Creating Creativity !!!

Mollie Bounds EDU 578

Summer 2014 !

Create Creativity

! “I’m not creative.” Have you ever said that to yourself or others? Have you often wondered how other people can come up with such fascinating ideas so easily? Or, have you thought about why you can and others cannot? Are you born with it? What is creativity, anyway? Can you learn it? If you could, what would be the point? During this unit you will learn that creativity can be taught and learned. You will learn many types of strategies that creative people employ. We will even delve into the neuroscience inside the creative brain. Together, we will solve problems, change and broaden our perspectives, and create wonders! !

This is Where Creativity Hides

Hollow out your memoriesuntil you get to the dustiest bitsjammed into the cornersof your spirit !forgotten weekendsbeliefs you thought were glued on tight the way shame ignitesonly dormantnever gone !how does it all fit the wake of a life so much historyspooled inside us !you wonder what the point isin all this remembering

but a tree does more than reach for the sunit feasts on the rain sucking it like a straw from its darkestburiedroots !this is where creativity hideswearing the mask of your old storieswords and imagesthe debris of time waiting to be stitchedinto art. !!!Samantha Reynolds

Rationale On several occasions I have read or heard comments about how schools are leaching the creativity out of children. I have also heard many students, particularly gifted students, say, “I’m just not creative.” Both of these statements paint a pretty bleak picture of our future. Creativity and innovativeness are the catalyst for movement and forward thinking. How can we expect future generations to solve problems without the cognitive tool such as creativity? We can’t. This unit combines two components necessary to arm our students for the future. They learn how to harness creativity to solve problems and with it see that facts, knowledge, and strategies are part of a bigger idea that can be transferred to all disciplines. !

Purpose The purpose of this unit is to clear up misconceptions about creativity and provide as many strategies as possible for students to use during problem solving. These strategies focus on training them to broaden and change their perspective in order to provide a better more original solution. !

Target Audience This unit can be for any student from fourth to sixth grade. It can be adapted for older grades as well. !

Gifted Learners There are no prerequisites for this unit other than the ability to read verbose text and simple computing skills. Where this unit was written with the gifted pull-out student in mind it can be adapted for any learner. Gifted students tend to carry around more fear-of-failure than most other students. I believe this stems from the fact that they are always expected to be the best or have the most creative answer. This unit will help them better understand what creativity is and how to harness it, and in turn lessening this fear-of-failure.

Concept Map/Web

!

!Mind Map !

!

Concept-Based Curriculum Flowchart !!

!

!

!!

Representative Topic

Invention

Conceptual Lens Disciplines/Practicing Professionals

Creativity software developer, architect, engineer, teacher, chef, writer, artist, athlete, actor,

applicable to all careers

Facts Skills/Processes Concepts

• divergent thinking strategies

• visual • verbal

• collaboration techniques • neuroscience of creativity

• think fluently • think flexibly • elaborate • originate • adapt/transform • problem solve • communicate • present/display • generate • analyze • predict • interpret • contribute • connect • evaluate • collaboration • create • debate

• Perspective

• inventiveness

• strategy

!

Standards/Content

International Society for Technology in Education Critical thinking problem solving, and decision making • Identify and define authentic problems and significant questions for investigation • plan and manage activities to develop a solution or complete a project • collect and analyze data to identify solutions and/or make informed decisions • use multiple processes and diverse perspectives to explore alternative solutions Creativity and Innovation: • Apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes • Create original works as a means of personal or group expression • Identify trends and forecast possibilities Design: • Students will develop an understanding of the role of troubleshooting, research and development,

invention and innovation, and experimentation in problem solving. Communication and Collaboration • Students will interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of

digital environments and media !National Social Sciences Standards Profit and Entrepreneur: • An invention is a new product. Innovation is the introduction of an invention into a use that has

economic value. • Entrepreneurs often are innovative. They attempt to solve problems by developing and marketing

new or improved products. !National Mathematics Standards Problem Solving • Students should be able to adapt a variety of appropriate strategies to solve problems • Select and use various types of reasoning and methods of proof  !National Language Standards • Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g., conventions, style,

vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes. • Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process

elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes. • Students conduct research on issues and interests by generating ideas and questions, and by posing

problems. They gather, evaluate, and synthesize data from a variety of sources (e.g., print and non-print texts, artifacts, people) to communicate their discoveries in ways that suit their purpose and audience.

