Cultivating
Creativity in
our Schools
ACAMIS
Guangzhou
2015
For more conversation:
Rick Wormeli
703-620-2447
rwormeli@cox.net
@rickwormeli2 (Twitter)
q p
c d
Which letter
does not
belong, and
why?
“Humanity has advanced, when it has
advanced, not because it has been sober,
responsible, and cautious, but because it has
been playful, rebellious, and immature.” -- Tom
Robbins
Processing Activity:
“I used to
think…,
but now
I think…”
In order for someone to accept
feedback or take a risk with your
new idea, he must admit first
what he was doing was less
effective than he thought it was.
We are hired for how we
are similar to a company,
but we advance based on
how we are different.
Consider:
Rhodes Scholarship
Candidate struggles
Transcend formulaic responses.
“Please paint the transit buses in an
interesting way that breathes a little more
life into our city.”
Video:
When There is a Correct Answer
Our future depends
on this one here.
Tenets:
A. It takes creative and
critical thinking to
achieve standards.
B. Thoughtful classrooms
create thoughtful
students. We do not get
creative students from
non-creative
classrooms.
C. Students who think
creatively and critically
perform better on tests,
standardized or not.
If we find ways for colleagues and ourselves
to experience curiosity, awe, induction,
deduction, analysis, synthesis, resilience,
empathy, extrapolation, juxtaposition, and
other mental dexterities in their own
development, they are better thinkers of our
discipline. They can solve their own problems,
connect with others and among ideas,
innovate their way to meaningful contributions,
and persevere in the midst of challenge.
Our job is not to make up
anybody’s mind, but to open
minds and to make the
agony of decision-making so
intense you can escape only
by thinking.” - Fred Friendly,
broadcaster
”All thinking begins with wonder.”
-- Socrates
Create a sense of wonder!
•Verbs
•Pronouns
•Newton’s
Laws
•Put on Scuba
Gear and climb out
of an eyeball
•Velcro props
•Compare
Not-soPretend
Constitutions
Embrace the fact that, “[l]earning is fundamentally an act of
creation, not consumption of information.”
-- Sharon L. Bowman, Professional Trainer
(Sampling from Innocentive.com, page 1, downloaded June 24, 2012)
Seeking Orthogonally Functionalized Cyclobutanes
Navigating the Inside of an Egg Without Damaging It
Cleveland Clinic: Method to Reconnect Two Tissues Without
Using Sutures
Seeking 1H-pyrazolo[3,4-b]pyridin-3-amides
Synthetic Route to a Benzazepinone
My Air, My Health: An HHS/EPA Challenge
Mechanistic Proposals for a Vanadium-Catalyzed Addition of
NMO to Imidazopyridazines
Seeking Highest and Best Commercial Application for
Breakthrough Innovation in Building Technology/Structural
Optimization
Desafio da Educação: Como atrair pessoas talentosas para se
tornar professor na rede pública brasileira
“The problem solvers...were most effective when working
at the margins of their fields….While these people were close
enough to understand the challenges, they weren’t so close that
their knowledge held them back and cause them to run into the
same stumbling blocks as the corporate scientists.” (p. 121,
Lehrer)
Check out InnoCentive at
www.innocentive.com/ar/challenge/browse
What would this look like in education?
Could you teach the differences between architecture
in the Middle Ages and architecture in the
Renaissance period in such a classroom?
How about the principles of algebra here?
Information Age is old school. We’re in the High Concept
Age, and we have the tech to pursue it:
Twitter
and other social media
Daily newspapers downloaded for analysis
Museum school partnerships and Virtual Tours
QR codes attached to classroom activities
Student-designed apps
Khan Academy and similar on-line tutorials
Graduation in four states now requires one course taken
completely on-line
Google Docs
Google Glass/Eyes – wearables, implantables, augments

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








MOOCS – Massive Open On-line Course
Crowd-Sourcing
MIT Open Courseware
TED talks and ed.Ted.com
Screencasts (ex. Camtasia Studio)
Voicethread
Moodle
PBL’s
Prezi
iMovie
Edmodo
Make it fun.
Fun Theory -Ice Skater –
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1
Bt1xm4w_CM
“We went to school. We were not taught how to think; we
were taught to reproduce what past thinkers
thought….Instead of being
taught to look for
possibilities, we were taught
to exclude them. It’s
as if we entered school as a
question mark and
graduated as a period.”
-- Michael Michalko,
Creative Thinkering,
2011, p. 3
Consider:
It’s not an answer chase.
It’s a question journey.
“Do they know how
to ask good
questions?”
-- Tony Wagner, The Global Achievement
Gap, 2008
Techniques and Elements
that Cultivate Creativity
Creativity is making connections
between dissimilar things in such
a way as to create something new.
