We are now midweek into this series of posts that feature Wonderopolis and how to use this amazing resource with middle and high school students.

On Monday, we talked about the basics of our approach in Room 407.

On Tuesday, we discussed how Wonderopolis can be utilized as a word-building, vocabulary resource that would probably dove-tail very nicely with the vocabulary program and lists that are used in the traditional middle and high school classroom.

Today, we’ll spend a little bit of time talking about how middle and high school teachers can utilize Wonderopolis as a writing resource.

First, Wonderopolis provides new text every day for students to read. Wonderopolis moves away from the 5 paragraph essay format which is a good demonstration that our non-fiction , expository responses do not need to follow a five-paragraph formula.

If you follow #WonderoplisHS, you’ll note that we often share the rhetorical mode that the wonder of the day employs. That’s right; Wonderopolis can be a free, web-based resource for introducing the rhetorical modes (or how we approach a subject).

One feature of the daily wonders I’d like to point to right way is the introduction to the wonder each day. The authors of the daily wonders do an excellent job of modeling inviting introductions to each wonder with a two-point approach: a welcome and a frame of reference. These are good models for middle and high school writers to welcome in a reader (exordium) and provide some invitation to consider background knowledge an prior experiences (narratio).

Middle and high school teachers can look to the daily wonder to see what rhetorical mode is being employed that day. While we sometimes shy away from formulaic approaches in writing, the daily wonders can be used as a sort of template for how to approach a particular question or a subject.

Two of the popular approaches I see coming out the wonders I have visited seem to be classification and definition. These are two important modes for middle and high school students to have in their toolbox as they progress through their studies.

Another feature of the daily wonder is an opportunity to write for an audience in response to the wonder called “Join the Discussion.” The National Center for Families Learning which hosts Wonderopolis assures that each post that comes in gets a welcoming and thoughtful response.

I hope that this week’s series of posts will help middle and high school teachers to see how Wonderopolis can be a part of classroom activities that serves as a resource, a support, and a model for writing.