• Students use a variety of technological and information resources (e.g., libraries, databases, computer networks, video) to gather and synthesize information and to create and communicate knowledge.

• Students read a wide range of print and non-print texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment. Among these texts are fiction and nonfiction, classic and contemporary works.

!

!

!

Essential Understandings/Generalizations

Creativity can provide the multiple perspectives needed to invent and solve problems. Strategies can be learned to build and foster perspectives and creativity. Creativity is necessary for inventive thinking.

Essential Questions

How does creativity provide the perspective needed to invent and solve problems? What strategies can be learned to build and foster perspectives and creativity? Why is creativity necessary for inventive thinking?

Culminating Performance Task/Summative Assessment

The United States is going through a recession and many companies are being forced to merge or face bankruptcy. You and your team own shares in many companies and you are asked to consult with them on a merger to create a new product line that two companies can contribute to. Which two companies could merge? Use creative problem solving strategies to come up with a product or service that they could they create together. Challenge 1: The companies may not be in the same industry. Challenge 2: The creation must be able to be made using their current combined technology and facilities. Present your pitch to a practicing professional from your community for scoring. (Think about Shark Tank)

Instructional Activities

• Frayer graphic organizer on Invention • Creativity pre-assessment and analysis • Concept development lesson on creativity • Gallery Walk on quotes about creativity • Seven Ways to Cultivate Creativity slide show • The Real Neuroscience of Creativity article analysis: Looking in vs. looking out • Mind mapping (Tony Buzan) • Visual and verbal fluency, flexibility, originality, and elaborative brainstorming activities individually and as a group

to compare and analyze results • Creativity is Collective article analysis • Elaborative Stick Figure • Magritte’s Marvelous Hat literature and art connection (Salvador Dali) • SCAMPER an idea and an object • Problem Reversal • Morphological forced connections • Remote Associations and strategies (Synectics) • Apples to Apples (words and pictures) • Stories with Holes and how they use remote associations • Lateral Thinking • Assumption Smashing • Creativity vs. Innovation article analysis • List-Group-Label companies together as a class • Culminating performance task activity • Creativity Post-assessment and self-reflection of growth • Learning Center: Verbal and visual activities, recreational math activities, SCAMPER topics, Five Senses Map • http://members.optusnet.com.au/charles57/Creative/Techniques/index.html (Techniques for Creative Thinking)

Unit Overview !Essential Understandings: Creativity can provide the multiple perspectives needed to invent and solve problems. Strategies can be learned to build and foster perspectives and creativity. Creativity is necessary for inventive thinking. !Essential Questions: How does creativity provide the perspective needed to invent and solve problems? What strategies can be learned to build and foster perspectives and creativity? Why is creativity necessary for inventive thinking? !Pre-Assessment

A. Students will complete a Frayer graphic organizer on invention to assess background knowledge of topic. (Appendix A) !

Lesson One: Creating Creativity (Guiding Questions: What is creativity? Where does it come from? Can you learn creativity or are you just born with it?)

A. Students will complete a timed activity that assesses their verbal and visual creativity level and also rate themselves on where they think they fall on the “creativity” spectrum. (Appendix B)

B. Students will complete the concept development activity on “creativity.” (Appendix C) C. Students will read quotes and poems about creativity in a gallery style. They will choose

one that means the most to them and be able to explain why. (Appendix D). D. Watch and read the slideshow called, “Seven Ways to Cultivate Creativity” from

Scientific American: Mind at http://www.scientificamerican.com/slideshow/creativity-cultivation-unlock-ingenuity/. Add the seven ways to their journal.

E. Have students select two to three of the “creativity building” activities from the slide show that they would like to try and group themselves accordingly. Discuss results.

F. Come up with a definition for creativity as a class and have students write it into their journal. If they want a different definition of creativity other than the one the class came up with then encourage them to write their own. !

Lesson Two: The Flow Zone (Guiding Questions: What is fluent thought? Flexible thought? Original thought? Elaborative thought? How will these brainstorming strategies help me be creative? Why is brainstorming called brainstorming?)

A. Read the article: The Real Neuroscience of Creativity by Scott Kaufman (Appendix E) and discuss what he means by Looking In (Imaginative) vs. Looking Out (Executive) and how this ties into our idea of creativity. Discuss how the brain lights up during creative thinking and that this is what we call ‘brainstorming.’ Show pictures of how the brain looks during different thinking activities such as math, talking, writing, and creating.