It’s often about recombining old
ideas and things for new
purposes or perspectives.
From Professor Alane Starko in her book, Creativity in
the Classroom:
Gutenberg developed the idea of
movable type by looking at the way coins
were stamped.
Eli Whitney said he developed the idea
for the cotton gin while watching a cat
trying to catch a chicken through a fence.
Pasteur began to understand the
mechanisms of infection by seeing
similarities between infected wounds
and fermenting grapes.
Einstein used moving trains to
gain insight into relationships
in time and space.
“Consider Einstein’s Theory of
Relativity. He did not invent the concepts
of energy, mass, or speed of light. Rather
he combined these ideas in a new and
useful way.”
-- Michael, Michalko, Creative Thinkering,
Machalko, 2011, p. xvii,
”
Combination and Re-Combinination
• Hall duty and Teacher Advisory
• Service Learning and Students in danger of
dropping out
• Miniature Golf and lesson sequence
• Students’ cafeteria behavior and architecture
• Unmotivated faculty and farming, astronomy,
or marble tabletops.
• Parental involvement and medicine
Grades are
communication.
compensation.
Tomlinson: “If I laid
out on my kitchen
counter raw
hamburger meat still
in its Styrofoam
container, cans of
tomatoes and beans,
jars of spices, an
onion, and a bulb of
garlic [and told
guests to eat
heartily]….My error
would be that I
confused ingredients
for dinner with
dinner itself.”
Tomlinson: “One can make many different dishes with the same
ingredients, by changing proportions, adding new ingredients,
using the same ingredients in different ways, and so on.”
“Creativity is making mistakes.
Art is knowing which ones to keep.”
- Scott Adams, The Book of Positive Quotations
Our greatest
Compass Rose:
Doubt
“It’s not what you don’t
know that gets you into
trouble, it’s what you know
for sure that ain’t so.”
- Mark Twain
Writer and educator, Margaret
Wheatley, is correct:
“We can’t be creative unless
we’re willing to be confused.”
Do I dare
disturb the
universe?
Teams and
individuals need
clear vision for
how to fail, even
in multiple
attempts, before
succeeding. Be
realistic: “Wow,
this is taking
longer than I
thought it would,”
and constructive,
“That’s one thing
I’ll never forget
the next time I do
this!”
Taking Positive Risks
“The fellow who never makes a mistake takes
his orders from one who does.”
-- Herbert Prochnow
“If I had been a kid in my class today, would I
want to come back tomorrow?”
-- Elsbeth Murphy
“Nothing ventured, something lost.”
-- Roland Barth
Negating Students’ Incorrect Responses
While Keeping Them in the Conversation
• Act interested, “Tell me more about that…”
• Empathy and Sympathy: “I used to think that, too,” or “I
understand how you could conclude that…”
• Alter the reality:
-- Change the question so that the answer is
correct
-- That’s the answer for the question I’m about to
ask
-- When student claims he doesn’t know, ask, “If you DID
know, what would you say?”
Negating Students’ Incorrect Responses and
While Them in the Conversation
• Affirm risk-taking
• Allow the student more time or to ask for
assistance
• Focus on the portions that are correct
Remember: Whoever is responding to students is
processing the information and learning. Who,
then, should be responding to students in the
classroom? Students.
Tenets for a Positive Culture for Failure
• Academic struggle is virtuous, not weakness.
• Failure can teach us in ways consistent success
cannot.
• Initial failure followed by responsive teaching that
helps students revise thinking results in greater longterm retention of content.
When providing
descriptive feedback
that builds creativity
and perseverance,
…comment on decisions
made and their impact,
NOT quality of work.
The amount of risk
someone takes in the
work place is directly
proportional to his
sense of strong
relationship with the
person in charge.
Re-Do’s &
Re-Takes with students
and their teachers:
Are They Okay?
More than “okay!”
After 10,000 tries,
here’s a working
light bulb. ‘Any
questions?
Thomas Edison
F.A.I.L.
First Attempt in Learning
Recovering in full from a failure teaches more than being
labeled for failure ever could teach.
It’s a false assumption that giving a student an “F” or wagging
an admonishing finger from afar builds moral fiber, selfdiscipline, competence, and integrity.
Rigor
Difficult
Difficult
Difficult
versus
Difficult
Difficult
Difficult
Does providing more
support mean it’s less
rigorous?
On the contrary,
providing support for
complex, multi-faceted
applications is MORE
rigorous.
One way to embrace
creativity…is to let go of
comparison. If you are concerned
about conforming or about how
you measure up to others’
successes, you won’t perform the
risk taking and trailblazing
inherent in creative endeavors.
