Across grade levels, I’ve found that many students are out of practice when it comes to curiosity—especially asking strong, generative questions in school. The three ideas below, drawn from my work on authentic learning, are designed to encourage and strengthen students’ curiosity and support them in becoming engaged and inquisitive scholars and citizens.
Wonder Journals
Adapted from an activity my friend and middle school science teacher Leah Lacrosse does with her class, my students keep an ongoing journal of observations and questions about the natural world that they encounter throughout their day, both inside and outside of school. Paper journals are inexpensive to use, and digital journals can capture photos, videos, and audio recordings. Students can then use their journals as starting points for class projects.
Empathy Interviews
Borrowed from qualitative research methods, I ask students to craft thoughtful questions and then listen carefully to others’ experiences as a form of empathy interviews. For example, students might interview an expert on a topic they’re studying, a community leader who inspires them, or a classmate they might like to meet. We don’t know what we don’t know, and empathy interviews can help students break out of their bubbles to see the world from different perspectives.
Thematic Assignments
Rather than designing assignments around narrowly defined outcomes—often reinforced through worksheets, tests, and even some essays—I challenge students with a theme instead of a topic. For example, in my book Storytelling With Purpose (ISTE, 2024), I explore the theme, “In the Shadows.” Framing an assignment this way asks students to interpret the theme within the context of the curriculum, raising questions like, “What is lurking in your heart or mind that is afraid to see the light of day?” and “What remains unknown or hidden?” Thematic assignments help cultivate a classroom culture that honors students’ most poignant and courageous questions.
Whether students are asking What do I notice?, Whose perspective am I missing?, or What does this mean?, these approaches reveal how asking questions about the world around us is at the heart of learning. In doing so, they help curiosity reemerge as an intentional classroom practice.
Student Engagement
Using Student Questions to Drive Engagement
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