creativity

Creating Seemingly Unrelated Analogies

Want to encourage students to find unexpected connections across content? Here’s a quick framework based on the most important terms from both bits of content.

Running A Curiosity Project

Merlin Mann stated that employees’ motivation increases when they get to “build a robot” once in a while. That is, do something creative beyond regular work. Can we do this at school? Offices have “casual Fridays,” can we have “curiosity Fridays?”

Fluency: Asking For (Way) More Than One Answer

Being able to generate many possible answers is key to high-level thinking. So why don’t we ask students to do it more often?

Torrance’s Manifesto for Children

My friend Brian introduced me to Torrance’s Manifesto for Children – and I wish I had seen it decades ago!

Thinking From Anything’s Perspective

How a small change, with very little effort on the teacher’s part, leads to a delightfully complex task that can will get students thinking.

Highlighting the Messy Process Behind Beautiful Products

We’re very aware of our own messy processes, but end up comparing that with other people’s beautiful, final products. It’s a sure path to impostor syndrome, thinking you’re the only one who struggles to create.

21st Century Careers

The idea of a 21st century may sound futuristic, but we’re already more than 20% through the century! 21st century careers are already happening all around us. You just need to know where to look!

Creative Coloring Books

I recently took a trip to New York and visited the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art. In the gift shop they had a series of fantastic coloring books based on famous artists, including: Dali, Van Gogh, and Monet.

Start A Lesson With A Music Video

I love collecting intriguing images and videos – things that stop me in my tracks and pique my curiosity. I always figure that if it fascinates me, students would probably be interested also. Often, these visuals work as wonderful hooks for a lesson you need to teach.

Studying Ambiguous Sentences

This type of sentence has great possibilities for classroom application because of its two different interpretations. It’s a perfect tool to: demonstrate careful reading, showcase the need for editing while writing, and encourage creativity and divergent thinking.

An Image for Divergent Thinking Practice

I think this is an interesting way to practice our students’ divergent thinking skills. What else could this trash can’s icon represent?

Get Students Out Of Creative Ruts

Sometimes students need a little structure to force them into a more creative state of mind. Here are a few ideas for interesting writing prompts

Assessing Creativity?

Nothing’s harder than trying to figure out how to honor students’ amazing creativity without coloring their academic grades. My solution: a vote and some special certificates.

A Creative Coloring Book (For All Ages)

A few years ago, my young niece picked up interesting coloring book while we vacationed in Mammoth Lakes, CA. This is no “stay within the lines” book, however. Titled Scribbles, this book is filled with nearly 400 creative, divergent, and open-ended thinking tasks.

Beyond Checkers

Even the simplest game takes on interesting new twists when we alter the rules a bit. Let’s look at ways our students can modify checkers and turn this children’s game into something new to explore.

Creating In Science

It’s easy for science instruction to linger in the bowels of Bloom’s Taxonomy as we try to cram everything into the tiny time allotted. However, isolated facts don’t inspire our students. Let’s set up units that invoke creativity but demand knowledge.

Building Creative Confidence

Let’s tackle Torrence’s specific elements of creativity and build up students’ confidence in their creativity through vocabulary games, drawing games, and the alternative uses task.

Multiple Perspectives: Right And Wrong At The Same Time?

It’s essential to teach our students to think flexibly and consider multiple points of view. Flexible thinking leads to product innovation, diplomacy between nations, and advances in science. School, however, often encourages students to settle into a “one right answer” mindset.

What If Another Creator Created A Creation?

I came across these drawings by Adam Watson. They’re scenes and characters from Star Wars, remade in the style of Dr. Seuss. What a fascinating way to extend a typical writing assignment: ask students to recreate a story as if it were created by another author.

Symbolism and Pixel Art

Symbolism, a mainstay of literature discussion, seems too abstract and ephemeral to teach to younger students. However, with a well-constructed lesson, students will quickly get the hang of symbolic representation. We’ll finish this unit up with some great pixel-art and computer painting.

Do More With “Story Structure”

This week, we’re tackling the comprehension skill “story structure” featured in the Houghton Mifflin reading program. It’s absolute nuts and bolts (identify setting, character, and plot) and is part of the reading program beginning in Kindergarten. A quick pre-assessment verifies that my sixth graders have a thorough understanding of this material.

Beyond Chess: Go, Shatranj, and Xiangqi

Advanced learners and chess go hand in hand. In the past, I’ve used chess to introduce systems, introduce depth and complexity, and discuss paradoxes. However, since so many of my students understand the basics of chess, I decided to expose them to some chess-like games from other cultures.

Lunar Survival Skills

We’re supposed to rank fifteen items according to usefulness if we were stranded on the light-side of the moon. The items range from pistols to powdered milk. Some seem useful, but are actually worthless while others seem unnecessary on earth, but are actually vital when stuck on the moon. However, the structure of the activity as a website is not optimal. Let’s improve this and make it an awesome problem–solving exercise for our class.

From Silent Reading To Creating Art

I’ve been continuing the idea to explore classic music during silent reaing, and incorporated Gustav Holsts’ “The Planets.” My students, who have an affinity for memorizing gods and goddesses, took a special interest in this idea. I figured, let’s see how far their interests will take us?

Ask Creative Questions

Is this the message I want to give to my gifted students? “Follow the directions?” This is a room full of students who are creative, flexible, divergent thinkers. These are the future Noble Laureates, inventors, and revolutionaries. Let’s allow them (or better yet: force them) to exercise their creative muscles.

3D Character Analysis: Gardner, Kaplan, and Kohlberg

As we review for midyear tests, my students are working in groups to analyze eight characters from any story from this years’ readings. I’ve given them three dimensions to use when looking at each character. Each dimension is based on concepts created by three different researchers: Howard Gardner, Lawrence Kohlberg, and Sandra Kaplan.

Beyond The Book Report

I began to list all the things I could do after reading a book. Then, something wonderful happened. I began having all kinds of neat, interesting ideas. The more I thought about it, the more ideas came. By Erika Saunders.

Books for Teaching Thinking

We teach our gifted students to solve math problems, write fantastic essays, and read above grade level, but do we teach them to think? Edward Debono believes that thinking should be taught as a discrete subject. As I start the new school year, I’ve found a few books to help me embed quick “thinking lessons” into my day. These tools make great options for extension menus or creative differentiated products.