-- P. 57, Creative Confidence,
Kelley and Kelley, 2014
Build instructional versatility.
We can’t be creative with what we
don’t have. Remember?
Participate in the larger profession.
Professional inquiry via personal action research projects,
Professional Learning Communities, subscriptions to professional
journals, participation in on-line communities: listervs, Twitter,
Blogosphere, Webinars, Nings, and Wiki’s; professional
conferences, instructional roundtables in the building
We get more ideas/tools, and creative people are
inspired by people around them.
Read professionally and personally
Write in the margins, make personal
reactions to text. Share text/comments with
colleagues. Occasionally do intense, focused
time immersed in one topic via Literature, blogs,
videos, lectures, and other resources.
Practice looking at objects,
situations, ideas from different
perspectives
•Argue from opponent’s point of view
•Re-tell the story from a different character’s point
of view
•Imagine a day in the life of…(animate, inanimate)
•If decision is made, imagine the response of
different groups of stake-holders
•Pursue methods to achieve empathy
Suspend judgment.
Humans naturally categorize and judge.
Fight the urge to label or automatically dismiss
something – which are both hard to do when in
survival mode, agreed. Discern between exploring
and judging, and lean toward exploration only.
“Tell me more about…” “What would happen if
we…?” “Have you considered…?” Choose “Yes,
and…” over, “Yes, but….” comments.
Practice Complex-ifying.
‘Really.
‘A lot.
Practice turning regular and advanced
education objectives and tasks into even more
complex objectives and tasks.
Be careful to change the nature of the
content/task, not the difficulty or workload.
To Increase (or Decrease) a Task’s Complexity,
Add (or Remove) these Attributes:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Manipulate information, not just echo it
Extend the concept to other areas
Integrate more than one subject or skill
Increase the number of variables that must be considered; incorporate
more facets
Demonstrate higher level thinking, i.e. Bloom’s Taxonomy, William’s
Taxonomy
Use or apply content/skills in situations not yet experienced
Make choices among several substantive ones
Work with advanced resources
Add an unexpected element to the process or product
Work independently
Reframe a topic under a new theme
Share the backstory to a concept – how it was developed
Identify misconceptions within something
To Increase (or Decrease) a Task’s Complexity,
Add (or Remove) these Attributes:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Identify the bias or prejudice in something
Negotiate the evaluative criteria
Deal with ambiguity and multiple meanings or steps
Use more authentic applications to the real world
Analyze the action or object
Argue against something taken for granted or commonly accepted
Synthesize (bring together) two or more unrelated concepts or objects to
create something new
Critique something against a set of standards
Work with the ethical side of the subject
Work in with more abstract concepts and models
Respond to more open-ended situations
Increase their automacity with the topic
Identify big picture patterns or connections
Defend their work
• Manipulate information, not just echo it:
– “Once you’ve understood the motivations and viewpoints of the two
historical figures, identify how each one would respond to the three
ethical issues provided.”
• Extend the concept to other areas:
– “How does this idea apply to the expansion of the railroads in
1800’s?” or, “How is this portrayed in the Kingdom Protista?”
• Work with advanced resources:
– “Using the latest schematics of the Space Shuttle flight deck and real
interviews with professionals at Jet Propulsion Laboratories in
California, prepare a report that…”
• Add an unexpected element to the process or product:
– “What could prevent meiosis from creating four haploid nuclei
(gametes) from a single haploid cell?”
• Reframe a topic under a new theme:
– “Re-write the scene from the point of view of the
antagonist,” “Re-envision the country’s involvement in
war in terms of insect behavior,” or, “Re-tell Goldilocks
and the Three Bears so that it becomes a cautionary tale
about McCarthyism.”
• Synthesize (bring together) two or more unrelated
concepts or objects to create something new:
– “How are grammar conventions like music?”
• Work with the ethical side of the subject:
– “At what point is the Federal government justified in
subordinating an individual’s rights in the pursuit of safeguarding its citizens?”
William’s Taxonomy
Fluency
Flexibility
Originality
Elaboration
Risk Taking
Complexity
Curiosity
Imagination
Frank Williams’ Taxonomy of Creative Thinking
Fluency – We generate as many ideas and
responses as we can
Example Task: Choose one of the simple machines we’ve studied (wheel and axle,
screw, wedge, lever, pulley, and inclined plane), and list everything in your home
that uses it to operate, then list as many items in your home as you can that use
more than one simple machine in order to operate.
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Flexibility – We categorize ideas, objects, and
learning by thinking divergently
about them
Example Task: Design a classification system for the items on your list.
