Creative Thinking

Context

After a class reading of two stories, “The Three Little Pigs” and “The True Story of The Three Little Pigs”, the first the traditional fairy tale and the second told from the point of view of the wolf, students used a Venn diagram to compare the two stories. The class then read “The Three Billy Goats Gruff” and discussed the point of view in the narrative.

Students were then asked to rewrite “The Three Billy Goats Gruff” from the point of view of the troll. They used their knowledge of point of view to examine the role of the troll in the story. They had to ask themselves questions like “Who is telling the story?” and “Why does that matter?” They had to use their own experiences as well as their imaginations to question the voice of the narrator. Before writing, they talked to partners about the troll’s viewpoint. The students then read their stories aloud to the class.

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Activity Video

Teacher Reflection

This student succeeds in retelling the story consistently from the perspective of the troll. Her troll makes excuses for himself throughout but also subtly hints toward the end that he is not being entirely truthful.

Context

This student drew a detailed picture of an underground mine and wanted to share it with his class. He knows a lot about mines as he plays Minecraft and his dad works in the mining industry internationally. When he shared his picture with the class, he also reflected upon where he gets his ideas.

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Student Reflection Video

Teacher Observation

He is aware of his creativity (“I have a creative mind”) and clearly values it. But where his ideas come from is a mystery to him. He says it’s a “secret” but knows that’s not quite the right analogy:

“I have a really creative mind. And what’s behind all this, it’s just a big secret…like I just…it’s not like a secret in my family…I could tell anybody but…maybe in the future…”

He is a very self-aware child who senses, but is puzzled by, the workings of his unconscious mind and where his ideas come from.

Context

Two students were playing with small animals in a block centre. The teacher gave them some scarves. Although these were not obvious construction materials for the barn they were building, they immediately tried to incorporate them into their design. The students were quite persistent in their attempt to make something work and eventually used them to make a second level and roof for their building.

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Context

A child was building a tower with blocks while explaining what she was doing. The idea of adding houses was an imitation of something she had seen her older cousin do.

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Activity Video

Context

Over the course of three days, a student works to create wings during free exploration time. She even inspires seven of her peers to create their own wings.

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Activity Photo

 

Student Reflection

I make my wings as beautiful as I could out of beautiful shapes and then I fly it to the sky. I’m a peacock bird and I can jump. But I had to take a long time to make them. I used my paper, I used some drawing, smelly markers and I used some glitter pens.

Teacher Reflection

It continues to amaze me how repeated experiences with open ended materials can engage students to further develop who they are, including their passions, interests, and strengths.

I wonder what the student might have said at the beginning of the year when she had less experience with reflective thinking. Her reflections would have been simpler; for example, “I made wings, I love them so much.”