In chapter 2 of To Kill a Mocking Bird, Scout feels _______ because ________.

Just stop. Really. Stop it. It’s enabling lazy thinking, poor engagement, and boredom. I’m bored even thinking about the imaginary potential of reading 160 of those sentences.

What about these…

• I wonder…
• What if…
• Well, maybe…
• I think…
• I don’t understand…

These are sentence stems that ask students to think.  To dig into an idea.  To make visible their meanderings around a concept.  These are sentence stems that work for second grade, college, and me when I’m thinking about something.