Frank Williams’ Taxonomy of Creative Thinking
Originality – We create clever and often unique
responses to a prompt
Example Task: Define life and non-life.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Elaboration – We expand upon or stretch an
idea or thing, building on previous thinking
Example: What inferences about future algae
growth can you make, given the three graphs of
data from our experiment?
Frank Williams’ Taxonomy of Creative Thinking
Risk Taking – We take chances in our thinking, attempting tasks
for which the outcome is unknown
Example: Write a position statement on whether or not genetic
engineering of humans should be funded by the United States
government.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------Complexity – We create order from chaos, we explore the logic
of a situation, we integrate additional variables or aspects of
a situation, contemplate connections
Example: Analyze how two different students changed their
lab methodology to prevent data contamination.
Frank Williams’ Taxonomy of Creative Thinking
Curiosity – We pursue guesses, we wonder about
varied elements, we question.
Example: What would you like to ask someone who has lived aboard the
International Space Station for three months about living in zero-gravity?
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Imagination – We visualize ideas and objects, we go
beyond just what we have in front of us
Example: Imagine building an undersea colony for 500 citizens, most of
whom are scientists, a kilometer below the ocean’s surface. What factors
would you have to consider when building and maintaining the colony
and the happiness of its citizens?
Steal, borrow, and steal some
more.
Incorporate others’ work and ideas in your
own. From T.S. Eliot: “Immature poets imitate.
Mature poets steal.”
Share freely.
We are often better served by connecting ideas than we
are by protecting them. (P. 22, Johnson)
P.61 – “Instead, most important ideas emerged during
regular lab meetings, where a dozen or so researchers would
gather and informally present and discuss their latest work. If
you looked at the map of idea formation…., the ground zero of
innovation was not the microscope. It was the conference
table.”
The Fox televsion show, “House,” used this model
frequently.
Children are creative because their filters and
censors haven’t activated yet.
“You are seven years old, and school is canceled.
You have the entire day to yourself. What would you do?
Where would you go? Who would you see?” Two groups,
one with these instructions and one with the same
instruction minus the first sentence. Both groups wrote
ideas for ten minutes.
Then given various tests of creativity, such as
generating alternative uses for an old car tire or a brick.
The group that experienced imagining being seven years
old came up with twice as many ideas a the other group. (P.
110, Lehrer)
1
11
21
1211
111221
312211
13112221
1113213211
Discern the
Pattern and Fill in
the Last Row of
Numbers
- From, Creative Thinkering, 2011, Michael Michalko,
p. 44
Regularly do automatic tasks and let
the mind roam.
Walk, run, drive a long distance without listening to
music, take an extended shower or bath, wash a lot of dishes,
mow the lawn, weed the garden, paint a room, crochet, clean
gutters, shovel snow, stare at the ocean, watch birds for 45
minutes, swim freestyle, water walk, or tread water for an
extended time. All of these put us in a more associative state.
Do activities that have no extrinsic
reward associated with them.
In Drive, Daniel Pink reminds us that, “Rewards, by their
very nature, narrow our focus.” (p. 44) Creativity happens more
often because people are curious, not because it satisfies
financial incentives. Yes, we do some things in order to increase
our salary step or receive a bonus, but creativity is usually a
casualty of such approaches.
Teachers can write articles and blogs on topics they
enjoy, not just on topics that get pay. As we have time and
interest, we can mentor new teachers, sponsor a club or sport of
interest, write articles and blogs on topics of interest, and we can
participate in training and teach a class about ELL, gifted,
technology, coding, library/media services, learning disabilities,
and drama.
Ask the larger questions of what we
do and why we do it.
•Whose voices aren’t heard in our deliberations?
•How are our current structures limiting student
achievement?
•What does this classroom incorporate what we know
about how the mind best learns?
•What is the role of homework? ‘Grading?
•Do teachers feel valued?
•Will time on task increase achievement or is it the type of
task we assign that increases achievement?
Publicly declare your teaching
philosophy and Invite professional
critique.
Come across as accessible and inviting of critique. Enjoy
the interaction between teacher and critic. This is where most of
the transformation occurs: not only in the information offered by
the one critiquing, but in the back-and-forth between the two
people involved. This is hard, of course, because in order to
accept a new idea teachers have to first admit what they were
doing was ineffective or wrong.
What goes unlearned by students because we weren’t
open to critique?
Challenge assumptions.
Get your personal Socrates going. Why can’t
students re-do final exams? Look at limitations of the
research study, and ask to see the raw data from which
conclusions are drawn. Are we sure the classic was
symbolizing man’s inhumanity to man? Develop data
analysis skills. Look for what the writer/speaker is NOT
saying just as much as for what he IS saying. Ask
colleagues to articulate positions thoroughly – Don’t let them
get away with generalizations. Explore layered meanings,
consider the source of information and possible bias.
