.

"hibernating"

"Where will bear tell his story?"

"Which animals hibernate?"

"Why do animals hibernate?"

"Where do they hibernate?"

"Why don't they go out in winter?"

"How do they hibernate?"

I had previewed the nonfiction books about bears and chosen the best for this lesson.  I talked about how I had had wondering questions as well and how I had gone to the wonder wall.  We practiced answering a few of the questions.

I really just wanted them leaving this lesson having made a connection between what they are reading and the things they are wondering about.

Given the buzz around our Wonder Wall during browsing, I'd say we are on the right track!

(I have colleagues who try to always teach with new books, but there are just some books that seem to work so well, I find them hard to let go.  This is the case with Bear Has a Story to Tell.  I used it for a second grade Lucy Calkins unit last year.  This year, it seemed the perfect way to model the process for exploring wondering questions. )