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The encounter becomes the impetus for introducing text clusters and providing a rationale for middle grades teachers. Grounded in inquiry, the article asks how teachers can develop and implement text clusters to help students actively engage in imagining, wondering, questioning, and discovering, and it presents examples and instructional strategy samples.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":20,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/exam/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/using-text-clusters-to-support-student-imagining-wondering-questioning-and-discovering/576636/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/using-text-clusters-to-support-student-imagining-wondering-questioning-and-discovering/576636.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Himbo","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-09","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":19},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What inspired the article’s introduction of text clusters?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"The author’s public park playground experience with his six-year-old granddaughter became unexpected inspiration for introducing text clusters to middle grades teachers.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"What question drives the concept of text clusters in this article?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"How can middle school teachers develop and implement text clusters to help students actively engage in imagining, wondering, questioning, and discovering?",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"What does the article include to help teachers apply text clusters?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"It shares and illustrates examples of text clusters and provides samples of instructional strategies teachers can use to engage students in imagining, wondering, questioning, and discovering.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},576636,1792689074,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":19,"category_name":20,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":19,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":144,"read_time":145,"preview_page_count":4},687197100911,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/a000239b6f1da00475?x-image-process=image/resize,m_fixed,w_180,h_180&k=1785132997149421697","Current Issues in Middle Level Education  \n\n| Volume 29  Issue 1 | Article 2 |\n| --- | --- |\n| July 2025\u003Cbr>Using Text Clusters to Support Student Imagining, Wondering, Questioning, and Discovering\u003Cbr>William P. Bintz\u003Cbr>Kent State University, [wpbintz@gmail.com](wpbintz@gmail.com)\u003Cbr>Follow this and additional works at: [https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/cimle](https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/cimle)\u003Cbr> Part of the Language and Literacy Education Commons |  |\n\nRecommended Citation  \nBintz, William P. (2025) \"Using Text Clusters to Support Student Imagining, Wondering, Questioning, and Discovering,\" Current Issues in Middle Level Education: Vol. 29: Iss. 1, Article 2.  \nDOI: 10. 20429/cimle.2025.29102  \nAvailable at: [https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/cimle/vol29/iss1/2](https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/cimle/vol29/iss1/2)  \nThis best practices is brought to you for free and open access by the Active Journals at Georgia Southern Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Current Issues in Middle Level Education by an authorized administrator of Georgia Southern Commons. For more information, please [contact](contact digitalcommons@georgiasouthern.edu)[ digitalcommons@georgiasouthern.edu](contact digitalcommons@georgiasouthern.edu).  \nUsing Text Clusters to Support Student Imagining, Wondering, Questioning, and Discovering  \nCover Page Footnote  \nN/A  \nThis best practices is available in Current Issues in Middle Level Education:  \n[https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/cimle/vol29/iss1/2](https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/cimle/vol29/iss1/2)  \nUsing Text Clusters to Support Student Imagining, Wondering, Questioning, and  \nDiscovering  \nWilliam P. Bintz, Kent State University  \nAbstract  \nThis article describes an unexpected playground experience that occurred between the author, a reading educator and former middle grades teacher, and his six-year-old granddaughter. The experience became the inspiration and impetus to provide an introduction to, and a rationale for, the concept of text clusters to middle grades teachers. The concept of developing and implementing text clusters in the classroom is driven by inquiry and based on one question: How can middle school teachers develop and implement text clusters to help their students actively engage in imagining, wondering, questioning, and discovering? It shares and illustrates examples of text clusters. It also shares samples of instructional strategies teachers can use with text clusters to actively engage students in imagining, wondering, questioning, and discovering. It ends with some concluding thoughts inspired by the picturebook What We’ll Build: Plans for Our Future Together (Jeffers, 2020) .  \nKeywords: text clusters, student inquiry, instructional strategies, picturebooks  \nCuriosity is the engine that drives me.  \nSting  \nThis article uses a public park experience between the author and his six-year-old granddaughter to introduce the concept of text clusters to middle grades teachers. It shares  \nexamples of text clusters and samples of instructional strategies teachers can use with text  \nclusters to actively engage students in imagining, wondering, questioning, and discovering. It  \nshares ideas for moving forward and ends with some concluding thoughts.  \nPlayground Experience  \nRecently, my granddaughter and I visited a popular public park filled with all kinds of  \nclimbing and sliding equipment, all surrounded with small stones and black rubber mulch for  \nsafety reasons. After several rides on the swing and teeter-totter, my granddaughter said,  \n“Grandpa, let’s make a bonfire. Everything we need is right here.” I knew she meant a pretend  \nbonfire, so I said,“Ok. That sounds like fun.”  \nShe gathered different sizes of stones and placed them in a small pile.“Grandpa, these  \nstones are pieces of wood and I’m making a pile of wood for our bonfire.” Then, she grabbed  \nhandfuls of black rubber mulch and sprink","cbCaicXACwNa7mLA","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaicXACwNa7mLA","pdf",328663,18,"English","# Using Text Clusters to Support Student Imagining, Wondering, Questioning, and Discovering\n## Abstract\n## Playground Experience\n## Reflection","[{\"question\":\"What inspired the article’s introduction of text clusters?\",\"answer\":\"The author’s public park playground experience with his six-year-old granddaughter became unexpected inspiration for introducing text clusters to middle grades teachers.\"},{\"question\":\"What question drives the concept of text clusters in this article?\",\"answer\":\"How can middle school teachers develop and implement text clusters to help students actively engage in imagining, wondering, questioning, and discovering?\"},{\"question\":\"What does the article include to help teachers apply text clusters?\",\"answer\":\"It shares and illustrates examples of text clusters and provides samples of instructional strategies teachers can use to engage students in imagining, wondering, questioning, and discovering.\"}]","Using Text Clusters to Support Student Imagining, Wondering, Questioning, and Discovering | PDF",1792030140,45]