The Wonder Box

I was subbing in first grade this week and came across something that sounds like so much fun... and will initiate so much learning! They have a small box, like a recipe box, one that holds index cards. On the teacher's desk there are index cards. When they wonder something or at wonderbox time, they write a question on the front of the card. Then later, when they have time, or at wonderbox time, they look in books in the classroom or go to the library, find the answer and write it on the back. Then they've found their answer, and at sharing time, share this fact with the class! It can be anything: I wonder why the sky is blue, I wonder why the sun is so bright, I wonder why there is salt in the ocean, or I wonder how big a bird eating spider gets. The catch is that they also have to note the book from which the answer came and its page number, so we see the fact.
I thought it would be fun to have a wonderbox for each of the girls this summer. They can wonder, and we can (on one of our almost daily trips to the library) seek out the answer! :)