Fierce Wonderings

What do you fiercely wonder about? What do you want the answer too? What do you want to discover?

These are some of the questions I use to kick-off my Fierce Wonderings unit in my classroom. In this unit of study students are given 100% ownership and decide what they want to learn about for the next five weeks. Students conduct research and find credible, reliable, and valid sources to help answer or solve their Fierce Wonderings. This is my favorite unit to teach in my classroom because I can see the excitement my students experience as they choose and navigate what to learn about. At the conclusion of the unit students submit a research paper detailing their Fierce Wonderings findings, present an interactive presentation to their peers, and share their research at the Fierce Wondering Exhibit.

This year I was particularly impressed with my students’ imagination and creativity as they demonstrated their learning. One group conducted a live news broadcast on the topic of women in politics. Another group wrote and performed an original song to demonstrate their Fierce Wondering discoveries. A group of boys filmed their own cooking show testing their research of why donuts have holes. I was very impressed with the group who recorded a time-lapse video using Lapse It to demonstrate fingers wrinkling in water to answer why our skin wrinkles in water. These (and many more) innovative presentations demonstrated the importance of providing students with choice when it comes to learning and their education.

In addition to presenting to their classmates, my students held a day-long exhibit to share their new knowledge with their community at the Fierce Wonderings Exhibition. At this day showcasing learning, students created “elevator pitches” to quickly relay their Fierce Wonderings and findings with students, parents, and community members who visited their booth. This was the first year we held a Fierce Wonderings Exhibition and it was a hit! Thank you to all who attended and supported our event. The students were thrilled to share their Fierce Wonderings with an authentic audience that extended past the school walls!

As I reflect back on this year’s Fierce Wonderings unit, I am inspired to continue to add choice within my lessons and units of study. I want my students to have a say in what they learn and accomplish within and outside of the classroom. When provided choice and ownership opportunities, my students exceed all expectations!

Fierce Wonderings Exhibition

Thank you to Sean Pfieffer, my former master teacher, for sharing Fierce Wonderings with me!

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