Reframe the question or endeavor. “Instead of trying to
invent a better mousetrap,…look at other ways to mouseproof
your home. Maybe the mousetrap isn’t really the problem.”
“People don’t want to buy a quarter-inch drill. They want
a quarter-inch hole!” (p. 101, 102), Creative Confidence
What would this look like in schools?
Re-frame:
• How can I get students to pay attention to the lesson?
• How can I get parents off my back?
• How can I find the time to teach these standards?
• How can I teach this many students in one classroom?
Sleep.
Seriously, ‘a lot. Sleep aids creativity in many
ways: It creates the relaxed, associative state of
mind. It improves alertness, working and longterm memory, and positive, “Can do” attitude. It
may be one of the most influential factors in
thinking.
Creativity is Powerful, but Meaning also Matters!
An English professor wrote the words, “A woman
without her man is nothing,” on the blackboard
and directed the students to punctuate it
correctly. The men wrote: “A woman, without her
man, is nothing,” while the women wrote, “A
woman: without her, man is nothing.”
---------------------------------------------“Let’s eat, Dad!”
“Let’s eat Dad.”
Meaningful Arrangement and Patterns are Everything
d-a-o-o-u-i-d-y-v-l-e
“I love you, Dad.”
“To a person
uninstructed in natural
history, his country or
seaside stroll is a walk
through a gallery filled
with wonderful works
of art, nine-tenths of
which have their faces
turned to the wall.”
-- Thomas Huxley, 1854
Expertise increases engagement
and understanding. (Physics students example)
‘Put another way:
Chance favors
the prepared mind.
-- Pasteur
Yes, teach
students to
memorize
content.
We can’t be creative
with what we don’t
have.
Which one leads to more learning
of how microscopes work?
1. Kellen plays with the microscope, trying out
all of its parts, then reads an article about
how microscopes work and answers eight
comprehension questions about its content.
2. Kellen reads the article about how
microscopes work, answers eight
comprehension questions about its content,
then plays with the microscope, trying out all
of its parts.
Worthy they were,
Rafael, Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Donatello.
Theirs’ a chromatic and plumed rebirth,
‘A daring reflection upon man.
Beyond Hastings and a Wife’s tale in Canterbury,
Galileo thrust at more than Windmills,
He, Copernicus Gravitas.
And for the spectre of debate,
religion blinked then jailed,
errant no more,
thereby errant forever.
Cousin to Pericles, Son of Alexander,
The cosmology of Adam fanned for all,
feudal plains trampled by trumpeters,
man and woman lay awake -calves on wobbly legs,
staring at new freedom
and Gutenberg’s promise.
Creating Background Where There is None
• Tell the story of the Code of Hammurabi before
discussing the Magna Charta.
• Before studying the detailed rules of baseball,
play baseball.
• Before reading about how microscopes work,
play with micros copes.
• Before reading the Gettysburg Address, inform
students that Lincoln was dedicating a cemetery.
Creating Background Where There is None
• Before reading a book about a military campaign or a
murder mystery with references to chess, play Chess with a
student in front of the class, or teach them the basic rules,
get enough boards, and ask the class to play.
• In math, we might remind students of previous patterns as
they learn new ones. Before teaching students
factorization, we ask them to review what they know about
prime numbers.
• In English class, ask students, “How is this story’s
protagonist moving in a different direction than the last
story’s protagonist?”
• In science, ask students, “We’ve seen how photosynthesis
reduces carbon dioxide to sugars and oxidizes water into
oxygen, so what do you think the reverse of this process
called, ‘respiration,’ does?”
• Chess masters can store over 100,000 different
patterns of pieces in long term memory. Chess
players get good by playing thousands of games!
• Experts think in relationships, patterns, chunks,
novices keep things individual pieces.
• Physics experiment in categorization…
• Solid learning comes from when students make
the connections, not when we tell them about
them.
Exposure to a wide
array of experiences
creates is the basis for
creative solutions.
Insulation embalms the
sentiment that the
world we know is the
only one that matters.
To create meaning in students’ learning experiences:
•Connect new learning to previous learning
•Connect new learning to students’ backgrounds - Sousa: “If we
expect students to find meaning, we need to be certain that
today’s curriculum contains connections to their past
experiences, not just ours.”(p. 49)
•Model how the skill or concept is used
•Demonstrate how the content or skills create leverage (how it
gains us something) in other subjects
•Include a, “So, why should we learn this?” section in every major
lesson
•Increase the emotional connections
•Create more access points in the mind
•Prime the brain
•Separate and combine knowledge: analyze, synthesize
“The Inner Net”
- David Bowden
Finger Mitosis
Vividness
• “a lot” – Running to
each wall to shout, “a”
and “lot,” noting space
between
• Comparing
Constitutions – Former
Soviet Union and the
U.S. – names removed
• Real skeletons, not
diagrams
• Simulations
• Writing Process
described while
sculpting with clay
Have Some Fun – Anything Can Be A Metaphor!
