If I had to choose between fostering creativity and killing it, I'd take the former. Can you imagine a world that doesn't allow creativity?
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As I read the Transformation chapter in Sparks of Genius, I was enamored with the pictonyms, which use the letters in a word "reshaped" to make the form of the object. I've attempted it with a clock, a bee, and a shoe! I found the inspiration for the clock in my curio cabinet, and the bee and the shoe I found on a creative thinking trip through a giant box store.
I had the great epiphany this year that I could have students integrate science writing during writer's workshop. That doesn't sound so amazing, I suppose, but it really helped that I was taking an inquiry class that was focusing on using writing in science! Everyone hears about "integration" but it really doesn't seem so easy when you are dealing with all of the curriculum! It just so happened that I was beginning the teaching of pattern books during writer's workshop around that time that we were beginning our study of weather. So, without requiring it, I suggested that they write some pattern books about weather. It was a great way to show their thinking about weather. I estimate that about 70% of the class did try a weather related book at some point during the unit.A pattern book can be something like:
A is for apple. B is for ball... This is a red ball. This is a green ball. On a windy day, the wind blows. On a cloudy day, you cannot see the sun. On a snowy day... When a tornado comes, find a safe place. When a tornado comes... Now I am thinking that I could ask them to write pattern books in math, as well. Odd and even numbers, coins, pattern blocks, numbers and counting patterns, and more! I had considered having them write poetry, but they haven't been exposed to enough of it to try that until later in the year. Content Knowledge and Interdisciplinary applications: Mathematics, Informational Writing Creative Understanding: Playing with words and ideas to create new understandings. I do think that later in the year, I will open up our poetry unit to mathematical poetry as well as the sci Playing Play is a key to discovery. When we "fiddle" with things, we find out properties and capabilities of them that we didn't know before. Sparks of Genius lists three types of play, which all have their own purpose: practice play, symbolic play, and game play. Play reaches out over the other thinking tools and allows us to improve those skills as well. The intention of play is to have fun, to make and do without worrying about rules or responsibilities. A notable example from Sparks was Fleming's "microbe paintings," in which he used various bacteria to create paintings. It was noted that finding new ways to make different colors through experiments were "excuses to see what else might happen." I can really appreciate this approach. Over the last couple years, I am really focusing on using inquiry in all areas of the curriculum, so the spirit of let's try it is great! Marble Run - Body Style! Play often leads to new inventions. Just as Richard Feynman "played" with a plate wobbling on a table and discovered new things about the orbits of electrons, playtime in my classroom allows for free exploration of materials. These boys discovered they didn't have enough marble run supports to make their marble run as tall as they wanted, so they improvised and watched the marble fall faster and faster! Playing with the Castle Builders And would you believe it took about six weeks of playing before these students discovered that if they stuck the castle pieces together in notches like bricks, rather than directly on each other, their wall would stay up? Play takes time, and the satisfaction they feel now as they quickly build a different castle is amazing! Just as Alexander Calder did, these kids are inventing for the fun of it, and not to impress me, their (allknowing) teacher. Personally, I like play, but not all kinds. I like word play and board games and 2-dimensional video games. I like pretend play, but it is more difficult for me to take on roles such as princess or Barbie. (I imagine that will improve when I have children of my own to practice with regularly.) I do tend to like play that has rules, however. I am the first one to grab the directions out of the box and figure the rules out for the group. I suppose I imagine myself to be more comfortable with Charles Dodgson's (author of Alice in Wonderland, as Lewis Carroll) logical approach, with productive play. He had an internal way of going about play, staying within his own rule framework. Playing within those rules allowed him to come up with amazing things. As a kid, I remember the joy in learning pig latin and playing with my brother for hours talking back and forth. I had word search books and logic puzzle books from the time I was about eight years old, although I've never felt I had the vocabulary for crossword puzzles and envied my grandmother for her prowess with them! My husband laughs as me sometimes when I get a kick out of a new word I hear. Although I laugh as him as well, because he has the ability to add the suffix -age to a word to change the meaning. "I'm so rightage." In fact, I think our approaches to play are very different. In Sparks of Genius, the authors encourage us to play by doing things we have been trained not to do, like stomp in the mud. This is my husband - playful and ready to figure out the world. I have learned a lot from observing him in the world, and I've lightened up a little, realizing that rules weren't always made to be followed! I try to have a playful spirit with my students during the school day and be supportive of their play as well. However, the constraints of the curriculum can always be felt. In a meeting with a couple other teachers this week, we were discussing writing, and the books In Pictures and