Second grade students learned to tell stories to their classmates. There are few teaching activities that provide more valuable learning opportunities than storytelling. Speaking, listening, and retelling are important forms of communication. Because the storyteller can use only his words and body movements to communicate his story, he must improvise and be creative.
Story from: 2005 Martha Hamilton and Mitch Weiss, Children Tell Stories:Teaching and Using Storytelling in the Classroom, Richard C. Owen Publishers, www.rcowen.com. All rights reserved.
In the book Charlotte’s Web, Charlotte (the spider) writes words that describe Wilbur (the pig) in her web. These words or phrases describe him and help to save his life. Now, Wilbur wants to find a word or phrase to describe his best friend, Charlotte. Assignment: First, each student brainstormed good ideas for this message. Then, he selected the best idea. Finally, he found a way for Wilbur to present this word or phrase to Charlotte, using resources/materials found in the barn. Below are examples of student illustrations:
In the novel Charlotte’s Web, Avery Arable tries to knock Charlotte, the spider, into a box with a stick. Just as he reaches up toward her web, he loses his balance, falls over Wilbur’s (the pig) trough. A rotten goose egg, which has been placed under the trough by Templeton, the rat, explodes and emits a horrible smell. The smell drives Avery out of the barn, and Charlotte is spared. Since she is working on saving Wilbur’s
life, he might also be spared.
Each student was asked to pose as a reporter from a local television station and interview Wilbur, the pig, in the Zuckerman’s barn following the “explosion” of a rotten goose egg. Students brainstormed and generated as many “fat” questions as possible and selected the one BEST question for the interview.
In our mock interview session, students: 1) played the role of an “on the scene” television reporter; 2) generated one important question that would be asked during the interview; 3) interviewed another student.
Recently, my second graders read a book entitled Who Invented Ice Cream? by Amelia Shanks. To encourage innovation and creativity, each student created a new and different ice cream flavor. Everyone began the inventive process with the vanilla flavor. Next, we brainstormed possible ingredients to add using the following divergent thinking tools:
·Fluency – Thinking of as many possibilities and ideas as we could
·Flexibility – Thinking of as many categories as possible e.g., fruit, candies, etc.
·Originality – Thinking of unusual and new ideas
We thoughtfully chose the ingredients that would comprise our new flavor keeping in mind that the ingredients would need to be combined to make one very good ice cream flavor. Thinking about how it would look, taste, etc. , we then gave our new the flavor a name. This name would describe the ice cream in a “catchy” and appealing way.
Creating an attractive, informative, and attention-getting package was the next step. We thought about what information should be included on the package. Each boy drew and created his package, trying to include all information that a potential buyer would need to know before buying it.
·Elaboration – Adding interesting details to these ideas to make them better. (Thinking of everything)
Below is a sampling of the students as they described their “invented flavors”.
I teach 2nd and 3rd grades in an elementary school that strives to prepare its students for fulfilled and productive lives. As such, we spend a great deal of time examining, reexamining, and even grappling with how to best prepare them to be and successful citizens of the 21st century. We know that proficiency in the “basics” of language arts and math skills will always be the bedrock upon which we build our educational programs. That is here to stay. However, if we really want our students to be ready for productive lives in the 21st century, there are additional areas that need to be addressed.
In his book The Global Achievement Gap: Why Even Our Best SchoolsDon’t Teach the New Survival Skills Our Children Need—And What We Can Do About It, Tony Wagner delineates seven core “survival skills” for the 21st century worker, lifelong learner, and citizen. These are:
·Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
·Collaboration Across Networks and Leading by Influence
·Agility and Adaptability
·Initiative and Entrepreneurialism
·Effective and Oral Written Communication
·Accessing and Analyzing Information
·Curiosity and Imagination
While all seven of the core survival skills are interrelated of great importance, I decided to focus on creative thinking skills. In a nutshell, here are the reasons:
·A recent analysis of almost 300,000 childrens' creativity scores conducted by Kyung Hee Kim at the College of William & Mary revealed that creativity scores in America’s children have been steadily falling since 1990. Furthermore, the decrease is most significant in children from kindergarten through 6th grade. (www.newsweek.com/2010/07/10/the-creativity-crisis.html)
·A Newsweek article (July 10, 2010) cited a recent IBM poll of 1,500 company CEO’s who identified creativity as the most important “leadership competency”. Employers are seeking employees who are able to analyze and creatively solve problems, find innovative solutions, and develop new products and services.
·Newsweek also stated that in many other countries, the nurturing of creative thinking skills is now of national importance. For example, the European Union designated 2009 as the European Year of Creativity and Innovation. In many countries around the world, problem-based learning programs are being instituted in schools. (www.newsweek.com/2010/07/10/the-creativity-crisis.html)
·Daniel Pink, in his book A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future (2005), notes that our students will need to develop abilities to be imaginative, creative, and empathetic so that they may compete in the workplace.
I am starting this blog because I see the need for our students to be creative and innovative if they are to be successful leaders in the 21st century. We, as teachers, can do a lot to foster and develop these critical and creative thinking skills in our classrooms. I’m interested in sharing information I have found and I would also like to know about the ideas and practices of others. Hopefully, those of us who intentionally encourage creative thinking in our classrooms can begin to share ideas and offer each other encouragement. I welcome your comments and/or suggestions!