An apple
•
•
•
•
•
•
a star (the birth place of energy on our planet) in the middle (the seed pattern makes a star
if we cut it the right way)
we must break the surface to get to the juicy good parts
the outside doesn’t reveal what lies inside
the apple becomes soft and mushy over time
the apple can be tart or sweet depending on its family background
its parts are used to create multiple products
A cell phone
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•
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•
lifeline to the larger world
an unapologetic taskmaster
an unfortunate choice of gods
a rude child that interrupts just when he shouldn’t
a rite of passage
a declaration of independence
a secret language encoder (text messaging abbreviations unknown to adults)
delineation of generations
A pencil sharpener
•
•
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•
•
•
•
Whittler of pulp
Tool diminisher
Mouth of a sawdust monster
Eater of brain translators
Cranking something to precision
Writing re-energizer
Scantron test enabler
Curtains
•
•
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•
•
•
•
Wall between fantasy and reality
Denied secrets
Anticipation
Arbiter of suspense
Making a house a home
Vacuum cleaner antagonist
Cat’s “Jungle Gym”
Railroad
• Circulatory system of the country
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Enforcer of Manifest Destiny
Iron monster
Unforgiving mistress to a hobo
Lifeline
Economic renewal
Relentless beast
Mechanical blight
Movie set
A foreshadow of things to come
A hearkening to the past
Body Analogies
• Fingers and hands can be
associated with dexterity,
omnidirectional aspects,
working in unison and
individually, flexibility, or
artwork.
• Feet can relate to things
requiring “footwork” or
journey.
• Anything that expresses
passion, feeling, pumping,
supplying, forcing, life, or
rhythm could be analogous to
the heart.
• Those concepts that provide
structure and/or support for
other things are analogous to
the spinal column.
Body Analogies
• Those things that protect are similar to the rib
cage and cranium.
• The pancreas and stomach provide enzymes
that break things down, the liver filters things,
the peristalsis of the esophagus pushes things
along in a wave-like muscle action.
• Skin’s habit of regularly releasing old, used cells
and replacing them with new cells from
underneath keeps it healthy, flexible, and able to
function.
Body Sculptures (Statues)
“Frozen Tableau”
At your table groups, identify one concept, principle, or idea from
yesterday. Then, using every person’s body, create a frozen
tableau that symbolically represents the concept, principle, or
idea.
Evaluative Criteria:
•It’s comprehensive of the idea – It represents all of it, not just a
portion of it.
•Once viewer’s know what it is, nothing in the sculpture would
create a misunderstanding of the concept, principle, or idea.
•Every member of your group can explain the different elements
of the sculpture.
Metaphors Break Down
“You can’t think of feudalism as a
ladder because you can climb up a
ladder. The feudal structure is more
like sedimentary rock: what’s on the
bottom will always be on the bottom
unless some cataclysmic event
occurs.”
-- Amy Benjamin, Writing in the Content Areas, p. 80
Same Concept, Multiple Domains
The Italian Renaissance: Symbolize curiosity,
technological advancement, and cultural shifts
through mindmaps, collages, graphic organizers,
paintings, sculptures, comic strips, political
cartoons, music videos, websites, computer
screensavers, CD covers, or advertisements
displayed in the city subway system.
The economic principle of supply and demand:
What would it look like as a floral arrangement, in
the music world, in fashion, or dance? Add some
complexity: How would each of these expressions
change if were focusing on a bull market or the
economy during a recession?
Same Concept, Multiple Domains
Geometric progression, the structure
of a sentence, palindromes, phases of the
moon, irony, rotation versus revolution,
chromatic scale, Boolean logic, sine/cosine,
meritocracy, tyranny, feudalism, ratios,the
relationship between depth and pressure,
musical dynamics, six components of
wellness, and the policies of Winston Churchill
can all be expressed in terms of: food,
fashion, music, dance, flora, fauna,
architecture, minerals, weather, vehicles,
television shows, math, art, and literature.
