WBT Basics PowerUp: Wonder Words
Place a lesson, any K-12 lesson!, in a Wonder Words frame and instruction becomes a living video game. Players follow one BIG RULE: Make our dear team stronger. Your students reflect on, and follow this rule, earning points that level them up from lowly Turtle to Soaring AlphaHawk. In place of lecture, Wonder Words transforms students from PowerPoint casualties to game players shaping their own education.Millions of students suffer from brain paralysis induced by PowerPoint lessons. Want to put a class to sleep? PowerPoint ‘em.
Whole Brain Teaching to the rescue! Wonder Words gamifies PowerPoint slides.
Download NOW, for free, by clicking here.
- Pair up kids,weaker reader with a stronger reader. If necessary, have one group of three.
- Show a Wonder Words slide. Kids take turns asking questions that begin with a Wonder Word. For example, “What are the kids talking about?” “How are the two girls alike?” “How are the two girls different?”
- Walk the room encouraging students to use the gestures for the Wonder Word, capital, and question mark (one hand draws a question mark in the air followed by an “errt!” for the period). If kids are stuck, they repeat the same question. Congratulate excellent questions.
- After a minute or so, students share their questions with the class using Mirror Words.
5. Repeat the process but now students ask a Wonder Words question, their partners answer the question, and pose one of their own.
6. As the year unfolds, students answer questions with one, two, three, and eventually more sentences!
7. Reward improvement with Super Improver® stars. Use a new image daily. See the next screens for examples.
Printable WonderWord posters in English and Spanish for your board HERE
Check out this great lesson from Joanna Willis on Bar Graphs incorporating the Wonder Words template. She is using a variety of WBT strategies, which you can learn more about by clicking the menu buttons at the top of the page. If you're new to Whole Brain Teaching, focus on her use of this amazing Wonder Words template. It can be used today to immediately increase engagement in any K-12 classroom!