B. Discuss that there are types of brainstorming and not a one-right-way. Introduce mind mapping video by Tony Buzan. Watch his video at http://members.optusnet.com.au/charles57/Creative/Mindmap/index.html and go to http://mindmapfree.com/# or https://app.wisemapping.com/c/maps/3/try for free mind mapping software online.

C. Discuss the rules of brainstorming together and why it is so important to be nonjudgmental. (Appendix F)

D. Have students turn to their pre-assessment of creativity. Score the activity in each category (fluency, flexibility, and originality) to get a final score. (Appendix B)

E. Brainstorm/map another picture as a class (teacher will demonstrate mind mapping software on smart board). Print off final map for students to paste into their portfolio for comparison to individual brainstorm from pre-assessment. Score activity as a class (use rules from Appendix B). Discuss results. Point out the benefits of piggybacking and multiple perspectives coming together. Look at another article from Scientific America: Mind called Creativity is Collective (July 2014) about how working in groups enhances creativity. (Appendix G)

F. Draw a stick figure on the board and label it “disgruntled.” Have students tell you how to make it more elaborative and add to it as they give suggestions. Discuss the attributes and benefits of elaboration. Have students take out the whole class brainstorm from previous lesson and choose one of the original ideas and elaborate on it in pairs. Discuss elaborations.

G. Repeat E with verbal activity. An example would be for students to brainstorm anything with a hole in it or to finish the sentence, “I don’t have my homework because…” and compare these results to the verbal activity from the pre-assessment.

H. Create a mind map of what they believe so far about creativity. Students should use the online software if resources allow. !

Lesson Three: The Power of Perspective (Guiding Questions: How can I change my perspective? How does this help me think creatively? What strategies are there to help me change my perspective?)

A. Read Magritte’s Marvelous Hat and complete accompanying novel and bibliotherapy like activities. (Appendix H)

B. Introduce the process of SCAMPER by choosing an object that one of the students comes up with. (Appendix I). Have them try it with another object. Give students an object if they can’t think of one: a Starbucks cup, fork, tennis racket…

C. Repeat the SCAMPER process using an idea such as school, democracy, or gravity… D. Problem reversal activity. Take situations and reverse them or flip them in order to

change perspective on them so that you can see the problem better. Example: If a child can’t make the ball into the basket, ask yourself what is going on with the person that CAN make it into the basket? From this analysis, find the real problem, and thus the solution.

E. Complete morphological forced connections activity. (Appendix J) F. Re-brainstorm original visual prompt from pre-assessment with perspective prompts

and then compare and contrast to brainstorming not done with perspective prompts. Reflect on difference. (Appendix K)

G. Discuss what perspective is and clear up any misconceptions. Write personal definition of perspective in journal. Discuss and reflect on why this is important for creativity.

H. Students add to mind map. (The above activities (A-E) can all be done or you can pick a few to do depending on time constraints) !!!

Lesson Four: Connect the Dots (Guiding Questions: What strategies help me think creatively and change my perspective? Why is connecting the dots so important? What strategies are being used to find connections between things?)

A. Reread Steve Jobs quote on creative people. B. Introduce strategies for completing remote associations and synectics activities.

(Appendix L an M) Show the value of this type of activity and how it bolsters creativity and can help you with your culminating project.

C. Play Apples to Apples with lobbying. Discuss the remote associations that are being made and how one must also pay attention to the judge’s perspective in making a decision vs. the perspective of the player.

D. Introduce “Stories with Holes” by Nathan Levy. (See appendix N for sample ones from the book) Discuss how to use questioning strategies to derive at the answer but also look at how they use remote associations to disguise the answer.

E. Add new learning to mind map. !Lesson Five: Some Fun with Creative Thinking (Guiding Questions: What strategies help me think creatively and change my perspective?)

A. Introduce assumption smashing. (Appendix O) Take common assumptions and say, “What if…?” Example: What if there were no gravity? What if we lost the Revolutionary War? Refer back to Magritte and his philosophy of “What is it not?”

B. Introduce lateral thinking problems (students just call these brain teasers) (Appendix P) They are great to exercise new thinking skills.

C. Students add to mind map. !Lesson Six: Invention (Guiding Questions: What is invention? Why is creativity necessary for invention? Why is perspective necessary? How can I use invention, creativity, and perspective to solve a problem?)

