Mrs. Zanine's Gifted Support

UPDATE: Assessment \| Math Problem Solving \| Paideia Seminar \| Class Schedules \| Keys to Creativity \| Parent Communication \| Dates to Remember \| Meet the Teacher \| Newsletters \| Panther Press Articles \| Thinking Links For Any Grade Level \| Grade 2 Agriculture Links \| Grade 3 Structures Links \| Grade 4 Inventions Links \| Grade 5 Immigration Links \| Gr. 4 Toothpaste Invention \| Gifted Education Program Summary \| Gifted Education Program Philosophy and Goals \| PSD Strategic Plan for Gifted Education \| Resources for Gifted Support \| Gifted Support Policy \| Frequently Asked Questions \| UpdateIndex \| Help

VIEW: Home \| Assessment \| Math Problem Solving \| Paideia Seminar \| Class Schedules \| Keys to Creativity \| Parent Communication \| Dates to Remember \| Meet the Teacher \| Newsletters \| Panther Press Articles \| Thinking Links For Any Grade Level \| Grade 2 Agriculture Links \| Grade 3 Structures Links \| Grade 4 Inventions Links \| Grade 5 Immigration Links \| Gr. 4 Toothpaste Invention \| Gifted Education Program Summary \| Gifted Education Program Philosophy and Goals \| PSD Strategic Plan for Gifted Education \| Resources for Gifted Support \| Gifted Support Policy \| Frequently Asked Questions

Join our Facebook Page, Follow us on Twitter , or read the latest Newsletter Visit the TeacherWeb® videos to learn about the features, modifications, and customizations available on your website. Click here to learn more. Keys to Creativity small medium large <font face=arial font size=4> What are the keys to creativity? Fluency – generating lots of ideas Flexibility – changing perspective to increase possibilities Originality – generating unique, novel, or unusual ideas Elaboration – adding to, explaining, or enriching with details What is Creative Fluency? <font face=script font size=5 font color=green>You cannot use up creativity. The more you use the more you have. -Maya Angelou </font> Throughout the year, all grade levels in gifted support are instructed in and encouraged to use creative thought. One key to developing strong creative thinking skills is to promote fluency of thought. Fluent thinking is the ability to generate a large number of ideas. When improving your fluency, you can practice by listing as many, varied, and unusual ideas that come to your mind. The more you do this the better you can get at being fluent. We often use the word brainstorming when we are talking about fluency exercises. Here are some rules we use when encouraging fluent thought during brainstorming. Rule 1: Withhold judgment - It is important to withhold judgment during the brainstorming process. Ideas which initially seem like they won't work can sometimes have enormous benefits when modified. Withholding judgment will reduce the inhibitions in yourself and others. Original ideas that stimulate good solutions are more likely to be shared. It also frees some brain power. All of it can be focused on generating new ideas and not wasted on evaluation. Rule 2: Encourage wild and exaggerated ideas - There is a saying that goes, “It's easier to tame wild ideas into a valid solution than it is to boost normal ideas into an original solution.” Coming up with wild ideas during brainstorming is a great way to stimulate new thought patterns. Rule 3: Quantity counts at this stage, not quality - Though you may come up with many unusable ideas or those you think are common or boring, you will undoubtedly arrive at many very good and exceptional ones. Quality comes with quantity. It's easier to pick out good ideas from a large list than a small list. Idea evaluation is often easier than idea generation, so give yourself lots of ideas to analyze later. Rule 4: Build on the ideas put forward by others - In class we call this hitchhiking or piggybacking. It's often easier to adapt someone else's idea than to generate a completely original one. Think of brainstorming as a team sport. If you are working alone, some of your ideas in your brainstorming list may trigger other ideas. In the gifted support program, students use fluency exercises to promote original thinking and improve the quality of their activities and projects Students are also encouraged and supported in carrying over this skill to their regular education homerooms. If your child has a school project to work on at home that is open ended, encourage him/her to brainstorm a list of possibilities for the project following the brainstorming rules. Then help him/her select a challenging, creative idea to build upon. What is Flexible Thinking? Edward de Bono, a world leader in the field of creative thinking, describes creative thinking as breaking out of established patterns in order to look at things in a different way. One goal of the gifted support program is to foster divergent thinking skills, known better as creative thinking skills. Students are encouraged to think creatively by looking at problems and situations from various perspectives. This aspect of creative thinking is called flexible thinking. Flexible thinking can also be described as categorical thinking. One must shift the mind to move freely between categories. Often these shifts in perception occur very concretely such as looking at an object from a bird’s eye view and then a side view or cross section. It can also occur figuratively such as considering how a young child and a senior citizen might view the same situation like a snow storm very differently. All students in the gifted support program practice techniques which encourage flexible thinking. One technique, which is also often used by inventors, is titled SCAMPER. SCAMPER is an acronym for Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify, Put to other uses, Eliminate, and Rearrange. These terms encourage students to consider the “What If…” possibilities. Another strategy is to use a graphic organizer which arranges ideas into categories. Something as basic as repurposing or reusing an item for a use other than its intended use demonstrates flexible thought. The goal is for students to apply these flexible thinking techniques across the curriculum. The following questions elicit flexible thinking across the curriculum. 1. Can you think of a different way to _____________? 2. What else might be happening? 3. What other things are possible? 4. What are all the possibilities? 5. What are some different ways to look at this? 6. What are some different reasons for this? 7. What else could you use ______ for? 8. In what ways are ____ and ____ alike? 9. In what ways could you use ___ for? Students and teachers can use these question starters to help add flexible thinking to assignments and projects. Automatically clean input to optimize for the web. Or, would you like to view and optionally restore one of these previous versions? Password: Forgot your password?

Mrs. Zanine's Gifted Support

Keys to Creativity

©2010 TeacherWeb, Inc.