Common Analogous Relationships
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Antonyms
Synonyms
Age
Time
Part : Whole
Whole : Part
Tool : Its Action
Tool user : Tool
Tool : Object It’s Used With
Worker: product he creates
Category : Example
Effect : Cause
Cause : Effect
Increasing Intensity
Decreasing Intensity
Person : closely related
adjective
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Person : least related adjective
Math relationship
Effect : cause
Action : Thing Acted Upon
Action : Subject Performing the Action
Object or Place : Its User
Object : specific attribute of the object
Male : Female
Symbol : what it means
Classification/category : example
Noun : Closely Related Adjective
Elements Used : Product created
Attribute : person or object
Object : Where it’s located
Lack (such as drought/water – one thing lacks
the other)
Creating and interpreting patterns of content,
not just content itself, creates a marketable skill in
today’s students. A look at data as indicating
“peaks and valleys” of growth over time, noticing
a trend runs parallel to another, or that a new
advertising campaign for dietary supplements
merges four distinct worlds -- Greco-Roman, retro80’s, romance literature, and suburbia – is
currency for tomorrow’s employees.
To see this in a math curriculum, for example,
look at algebraic patterns. Frances Van Dyke’s A
Visual Approach to Algebra (Dale Seymour
Publications, 1998)
A submarine submerges, rises up to the
surface, and submerges again. Its depth d is a
function of time t. (p.44)
d
d
t
t
A submarine submerges, rises up to the
surface, and submerges again. Its depth d is a
function of time t. (continued)
d
d
t
t
Consider the following graphs. Describe a situation that could
be appropriately represented by each graph. Give the quantity
measured along the horizontal axis as well as the quantity measured
along the vertical axis.
Descriptions With and Without Metaphors
Friendship
Family
Infinity
Imperialism
Solving for a variable
Trust
Euphoria
Mercy
Worry
Trouble
Obstructionist Judiciary Honor
Immigration
Homeostasis
Balance
Temporal Rifts
Economic Principles
Religious fervor
Poetic License
Semantics
Heuristics
Tautology
Embarrassment
Knowledge
4-Square Synectics
1. Brainstorm four objects from a particular category
(examples: kitchen appliances, household items, the circus,
forests, shopping malls).
2. In small groups, brainstorm what part of today’s learning is
similar in some way to the objects listed.
3. Create four analogies, one for each object.
Example: How is the human digestive system like each
household item: sink, old carpet, microwave, broom
Example: How is the Pythagorean Theorem like each musical
instrument: piano, drum set, electric guitar, trumpet?
Great Resources on Metaphors
• From Molecule to Metaphor: A Neural Theory of
Language by Jerome Feldman
• Metaphor: A Practical Introduction by Zoltan
Kovecses
• Poetic Logic: The Role of Metaphor in Thought,
Language, and Culture by Marcel Danesi
• Metaphors & Analogies: Power Tools for Teaching
any Subject by Rick Wormeli
• I Is an Other: The Secret Life of Metaphor and How It
Shapes the Way We See the World by James Geary
Great Resources on Metaphors
• Metaphors We Live By by George Lakoff
• The Political Mind: Why You Can't Understand 21stCentury American Politics with an 18th-Century Brain
by George Lakoff
• A Bee in a Cathedral: And 99 Other Scientific
Analogies by Joel Levy
• On Metaphor (A Critical Inquiry Book) edited by
Sheldon Sacks
Analyze…
Revise…
Decide between…
Why did…
Defend…
Devise…
Identify…
Classify…
Define…
Compose…
Interpret…
Expand…
Develop…
Suppose…
Imagine…
Construct…
Rank…
Argue against…
Argue for…
Contrast…
Develop…
Plan…
Critique…
Rank…
Organize…
Interview…
Predict…
Categorize…
Invent…
Recommend…
Change
your
verbs.
One-Word Summaries
“The new government regulations for the meatpacking industry in the 1920’s could be seen as an
opportunity…,”
“Picasso’s work is actually an argument for….,”
“NASA’s battle with Rockwell industries over the
warnings about frozen temperatures and the O-rings
on the space shuttle were trench warfare….”
Basic Idea: Argue for or against the word as a good
description for the topic.
Summarization Pyramid
__________
______________
____________________
_________________________
______________________________
___________________________________
Great prompts for each line: Synonym, analogy,
question, three attributes, alternative title, causes,
effects, reasons, arguments, ingredients, opinion,
larger category, formula/sequence, insight, tools,
misinterpretation, sample, people, future of the
topic
3-2-1
3 – Identify three characteristics of Renaissance art
that differed from art of the Middle Ages
2 – List two important scientific debates that occurred
during the Renaissance
1 – Provide one good reason why “rebirth” is an
appropriate term to describe the Renaissance
3 – List three applications for slope, y-intercept
knowledge in the professional world
2 – Identify two skills students must have in order to
determine slope and y-intercept from a set of points
on a plane
1 – If (x1, y1) are the coordinates of a point W in a
plane, and (x2, y2) are the coordinates of a different
point Y, then the slope of line WY is what?