A. Read Creativity vs. Innovation at http://www.businessinsider.com/difference-between-creativity-and-innovation-2013-4#ixzz34um2lpPV and discuss. (Appendix Q)

B. Discuss what invention is and clear up any misconceptions. Write personal definition of invention in journal.

C. Begin the process for the culminating activity with a list-group-label activity. together List as many companies as they can think of on post-it notes, have them organize them into groups, and give them an industry label. Guide them to this conclusion.

D. Research more companies in those industries and add to the wall. Rearrange the groups if necessary.

E. Have them pick two companies in completely unrelated industries that will have to merge. The less connected they are the better.

F. Research the companies capabilities, products, facility capabilities, etc…and record on research graphic organizer provided for this project (Appendix R)

G. Use creativity strategies to come up with a solution to the problem stated in the culminating activity.

H. Pitch solution to judges. (See rubric in Appendix S) I. Add any new learning to mind map. !!!!

Lesson Seven: Now What? and So What? (Guiding Questions: Can I be creative? What strategies have I learned to help me be creative? What strategies have I learned to help me change my perspective? Why is invention so important?)

A. Take post-assessment of creativity and score (Appendix T). This is the “after” picture. Take time to discuss and reflect on growth. Rate yourselves again on a scale of 1-10 and once again, give your reasoning for the number you chose.

B. Answer the essential questions in their journal. C. Add finishing touches to ongoing mind map of “creativity.” !

!Learning Centers: 1) Creativity in Math: hexaflexagons, origami, MC Escher 2) Visual: Skedoodles, mindmap topics 3) Verbal: Listing Activities, analogies, remote associations, lateral thinking questions 4) SCAMPERs 5) Five Senses Map !!

Components Menu for Lesson #1: Creating Creativity !

!

Topic: Invention Grade Level: 4-6 Lesson Length: Two 1-1.5 hour lessons.

Discipline(s): All Instructor: Mollie Bounds

Content Knowledge/Standards

Standards: Students will: • read a wide range of print and non-print texts to build an understanding of texts,

of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment. Among these texts are fiction and nonfiction, classic and contemporary works.

• be able to adapt a variety of appropriate strategies to solve problems • apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes • create original works as a means of personal or group expression

Unit Conceptual Lens: • Creativity

Unit Essential Understanding(s): • Creativity can provide the multiple perspectives needed to invent and solve

problems. • Strategies can be learned to build and foster perspectives and creativity.

Unit Essential Question(s): • How does creativity provide the perspective needed to invent and solve

problems? • What strategies can be learned to build and foster perspectives and creativity?

Additional Concepts (this lesson): • strategy

Guiding Question(s) for this lesson: • What is creativity? • Where does it come from? • Can you learn creativity or are you just born with it?

Assessment In this lesson, students will…-know what creativity is and some strategies that can foster it. -understand that creativity can be learned. -be able to use learned strategies to create new and original ideas and state what creativity is.

Pre-assessment: • A week or two before the unit starts students will complete a Frayer model

around “Invention” to assess their background knowledge of the topic. Formative Assessment(s):

• Timed creativity test (verbal and non-verbal) scores and self-evaluation, observation and discussion from “creativity” concept attainment activity, completion of gallery walk and oral presentation of choice, and chosen activities from slide show.

Post-assessment: • Student’s chosen/created definition of creativity

Introduction (Hook) !!Type I !!Type I

• Show students before and after pictures of houses, people, or cars that have been made over. Tell the students we need a “before and after” snapshot of them, just like the houses, people, and cars so that we can “see” the change.

• Before any discussion about creativity, inform students they will be taking a quick timed “test” to assess their creativity level. (the “before” shot). This activity is in place to cause more anxiety than excitement.

• Once the time is up, have students give themselves a number between 1 and 10 (10 being the most creative) on the bottom of their paper. Then have them write a simple statement as to why they chose that number. They may share if they want to.

• Hold onto this activity until the next lesson.

Teaching Methods Pre-Assessment of topic understanding, concept attainment, reflective discussions, student/group reports, cooperative learning, informal debate, gallery walk, journaling, debriefing

Learning Activities !!Type II !!!!!Type I !!!!

Type II or Type I !!!!!!Type II

Discuss culminating performance task that is to come at the end of the unit. Tell them to keep in mind at the end of every lesson how it could help them to complete that task. Concept Development Group Activity (See Appendix C for entire lesson)

• Small groups of 3 or 4 students will generate 25 examples of creativity. • After they have generated lists, students will group them into categories and

label them. Discuss choices. • Students will then think of 6-8 non-examples of creativity. • Lastly, students will write generalizations about the concept of creativity.

