A Place for Wonder

Although I often read books that are from younger age groups, knowing that I can adapt ideas to older grades, they are typically k-5 books. The last time (maybe even the only time) I remember reading a book targeted at the primary grades was because it was a required text for my reading endorsement coursework a couple of years ago. However, when I saw information about Georgia Heard and Jennifer McDonough's new book, A Place for Wonder: Reading and Writing Nonfiction in the Primary Grades, my interest was piqued.

I loved Georgia Heard's Awakening the Heart, and my students just finished making their own heart maps. I was eager to read more from her. Also, my oldest daughter is in first grade now, so I thought it would be fun to see insights into her literacy learning and stage of development. The book gave me plenty of inspiring ideas on how I can continue to foster and nurture the curiosity that is characteristic of my daughter's age.

In addition, I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of ideas that would also positively impact my 6th and 7th graders. My margins are filled with notes intermixing ideas to use with my daughter and with my students. At home I now have fresh ideas on how to connect literacy and her love of nature. Each spring birds come to build nests in our porch, and we have always watched with curiosity as a family as the bird prepares, takes care of her babies, and when they are ready to fly off on their own. The nest is right in front of a big window in our door which can serve as a perfect observation window. In addition, she loves to look outside the front window to see animals such as squirrels. At school this quarter we will be working more on developing ideas. Last quarter we talked about the benefits of using sensory details but it is an area where my students could use more support. So many of the activities in the book will help foster this sense of tuning in to the senses as well as everyday details.

In addition, the book sparked more ideas on helping students develop research writing and the sense of wonder reminded me of Cris Tovani's lessons about wonder from her book I Read It But I Don't Get It. This led me to think about how the elements of wonder in Heard's book could also benefit reading comprehension.

I am excited to see the endless possibilities that Heard & McDonough's book offer with my daughter and students. I also look forward to sharing the book with my daughter's teacher, as I can imagine that she would be excited to see the ideas specifically targeted to her class. They ideas match the philosophy of our school and I can picture them being seemlessly integrated into her classroom set-up.