in Words and Study Driven by Katie Wood Ray. It is the embodiment of the kind of teaching we would like to do - basically students study works of writing (not chosen by the teacher) and learn from the experts. The problem with this kind of teaching is that, up until now, we are totally GLCE-driven, and, as one coworker put it, "I don't have time to let my kids discover the GLCEs!" There isn't enough time to teach them to master the GLCEs and discover them all along the way! (Again, the Common Core Standards are going to free up a lot more time for project-based and inquiry learning.) I do have a feeling that we will always be limited by time and curriculum coverage, which is why I appreciate the quote in this chapter regarding musician Charles Ives and his father's approach to play, in which he could have his "boy's fooling" time as long as there was sense in it. TransformingTransforming is a creative thinking skill that builds on imagining. This leads to new thinking, which we call transformational. Transformational thinking also often occurs by groups working together on the same problem. It goes hand in hand with play because the person or group often tried several imaginative ways of approaching the problem. I've used some transformational skills in my own daily life. Sparks of Genius discussed mnemonic devices, which people invent to help remember things. I read this book, Student Success Secrets, in junior high, and still use some of the notetaking strategies and memory devices I learned. picture and sound card from Saxon Phonics Grade 1 The authors also point out that some mnemonic devices help make abstract ideas concrete "by superimposing them on the body." This reminded me of the Tucker Signs that we use in our classroom. Each sound is assigned a sign (some are similar to American Sign Language, but they are different.) During our daily practice of learning the letters and sounds, we make the motions with our hands and the children learn to associate the sign with the sound and therefore the sound with the letter. Then, when we are reading or writing, we can use the signs to help students solidify the concepts. See the video below. Sparks of Genius also discussed transformational ideas that were difficult for me. One example in the book was the transformation of a word to syllables and then the syllables to numbers. The final transformation of the numbers into a snake eating itself was confusing to me because I think that I should be able to trace back to the original idea from the final one (although I realize that someone who is more at ease with the word and its meaning would find more "sense" in this transformation.)
I realized as I read on that my discomfort with the above is because I expect the transformational ideas to be commutative, therefore having backwards validity. Some transformations do, but it isn't required. Transformational thinking comes from the curiosity and play with content and lends itself to cross-disciplinary thinking as well. Mathematical poetry, science fiction, and the relation of music to chemistry are all examples. This is definitely one of the putting it all together kinds of thinking strategies! I've said it many times before: the SINGLE most difficult skill I teach in first grade is counting combinations of coins up to $1.00. As a first grade team, we have determined it to be our goal for the last three years, and we've purchased big magnetic money to help teach it. We've also added smartboard lessons and activities to help, and added a title 1 math paraprofessional. However, it is still the most difficult thing we teach and many student still struggle with this skill. (I have noticed that there is no sign of teaching money during 1st grade in the upcoming common core content standards, but until now it has been our curriculum so we have done our best to help students learn it.) Think about it: what do you need to know to fluently count coins together? Many abstract concepts put together at once! -the value of each coin -how to sort them and count them in order of value from highest to lowest -how to count on from a value by 25, by 10, by 5, or by 1 (in your head!) By the way, it is also very confusing for 5 and 6 year old students that a dime is physically smaller than a nickel, yet it is worth more! About four years ago, I discovered this model of teaching money, and it has helped with the teaching of coins. Students take tiles that are physically the number of square of the value, place them on a number chart, and pull them off one at a time as they count. This example would be:
Pull first quarter off: number 25 is exposed, so say "25" then the next quarter, "50" then a dime for "60", and three nickels for "65, 70, 75", and finally three pennies for "76, 77, 78." The visual representation (model) matches the counting we are asking them to do. It makes more "cents!" Dimensional ThinkingDimensional thinking consists of moving from 2-dimensional to 3-dimensional thinking, or the reverse. The ability to take information and transfer it between dimensions is important but takes practice to develop. Dimensional thinking also includes the ability to scale by proportions. Personally, I sometimes feel I got missed when someone was handing out dimensional thinking skills. I can't pack a suitcase efficiently or eyeball whether a piece of furniture will fit in the back of one of our customer's vehicles. (That was a little embarrassing!) In bets with my husband that require dimensional thinking, I lose every time! I much prefer word puzzles to physical puzzles, but I recognize that in myself and I try to make sure that I include opportunities for dimensional thinking in my classroom. Since I don't feel strong in dimensional thinking, I think I sometimes downplay its importance to others. It isn't always obvious to me. I was reminded of this when the Bernsteins, authors of Sparks of Genuis, quoted the ideas of