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Fostering Creativity

In this age of mandated over-testing and assessment it can often be difficult to foster that creative spirit naturally present in every child.  In fact we unfortunately are often guilty of squelching that natural tendency.  So how do you make sure that doesn't happen in your classroom?  Here are a few ideas gleaned from a few days watching Food Network.

Chopped

Those of you familiar with the show may already know where I am going with this, but for those of you unfamiliar, I will give you the basic premise.  The show is a competition divided into three rounds, appetizer, entree and dessert.  During each round competitors are given a basket of mystery ingredients  that must be used for that round as they work to create the best dish and prevent being chopped.  Often those ingredients do not fit the normal associations for that course, but must be used somehow.

How do you apply that in an education setting?  Here are a few ideas:

  1.  Creative Writing-Give students a topic and a random assortment of words or phrases that must be used correctly in their piece.  Adjust style, and expectation to fit your age level.  You can turn it into a competition by determining which writer used all the required elements most effectively.  Not necessarily the best piece of writing, but best use of the required elements.

  2. Science (Physics)-Give students a bag of random objects and have them design a complex device to accomplish a relative simple task (think Rube Goldberg device).  Student should also explain their processes and present the finished product.  This could be turned into a competition and each team awarded points over the course of a few different projects.  The team/individual acquiring the most points over the course of your "event" becomes the champion.

  3. Math-This is one that if you aren't ready to dive into some PBL, you are going to struggle.  Have a design competition.  Give student some graph paper and building materials then have them design and construct a building, landscape, theme park, etc.  Have students calculate area, perimeter, surface area, etc. of each component in the design.  Change it up by giving students random components to include in the design.

  4. History/Social Studies-Give students a random historical figure and place them in a situation outside of their time.  How would the figure handle the situation or events in that time period.

These are just a few ideas for adding a little creativity to your lessons.  I would be glad to hear other ideas that go along with this theme.  If you have blogposts, tweets, articles, or pins that correlate feel free to share.
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