Gallery Walk • Students will walk around the room to read quotes on creativity. After they

have read them all they are to choose one that means the most to them and write it in their journals. Students need to be prepared to discuss why this particular quote meant so much to them and add it to the cover or inside of their journal.

Seven Ways to Cultivate Creativity • Display the Scientific American: Mind slide show of “Seven Way to Cultivate

Creativity.” • Students and teacher will discuss each slide as we go through. At the end have

the students choose 2 or 3 activities they would like to try from the slide show. They may form small groups or work individually.

• Regroup to discuss outcomes. Definition of Creativity

• Ask, “Who cares about creativity…?” Gather answers and discuss. How could they use the knowledge/strategies gained from this lesson to help them solve the problem in the performance task?

• As a class brainstorm definitions of creativity and debate until you have one that the majority of the class agrees on. Give students the option to create their own definition or to add to the class one.

• Record their working definition in their journal.

Resources • Frayer graphic organizer • One journal for each student • Before and after pictures of house, car, and people makeovers • Verbal/Visual timed creativity test • Quotes on sheets for gallery walk • Scientific American: Mind “Seven Ways to Cultivate Creativity” slide show at

http://www.scientificamerican.com/slideshow/creativity-cultivation-unlock-ingenuity/

Products • Pre-assessment: Frayer graphic organizer • Creativity test results • Self-evaluation rating • List-group-label of “creativity” • Results from chosen activities on slide show • Personal or individual definition of creativity

!!

Grouping Whole group: Concept Development Activity follow-up discussion, discussions from Gallery Walk choices, Seven Way to Cultivate Creativity first run through the slide show and follow up after activity choice, and class discussion of definition of creativity. Small group: Concept Attainment Activity-students will be grouped according to their prior knowledge of creativity. Those who struggled with the Frayer will be in one group that the teacher will monitor and scaffold. Individual: Student’s timed test and rating, gallery walk with choice of quote, chosen activities from slide show, and definition of creativity all give opportunities for individual choice and expression.

Extensions • Students will ask their parents how creativity is used in their chosen professions and will be able to come back and discuss with the class.

Differentiation/ Ascending Intellectual Demand

• For the “Seven Ways to Cultivate Creativity” students will be able to choose the activities they are comfortable with and also choose partners if they wish.

• For the Gallery Walk the students choose a quote that suits themselves individually.

• For deciding the definition of creativity students will be allowed to choose the class definition of creativity or create their own.

Lesson #1: Creating Creativity Scripted !

*bold italics indicate teacher talk !Introduction/Hook: !• I’m going to show you a few photo’s and you just tell me what you think. • Show before and after pictures of house, car, and person make-over. • What is going on in these pictures? Why do you think I am showing them to you? What

other things can be improved? Can a person be improved in other ways than physically? In what ways? What about creativity, do you think you can improve it? Why or why not? If so, how?

• Don’t discuss the definition of creativity as much as whether or not they believe that people can improve and particularly improve in the area of creativity. Encourage the mindset of improvement.

• We are going to take a “before” picture of your creativity and then compare it with an “after” picture at the end of this unit. Your “before” picture will be a timed creativity test. I don’t expect all of you to perform awesome on this the first time around but I do want you to try and do your best.

• There are two parts to this assessment, they are each three minutes. When the timer goes off, you are not to add another mark to your paper.

• Pass out the timed visual test face down. Set the timer for three minutes. Set aside when finished.

• Pass out the timed verbal test face down. Set the timer for three minutes. Set aside when finished.

• Now that you have taken these we are going to glue them into our journal and I’d like you to take a minute to reflect on yourself. On a scale of 1-10 how creative do you think you are? Write a short statement below the glued in tests that states the number you chose and why. You will not have to share these. It is expected that your handwriting is neat and that your sentence is grammatically correct and thoughtful.

• We are going to set this aside as our “before” shot until later. !Learning Activities: What is Creativity? • Pass out the culminating performance task sheet. Have them read it to themselves and ask any

questions they may have. I anticipate questions such as: “What is an investor?” “What does merge mean?” “What does ‘different industries’ mean?” etc…answer all questions until task is understood.

