Books+that+Spark+Creativity


 * Books that Spark Student Creativity

Children's literature is a great way to teach a lesson or skill to students of all ages. As a teacher of the gifted, I am constantly searching for ways to develop students' creativity. Please give me some ideas about books and activities you think would be appropriate for your students.

One book I like to use is __Animalia__ by Graeme Base. This is an alaphabet book that is both beautiful and frustrating at the same time. Each page represents a letter and all of the pictures on that page start with that letter. The majority of text on that page also starts with the letter. Children and adults are facinated by the "almost hidden" pictues. Many are perplexed trying to figure out why a paticular object is on that letter's page. After some thinking the reader usually finds that there is another name for that object or the object is somehow related to the letter.

When I have used this book in the past I have shared the first eight letters with the class and then allowed them to choose a letter not covered to create a page. Students must come up with the text and what pictures should be included. The student design is the same format as the book but full of different ideas. Students love to share their creations and even look at the book to compare their design and the author's design. This activity stretches their imagination and sparks creative thinking all at the same time. AParker

First of all I really enjoyed reading about the book you use with your students. That sounds really fun and is a great idea to expand creativity. As studying to be an English teacher one approach I have found with some of my classmates that we have felt to be a fun and creative way for students to be more involved in the novels they are reading for class, especially middle school school, is letter writing. For example, if we are reading a certain book for a unit the students will write a letter to another student in the voice of a character they choose from the novel. They can write about any aspect of the novel or create another situation they may want to relate to another character in the book about. The students still have to use the character's voice and characteristics from the novel but they are free to communicate with another student representing another character about anything they want. I feel they become their own authors which is fun and creative as well as think critically about different aspects of the book. NIATRIANTIS

Nia, I really like that idea and I think it would be good to use with my younger gifted students. I've had students write letters to characters before but I never thought about writing letters as a character. Students "becoming" the character seems to require more creative thinking. A.Parker

My gifted students are really big on making power point presentations. The students are allowed to use power point to present a book they have read - really just a book report, but with a little twist. They enjoy finding just the right pictures and sounds to summarize the book. PWESTMORELAND

Paula, I did something similar to that last year and it worked great. The only problem was the students really needed more practice doing power point before I let them work on individual projects. A.PARKER

My students also love to present stories as plays. They have taken stories from books, worked out the costumes and props, and then present to me as a reader's theater play. PWESTMORELAND**

I agree that students enjoy making power points. They keep things organized and are a nice resource to have while speaking in front of the class. I think it sounds like a great idea to use one for a book report. NIATRIANTIS


 * My students really enjoy art so they sometimes will ask to create a scene or an object from a book. Some would rather paint a picture about the story while others would rather use "stuff" (paper, toothpicks, popsicle sticks, yarn, clay, etc.) to make something that was in the story. They use these art creations to tell about the story. PWESTMORELAND**