4 Strategies to Create a Curious Classroom

“Wait, if you say clouds weigh a million pounds, then how can they just float in the sky?” one student asked, looking out the classroom window. “And if they’re so heavy, how can airplanes fly right through them?” Suddenly, 20 hands went up. Curiosity took over, and the classroom became a lab of ideas.

I can always tell when authentic learning is happening. It’s not the neat rows of desks—it’s the sound. Students are debating, connecting, and building explanations without fear of being wrong.

In today’s information-rich world, students need more than access to facts. They need sensemaking skills that are core to reasoning about our complex world. Sensemaking isn’t just about building explanations—it’s about figuring out how those explanations fit with what we observe and believe about how the world works.

Strategy 1: Establishing Productive Discourse Norms

The foundation of any sensemaking classroom is creating an environment where students feel safe to share incomplete or unconventional thinking. I start with a three-pillar framework: talk that is equitable, respectful, and focused on reasoning. I engage students in defining what each pillar means to them.

When I ask, “What does it mean to have equitable discussions?” someone might offer, “Everyone gets to speak.” But I probe deeper: “Gets to or has to? How do we balance the student who always speaks with the student who needs time to think?”

This creates rich conversations about why everyone’s voice matters. Respectful talk creates space for collaborative thinking and connects to social and emotional learning. When we focus on reasoning, students practice supporting ideas with evidence.

Implementation tips 

• Start this process on day one and revisit regularly. 
• When discussions go off track, refer back to class agreements .
• Use neutral phrases like “Tell me more” or “What evidence supports that?”

Strategy 2: Using Phenomena to Spark Genuine Curiosity

Traditional science lessons start with content, then move to application. Sensemaking flips this by starting with real-world phenomena that spark questions.

Phenomena doesn’t mean huge labs or demonstrations—it can be something students are already interested in, like viral videos. One of my favorite examples is a video in which an influencer tries floating across a lake using basketballs, a refrigerator, money, pizza boxes, and a giant pumpkin. Students initially focus on the floating aspect, then someone inevitably asks, “Wait, how can something that heavy just float there?” This sparks deeper questions about weight and floating.

Students react with surprise and curiosity, making personal connections to pool noodles, summer camp rafts, toys they tried floating in the bathtub. These experiences become anchors for reasoning.

Instead of diving into formulas or vocabulary, I ask, “What does this remind you of?” This simple prompt brings lived experience into the science classroom and helps students move from surprise to structured inquiry.

Implementation tips 

• Choose phenomena that students can relate to their everyday experiences. 
• Use everyday language: “I was playing around with this and noticed something strange.”
• Position yourself as part of the learning community, not the answer keeper.

Strategy 3: Shifting Agency Through using a Poker Face

In sensemaking classrooms, teachers need to stay curious without signaling correctness. When students can’t read whether their idea is “correct,” they stay engaged in reasoning. They look to evidence and peer discussion rather than teacher validation.

During investigations, when a student shares an observation, I respond with genuine curiosity: “Interesting! What makes you think that?” This keeps other students engaged and encourages them to share their reasoning.

Implementation tips 

• Practice neutral responses: “What do others think?” or “What evidence supports that?” 
• Stay curious and engaged without signaling right or wrong. 
• Let students look to each other and evidence for validation.

Strategy 4: Building Iterative Explanations

Perhaps the most challenging shift is moving away from single “correct” answers. In sensemaking classrooms, explanations are living documents that grow and change as students gather evidence.

When we focus on getting the right answer, we shut down the natural process of wondering and reasoning. But here’s something crucial: We need to harness the power of “wrong” answers. What we traditionally call wrong answers are actually sensemaking opportunities that create a culture centered on evidence.

Remember our cloud puzzle? Students’ initial explanations start simple: “Clouds are made of water vapor, so they’re lighter.” But as they think deeper, they realize this doesn’t work. How can something weighing a million pounds be “lighter than air”?

Their explanations become more sophisticated: “We think it’s about how spread out the weight is. The cloud’s massive weight is spread across such a huge space that it can float on air currents. When a plane flies through it, it’s just moving through tiny water droplets—like walking through fog.”

The science they’re working toward is genuinely complex: density, buoyancy, atmospheric pressure. But sensemaking means truly understanding the science, not memorizing facts. When students can’t easily fit new information into existing mental models, that’s when powerful learning happens.

Students who work through this puzzle will think about clouds differently every time they see one. The next time they’re on a plane flying through clouds, they’ll understand what’s really happening. And chances are, you will too.

Implementation tips 

• Use language that encourages revision: “What would you add to that explanation now?”
• Have students track evolving explanations in science notebooks. 
• Create routines that normalize revision: “How has your thinking changed?” 
• Value “wrong answers” as stepping stones to deeper understanding.

Embrace the Mess of Sensemaking

In a world where AI can instantly deliver any fact, the ability to think through complexity becomes more valuable than ever. Students need to develop the skills to evaluate, connect, and make sense of overwhelming amounts of information.

The beautiful mess of student thinking isn’t a problem to fix. It’s the heart of learning. When we create classrooms where students think aloud, connect ideas, and build evolving explanations, we’re not just teaching science. We’re preparing them to reason through the world’s complexity.

Start small: one question, one phenomenon, one shift in how you respond. Let their voices lead. The loudest classroom in the hall might just be the one where the deepest learning lives.