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54 Thinking Creatively

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298
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Write on Track

Thinking Creatively

Start-Up Activity

Pose this riddle: "Ten people wait at a train station, and the train they are waiting for pulls up and stops. The doors open, but no one gets on. Why?" Take your students' many possible and creative explanations as to why this is the case. Finally reveal to them that no one gets on because it is a model train.

Even though the riddle has a specific solution, trying to solve it leads to many other interesting and creative possibilities. Help students understand that creative thinking works that way. Instead of seeking the one "right" answer, it seeks all possible answers. In doing so, it uncovers possibilities that no one might ever have predicted. (For example, what if it were a "train of thought" rather than a physical train?)

This chapter will give students specific strategies for developing their creative thinking.

Think About It

“Creativity is a habit, and the best creativity is the result of good work habits.”

—Twyla Tharp

You are viewing: 54 Thinking Creatively

53 Thinking Clearly
55 Completing Assignments

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State Standards Covered in This Chapter

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.3.10

Page 299 from Write on Track

Qualities of a Creative Thinker

Lead students through the list of qualities that creative thinkers have, but don't leave the subject there. Students have unfortunately been preconditioned to believe that some people are just creative and others are not. The fact is that creativity can be learned and developed, like any other thinking skill.

Ask your students what specific actions they can take to develop these qualities:

  • "What can you do to become more curious?" (Ask the question "why?" Try to figure out how something works. Write down every sound you can hear in a place, every color you can see, and so on.)
  • "What can you do to become more open minded?" (Find out what different people think. Find out what people back in time used to think. Imagine what people in the future will think, and so on.)

Brainstorm specific actions that students can take to nurture these qualities. Then turn to page 300 to discover even more strategies that students can use.

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Page 300 from Write on Track

Strategies for Creative Thinking

Have your students try each creative thinking strategy as you present it. Ask them to do the following:

  • Write a "what if" question on a piece of paper. Then trade the paper with a partner, who should write as many answers as possible. Switch papers back and discuss.
  • Choose one "what if" answer from your partner and draw a picture to represent it.
  • Think of a word or phrase that describes your drawing, write it in the middle of a piece of paper, and create a cluster around it.
  • Take your topic and compare it to something completely different.
  • Freewrite about the wacky ideas you have created.
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Page 301 from Write on Track

The Creative Mind in Action

Often, creativity needs constraints. If you allow students to do anything, they will have too many option—"paralysis by analysis." If you give them tight constraints, like doing something imaginative with a shoe box, their creative minds can invent all kinds of possibilities.

Lead your students through the suggestions on page 301. Then give them cheap and common construction materials, such as paper plates or popsicle sticks or note cards. Tell them to use the materials to make something unexpected and entertaining. Then celebrate their creative expressions.

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