Developing curious kids is easier with these creative, high-interest Curiosities task cards.
Part of teaching kids to learn is really about teaching kids to think. Not to be simply happy with what they’re told, but to wonder about what is and what could be.
We are developing curious kids.
Developing curious kids doesn’t just happen. A child’s curiosity must be regularly tended and encouraged to grow.
Curiosity leads to wonder, invention, and creation. Curious kids learn about something new and then continue to explore the topic, try out new activities, taste new foods, and go on adventures.
Encouraging Curiosity in Schools
As teachers, we have been taught methods that lead to increased curiosity.
- We ask students open-ended questions and encourage them to hypothesize based on observations or to research in an effort to find an answer.
- We ask students ‘unanswerable’ questions, hoping they will review the evidence and come up with their own conclusion.
- We give students problems hoping that they might find a solution we have not yet considered.
- We encourage our students to not just learn about a new topic, letter, or word, we ask them to draw what they think something would look like, talk about other places they’ve heard that letter sound, and encourage them to write the word without even knowing how it is ‘supposed’ to be spelled.
Our efforts to tend the curiosity and creativity of our students are ongoing.
Perhaps one of the greatest ways to encourage curiosity and wonder in children is in the form of time.
We work diligently to give students the time and space to consider the world around them and ask questions. We provide the time to consider how things work or how something is made.
We look for moments when we can implore our students to dive deeply into a topic, and we do our best to stand back and let them explore without our input or help. We know they need the time to explore (hard as it might be to keep our mouths shut sometimes).
Some classrooms and schools are better at fostering curiosity than others with plenty of space, manipulatives, creative tools and resources, and access to the outside.
Unfortunately, we don’t all have access to ‘explorable’ spaces or opportunities to observe outside the classroom, so sometimes we have to bring high-interest topics into the classroom to play with and wonder about.
Curiosities: high interest task cards for enrichment
In an effort to increase opportunities for curious kids to question, consider, and explore in the classroom, we have developed a whole new series of resources focused on some of the most high-interest and intriguing topics we could come up with.
Curiosities, is a resource series designed specifically for students who are curious thinkers, seeking enrichment opportunities beyond the curriculum. The tasks are appropriate for gifted learners, as well as high achievers who would benefit from an independent challenge.
The full Curiosities bundle includes 6 different topics for students to explore including: Bigfoot, Aliens, the Loch Ness Monster, Shipwrecks, Robots, and Natural Disasters. Each set of tasks can be purchased on its own or as a part of the larger bundle.
Each set includes activities based on a central theme, with tasks that require critical and creative thinking. Students will be asked to analyze information, construct unique ideas, and consider new perspectives.
Each set includes 20 integrated task cards that involve language arts (reading, writing, speaking & listening), math, science, social studies, and artistic expression.
What’s Included:
- A Reading Passage
- 20 Themed Task Cards (full color graphics)
- Printer-Friendly Task Cards (black/white version)
- Curiosity Passport (use it to manage the tasks)
- Curiosity Station Sign (use it to set up a learning station)
- Theme-based Tasks Sign (for display purposes)
- Theme-based Journal Cover (color and black/white version)
Suggestions for Use
This task-card based series can be used in so many different ways. You can set up the materials as a learning station for early finishers, prepare a special folder for your gifted students, use them as part of a theme week, or use them with individual students or pull-out groups. If you have a series you’re working on, these tasks are also easily added to a sub plan.
In addition to exploring the topics in each set, students will also be practicing a variety of skills including reading, writing, and math, so you may even be able to use some of the activities as a formative assessment or checkpoint.
Having enrichment activities available for students that allow them to dive into high-interest topics is important to developing a learning environment that encourages students to engage in deep thinking and creating. These Curiosities are designed to give students time to wonder about some of our world’s greatest mysteries and most intriguing topics. We hope you enjoy them as much as we do!
What Others are Saying about Curiosities…
My students LOVE this. They are motivated to complete work so they have time to work on this independent project. The variety of tasks is wonderful.
Lisa M.
This worked well during MTSS for extension for the students who needed enrichment during that time. These activities lent themselves to additional enrichment activities through writing, research, and podcasts as well. Thank you!
Jennifer M.