Unique Summarization Formats/Products
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
A soap opera about valence among chemical elements
A “Wanted: Dead or Alive” poster about Preposition Pete (“He was last seen in
the OverHill’n’Dale Saloon, at the table, in the dark, under close scrutiny of other
scalawags…”)
Compose a ballad about the cautious Massasoit tribe coming to dinner with
Governor Bradford and his colony in 1621.
Interpret the Internet for Amazonian inhabitants that have never lived with
electricity, let alone a computer.
Argue for and against Democracy as a healthy way to build a country – Provide at
least two arguments for each position.
Classify the Greek gods and goddesses according to three different criteria.
Predict the limiting factors for this habitat twenty-five years from now.
Retell a fairytale of your choosing with one of the following concepts as its
central theme:
– “Courage is not the absence of fear, but the judgment that something else is
more important than that fear.” -- Ambrose Redmoon
– “A setback is preparation for a comeback.”
– “The one who never makes mistakes takes his orders from one who does.”
Unique Summarization Formats/Products
• A comic strip about the mantissa (the decimal-fraction part of a
logarithm)
• A mysterious yet accurate archeological map concerning the quadratic
formula
• A field guide to the asymptotes of a hyperbola (the diagonals of the
rectangle formed by the lines x= a, x= —a, y= b and y= -b in the
hyperbola: x squared over a squared – y squared over b squared)
• A coloring book about Amendments 1, 2, 3, 4, and 10 to the Constitution
• A rap song that expresses the order of Presidential succession
• A grocery list for Taiga biomes
• A mural that accurately expresses the “checks and balances” nature of
our Federal government’s three branches: judicial, legislative, and
executive
• A sculpture or mobile that teaches observers about latitude and
longitude
• A pop-up book on liquid and dry measures
“Word Link”
1. Each student gets a word.
2. In partners, students share the link(s)
between their individual words.
3. Partner team joins another partner team,
forming a “word cluster.”
4. All four students identify the links among
their words and share those links with the
class.
-- Yopp, Ruth Helen. “Word Links: A Strategy for Developing Word
Knowledge,” Voices in the Middle, Vol. 15, Number 1, September 2007,
National Council Teachers of English
Ropes Course Games
Ropes Course Games
Electric Fence (Getting over triangle fence without
touching)
Spider Web (Pass bodies through “webbing”
withot ringing the attached bells)
Group Balance (2’X2’ platform on which everyone
stands and sings a short song)
Nitro-glycerin Relocation (previous slide)
Trust Falls (circle style or from a chair)
Line-up
• Groups of students line up according to criteria.
Each student holds an index card identifying what
he or she is portraying.
• Students discuss everyone’s position with one
another -- posing questions, disagreeing, and
explaining rationales.
Line-up
Students can line-up according to:
chronology, sequences in math problems, components
of an essay, equations, sentences, verb tense,
scientific process/cycle, patterns: alternating,
category/example, increasing/decreasing degree,
chromatic scale, sequence of events, cause/effect,
components of a larger topic, opposites, synonyms
Human Continuum
A
D
Human Continuum
Use a human continuum. Place a long strip of
masking tape across the middle of the floor, with
an "Agree" or “Yes” taped at one end, and
"Disagree" or “No” at the other end. Put a notch
in the middle for those unwilling to commit to
either side. Read statements about the day’s
concepts aloud while students literally stand
where they believe along the continuum. Be
pushy – ask students to defend their positions.
Resources…
• Mindware: www.mindwareonline.com (1-800-999-0398)
• Fluegelman, Andrew, Editor. The New Games Book, Headlands Press
Book, Doubeday and Company, New York, 1976
• Henton, Mary (1996) Adventure in the Classroom. Dubuque, Iowa:
Kendall Hunt
• Lundberg, Elaine M.; Thurston, Cheryl Miller. (1997) If They’re
Laughing… Fort Collins, Colorado: Cottonwood Press, Inc.
• Rohnke, K. (1984). Silver Bullets. Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall Hunt.
• Rohnke, K. & Butler, S. (1995). QuickSilver. Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall Hunt
• Rohnke, K. (1991). The Bottomless Bag Again. Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall
Hunt
• Rohnke, K. (1991). Bottomless Baggie. Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall Hunt
• Rohnke, K. (1989). Cowstail and Cobras II. Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall Hunt
Petals Around the Rose
The name of the game is, “Petals
Around the Rose.” The name is
very important. For each roll of the
game, there is one answer, and I
will tell you that answer.
Petals Around the Rose
Answer:
6
0
10
Petals Around the Rose
Clues to give students if they
struggle:
1.
All the math you need to solve
this problem you learn in
kindergarten or before.
2.
The sequence of the dice
patterns has no bearing on the
answer.
Processing Activity:
“I used to
think…,
but now
I think…”