Henry Moore, who believed that not everyone fully perceives three-dimensional objects so they don't totally appreciate sculpture or architecture. (Me!) The authors also showcased an example of a shadow sculpture, which is made of brass and projects different shadows throughout the day as part of the artistic expression. If I had seen that sculpture out and about, without knowing its purpose, I would have thought someone was overpaid for some ridiculousness! However, the shadow sculpture below just tickles me because I see something from nothing! Image credit: http://www.mendeley.com/blog/academic-features/interface-development-and-shadow-sculptures-essentially-the-same-thing/ Personally, to improve my own dimensional thinking, it would be useful to do additional reading about the ideas presented by artists and visiting exhibits. Rather than immediately writing off an odd-shaped piece of artwork, trying to find the meaning in it, much like I must ask myself to do with abstract art. Knowing that I struggle with dimensional thinking makes me more aware of then when planning for my students. My experience has shown that many of them are quite skilled at it, so here is an example of how we work with toothpicks and marshmallows to play with geometric shapes. This activity allows everyone to play and explore, and we learn from each other as we go! Another activity in my classroom is a weekly time set aside for pattern blocks. Students work at their own pace through a set of leveled cards: Yellow and Green Levels (Kindergarten): Colored shapes provided for each student to work at matching shapes and building pictures Tan Level: (1st grade)- begins with matching the blocks with no color support, then moves on to "follow the recipe" to make the shape, and finally students fill in the shapes more than once on their own, recording the different ways they filled the shape. Blue Level: Works more with more complicated shapes that students must follow the recipe. Red Level: Works with line symmetry. Orange Level: Works with rotational symmetry. The authors suggest imagining as a tool for building competency with 3-D puzzles. But not all need manipulatives. They suggest that you imaging your house upside down and what that would be like. In my class, I usually read Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, who lives in an upside down house. We have a lot of fun playing with the idea of our own houses being upside down - or even our classroom! 2 students make a green playdoh snowman Play time in our classroom affords several fun options that lead to dimensional thinking. Play-doh, legos, lincoln logs, puzzles, and more are available for students who are drawn to these types of play. ModelingModels can be very useful in learning. There are several types of models, such as: 1. representational: show physical characteristics of a real object 2. functional: capturing how something operates 3. theoretical: showing the basic concepts of a process 4. imaginary: shows something we cannot observe It should be noted that one model can actually be more than one of these types. Models are especially useful for showing things that are too fast or slow, or too big or too small to be observed, such as a model or a cell or atom. In fact, computer models are becoming even more sophisticated in medical training and others. I am looking forward to the growth of the augmented reality field, which provides models such as this one: In order to create models, the situation or form must be observed to find the right way to represent it. What are its critical features? How can it be shown not just in form , but verbally or artistically? To create a model, one must understand the subject very deeply.
I connected with the section of the book that discussed how writers can model their work after the work of others. If there is a problem to be solved, they suggested we do as Igor Stravinsky suggested, to find someone who had solved that problem and modify it to achieve our own goals. I've done this often. I remember being taught the 5 paragraph model of writing, and while I cringe at the thought of cookie cutter writing, using that principle often helps me as I write or even prepare for a presentation. And modeling my web work after others has often been the same; if I have a problem, I google it and find someone's code to tweak to fit my own situation. In my classroom, we use models to teach content in all subjects. In writing, we examine the craft of others and attempt to do similar things in our own writing. In math, we use base 10 blocks, pattern blocks, dice, and all manner of objects to practice and show our thinking. In science, we keep referring back to our book "You are a Scientist" as we are inquiring about our topics so that we are modeling our behaviors after real scientists. These are just a few examples, and I have always seen that connecting the model to our work has great impact on our learning. Personally, I think I will always enjoy models. As a professional, I try to model my teaching after the experts I am following (on twitter, these days!) and as a teacher, I bring models into my teaching whenever it seems to fit! Every year, we hatch chicks in our classroom. A literary connection we make is to the folk tale of the Little Red Hen. I own several versions, and they never seem to have the same characters, so I combined some of my favorites: the duck, the dog, and the pig. Enjoy! P.S. I think I need a lesson in focusing with my camera, or a new camera!!. A few of the shots are a little blurry, but I really did my best! I teach a procedure for adding (just one of many) that involves movement and thinking.
Sample problem: 14+4=__ Step 1: Touch your head as you put the big number in your head. Become the bigger number! If you were 14 and you were going to add some more to yourself, what would you do? Step 2: Now count on by the smaller number to find the answer. |