Phase 2 - Wonder

The wonder phase is about ponder the BIG questions - those questions that often have no easy answers or no answers at all. We want to take all we've noticed about the people and places around us and focus in on broad how, why, where, when, and who questions.

Giving students a choice on how they find these questions is important. Depending on the age group and time constraints, asking students to chose one or two of these to try is a good plan.

Option #1 - Journaling

Some students really do well with more open journaling exercises. For these students, a simple prompt is all that is needed or desired. 

Sample prompts include:

• What do you wonder most about the people who live in this neighborhood?

• What do you wonder most about the people who work in this neighborhood?

• What do you wonder most about the businesses in this neighborhood?

• What do you wonder most about the geography of this neighborhood?

Option #2 - Question Mapping

This visual organizer helps organize observations and channel them into a big question. The triangles hold the results of your observations. The rectangle is where you make your question

Option #3 - Window Visualization

In this activity you focus on a specific window, in a specific building, in the neighborhood. It asks the students to imagine the life happening through that window based on the observations they've made. This approach requires imagining a life that might be - like creating a character.

Option #4 - Daily Schedule Activity

This activity asks students to think about one individual they've observed in the neighbor and imagine what a day in their life might be like. This approach requires imagining a life that might be - like creating a character.

Once each individual has formed one or more "I wonder..." questions have the individuals share these and collect them in a place where they can be seen by all. 

Then have the individuals pair up a write a question one of their characters could/might ask at a district/town meeting.

These will inform the work to be done in Phase 3.