Questions

This month at school we are highlighting a book by Jon Muth called The Three Questions. In the book, a boy searches for answers to three questions: When is the most important time to do things? Who is the most important one? and What is the right thing to do?

After reading this book, only about three of four of my students were actually interested in what it had to say. The pictures are beautiful, it was just that the concepts seemed a bit over their head. So we began to have a conversation about the questions that the book asked.

Some of my students thought that they weren't the right questions to ask. Some thought the questions themselves could have been answered better. From there we began to come up with our own questions about the world and about what was important.

And so, in no certain order...these are the questions that were important to my 3rd graders:
Why is their violence around the world?
Why do parents use bad language?
Why don't people know their problems?
Why do people fight?
Why do people like candy?
Why do parents smoke?
Why don't people share?
Why don't people get along?
Why don't people love each other?
Why do people hate school?
Who IS the most important one?
How do you make a milkshake?
Where does strawberry milk come from?

From here the assignment is to write a story where the characters have to find the answers to these questions. Already, the papers are really good. I can't wait to read the finished products next week.