Noticing and Wondering Routine: Unleash the Power of Observation-Part 2
Modeling Routines
In my last post Noticing and Wonderings: Unleash the Power or Observation-Part 1, I challenged you to apply the “Noticing and Wondering Routine” to Genesis 1. To model what I meant, I did the exercise too, and here are my results:
I must have read Genesis 1 over 50+ times in my lifetime, yet because of the “Noticing and Wondering Routine,” new things jumped out at me! And what crazy things I noticed!
I may not have any answers yet, but just reading the text closely with a fresh perspective gave me a better understanding of the text and increased my awe in the magnificence of God. Additionally, it makes me want to study the Bible more! I kept postponing bedtime last night trying to Google the answers to some of my wonderings. 😊
Now What?
So now that you have all these noticing and wonderings what are you supposed to do with them? The first step is to decide which noticings and wonderings are most important for your goal. You may choose one or several to explore. You can also spend time making connections to other passages in Scripture, other subject areas, or your own personal life.
We, as a blog, are going to explore the following question in the next post: Why did God decide to start the Bible by identifying himself as Elohim?
It’s important to note, that God will not show you all the answers to your noticings/wonderings right away. Some will take years for him to show you, and you may not get answers to others until you get to heaven. Remember, it’s about the journey to know Him better. We can never fully know an infinite God in our finite world!
Bible Study/Small Group Tip
How many times have you sat in a small group and awkward silence prevails as nobody talks? Or the leader just asks closed questions, so people only speak up reluctantly and conversation doesn’t flow? Whether you are a participant or a leader, you can interject noticing and wondering language, and it will immediately start opening up conversation in a non-threatening way, thereby edifying everyone in the discussion.
Math Classroom Tip
Use a picture, a story problem, a 3-act task, or a numberless word problem, and have students implement the Noticing and Wondering Routine. After implementing the routine, have students restate the problem in their own words. If there is no question stated in the problem, have students formulate one (extremely useful for statistics lessons). If there is a question stated in the problem, have students decide which information is important, and have them come up with some strategies to begin problem solving. You may also want to draw attention to any patterns that are evident.
The Noticing & Wondering Routine is a great tool for implementing the following Standards of Mathematical Practice:
- S.MP.1: Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.
- S.MP.7: Look for and make use of structure.
For more details on how to implement this routine in a math classroom, read The Math Forum at NCTM’s Beginning to Problem Solve with “I Notice, I Wonder” or some of the other resources posted on my Teaching Routines page.
Art Classroom Tip
Have students look at an image, a piece of nature, or read a story and have them do the Noticing and Wondering Routine. Afterwards, tell them to bring their noticings and wonderings to life. Since art is about visual communication, let students decide which noticings/wonderings they want to communicate. Maybe they will need to research farther to illustrate a truth, or maybe they will just want to create something that provokes the noticing/wondering? Depending on the age of the student, you may want to determine which materials they use or what constraints to give them.
Science Classroom Tip
Give students similar but slightly different objects or photographs to examine that are related to the day’s topic. Then implement the Noticing and Wondering Routine. This routine moves students from the Engage aspect to the Explore aspect of the 5E Learning Cycle.
After collecting their noticings/wonderings, students can sort their observations into categories: testable with classroom technology, researchable, or non-testable. Then have students pick a noticing/wondering to continue to explore from the testable or researchable categories. For more details on how to implement this routine in a science classroom, use the Beetles at the Lawrence Hall of Science’s I Notice, I Wonder, It Reminds Me Of document.
The Noticing and Wondering Routine also aligns to the Science and Engineering Practice #1: Asking questions (for science) and defining problems (for engineering).
See page 4 of Appendix F: Science and Engineering Practices in the NGSS to see the level of questioning appropriate for your students’ grade level band.
Coming Soon
In the next post, we will discuss the wondering: Why did God decide to start the Bible by identifying himself as Elohim?
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