ATER Presentation June 2016

Crea%vityintheClassroom:EmpoweringStudentstoThink

OutsidetheBox

DeniseSilfeeEnglishLanguageFellowinSudan

June2-3,2016ATERConference,Kigali,Rwanda

Let’sGetWarmedUp:ShipwreckAc%vity

MaterialsNeededforthisAc>vity:Awaytoshowstudentstheitemstheycanconsider–paperhandouts,oralistontheboard*Picturesarehelpfulforstudentstolearnvocabulary

Let’stryit!Here’sastory…

Youand3friendscanonlycarry5itemstotheislandtohelpyousurvive.

Whatitemswillyouchoose?

Makeagroupof4.Discussthe5itemsyou

willtaketotheislandandwhy.

Youwillhave8minutestodiscuss!

10m.ofrope

5litersofwater

Aboxofchocolatebars

Aboxofnails

3plas>cbags

5magazines

1mosquitonet

2forks

Asmallmirror

Alamp

Englishdic>onary

1compass

Acanofpetrol

Alifejacket

Amap

AboUleofFanta

ARerStudentsChooseTheirItems…Reflect!

•  Smallgroupscanjointomakeonelargegroupandre-nego>atewhat5itemstheywilltake.– Groupswillhavetoarguepersuasivelyfortheitemstheychose.

•  Ques>onstohelpstudentsdiscusstheac>vity:– WhochoseitemstohelpSTAYontheislandandwhochoseitemstohelpESCAPEtheisland?

– Whothoughtofacrea>vewaytouseanitem?Explainit.

– Whichitemsarebestforsurvivinglong-termontheisland?

– Whatitemsdoyouwishwereonthelistandwhy?

Whatiscrea%vity?

Whycrea%vity?

21stCenturySkills

Abilitytosolveproblemsoraddressissuesthatwecannot

imaginetoday.

Creativityà

Crea%vityandEmpowermentCrea%vethinkers…•  Willbeleadersintheircommuni%es

•  Willbeabletosolvecommunityproblemsinnewways

•  Willbeabletocollaborateorworktogetherdespitedifferences

•  Willbeabletoexpresstheirfeelingsinahealthyway

•  Willhavemoreop%onsfortheirfutures

Howcanteachersencouragecrea%vity?

•  Providestudentswith>metothink(brainstorm)andimaginepossibili>es

•  Allideasaccepted:ThereisnoBADidea!

•  Open-endedproblems/ques>onswithmorethanoneanswerornorightanswer

•  BewillingtogiveupaliUlecontrol

ExamplesofAc%vi%esthatEncourageCrea%veThinking

•  Shipwreck•  GroupPerformance•  Blackoutpoetry

•  Writeastory

GroupPerformanceMaterials:None!•  Groupsofstudentscanmakeuptheirownstories

•  Groupsofstudentscanrecreatedifferentscenesofastoryorsong

•  Groupsofstudentscanshowdifferentsocialorculturalsitua>ons

BlackoutPoetry •  Materials:

–  Newspaperorpagesofwri>ng–  Canuseoldpagesofstudentwri>ng!

•  Howto:–  Eachpersontakesapageofwri>ng

–  Underlinewordsyoulikeorwanttokeepforanyreason!(Wordslookinteres>ng,soundinteres>ng,arenewwords,haveimportantmeaning,etc.)

–  Crossoutalltheotherwords–  Readthewordsthatremain–yournewpoem!

WriteaStory…withhelp

Materials:paper,pens/pencils•  Studentstearoffsmallpieces

ofpaper.•  Tellstudentstowritewords

oneachpiece–YOUCHOOSEhowmanywordsandwhatthecategoriesare.Examples:–  Atypeofperson–  Aplace–  Anobject–  Aproblem

•  Collectalloftheslipsofpaper,mixthemtogetherinabagorcup.

•  Telleachstudenttochoose2or3or4(dependingonhowmanywordsyouhadstudentswritedown)

•  Studentsmustwriteastoryusingeachwordtheychose

Let’stryit!

•  Ripofftwosmallpiecesofpaper•  Ononesmallpieceofpaper:– WritedownanyITEM

•  Ontheothersmallpieceofpaper:– WritedownanyPLACEorLOCATION

•  Givethemtome!Iwillmixthemup.•  Nowchoosetwonewsmallpiecesofpaper•  Youmustwriteastorythatincludestheitemsonyourtwopiecesofpaper…CHALLENGE:thesetwoitemsmustbethemainpartsofthestory!

AnotherWay:DrawaStory!•  Goodfor:Studentswith

lessEnglish,youngerstudents,todemonstrateunderstandingofsomethingread

•  Crea>ve:Askstudentstothinkofastoryanddrawthemainpartsofthestoryin6pictures.

•  Summary:Askstudentstodrawthemainideasofwhattheyreadin6pictures.

Remember…

•  Crea>vitycanbeprac>cedanddeveloped•  Crea>vityrequires>meandopen-endedassignments(norightanswer)

•  Crea>vitycanbedemonstratedthroughart,wri>ng,ac>ng,music,problem-solving

•  Allteachingsitua>onsaredifferent…dowhat’sbestforyoursitua>on,butIencourageyoutotakearisk!J

Thank you! Denise Silfee

English Language Fellow in Sudan

[email protected]