• All throughout this unit we will be discovering and practicing strategies that help you think creatively. In the end, you will be asked to choose a few of these activities to help solve the problem.

• Have students glue this into their journal as well. • We are about to launch into unit that explores and bolsters your creativity skills. Before we

get started I’d like to ask you what do you think creativity is? Without sharing or discussing, write your own definition of creativity underneath your rating. We will look back at this later to see if we want to change it.

• Give students time to write a definition without feedback or prompts.

Concept Development Activity • We are now going to do an activity to really see what we come up with about creativity. • Group students into groups of 3 or 4 and pass out sticky notes to each group. • Your task is to create at least 25 examples of creativity. Brainstorm together and write

these examples neatly, one for each sticky note. Make sure to listen to everyone’s ideas…there are NO wrong answers….okay, go!

• As they write prompt them with these questions: • What words come to mind when you think of creativity? • What things exhibit creativity? • What is it about them that makes them creative? • What evidence to you look for to see where something shows creativity?

• After you see that they are done call them to attention for the next task. • Now that you have all these wonderful examples of creativity you are going to put them

into groups. It is up to you to decide which of the examples belong together. Once you put them into groups use a marker to give the group a title in another color. You will do this activity on the post-it wall paper.

• Direct students to the wall paper in which they are to work • Once they are finished regroup the students at the table and ask the following questions:

• Why did you title each group what you did? • Could some of your examples fall into more than one group? • Is there a different way you could have organized them? • What other categories could you have used?

• What are some characteristics of creativity, based on the ideas that you wrote? • Listen to their responses and help them form a better understanding of creativity. • Now we are going to think a little inside-out…here are some post-its to do a little more

brainstorming. Your question is, what are some non-examples of creativity? • Pass out a different color post-it note for them to brainstorm 6-8 things that are not creative. • Once you have thought of 6-8 things that are not examples of creativity, place them on

your wall sheet with a new title and come back to your seat. • While they are writing, pose the following questions:

• What are some things that do not make something creative? • What are some things that always seem to be necessary for something to be

creative? • What evidence or proof do you have that these things are NOT creative?

• Debrief and discuss all their notes to help the better understand creativity. • Now we are going to write a generalization about creativity using your lists to help us. A

generalization is something this is always or almost always true. First I want to hear some other generalizations we can come up with. What are some generalizations you can think of….like “Humans need oxygen to live.” is “A plant will die without water” a generalization, why or why not?

• Difficult Choices • Evaluate Brainset • Battling Boredom • Stream Brainset • Emotion Rescue • Transform Brainset • What if?

• Envision Brainset • Thought Stoppers • Reason Brainset • Novel Solutions • Connect Brainset • A certain slant of light • Absorb Brainset

• Listen to some examples to make sure they understand a generalization. • Start taking ideas from the students and writing them on the board. Debate as to whether or

not the statements they gave are almost always or are always true and modify them until they are. Once we have a few good generalizations students will write this underneath their first definition of creativity in their notebook. !

[End of 1st Session] !Gallery Walk of Creativity Quotes • Before students enter the room have 8-10 quotes about creativity on the walls. • Around the room are many quotes about creativity. In a minute you will be asked to get up

and read all of the quotes. You may talk about them with your peers but keep the flow going. When you are done reading them all, I’d like you to go stand next to the one that really means the most to you and write it in your notebook.

• When students look as if they have chosen and written a quote. Ask for volunteers to discuss why they chose that quote and what it means to them. Then discuss your (teacher) favorite quote and why.

• Have students return to their seats for the next lesson. !Seven Ways to Cultivate Creativity • American Scientist is a great magazine that covers a lot of current scientific ideas and they

have a separate magazine called American Scientist: Mind that only looks at neuroscience and human cognition…anything to do with the brain! Throughout this unit you will be reading a lot of their articles from them. On their website they have a slide show that focuses on ways to spark creativity. We are going to take a look at that now. As we go through it and discuss it together, I want you to be thinking about which activities you would like to try when it is over.

• Play “Seven Ways to Cultivate Creativity” on the SmartBoard. Stop to discuss what they are asking a person to do and why. Remind them to be thinking about the one they would like to try when we are done.

• Ok, do you guys have a few that you want to try? • Have a lamented chart on the wall with the titles on it. They can write their name by the three

they want in vis-a-vis marker to try and thus group themselves. • Group students by the choices they have made and give them time to explore the activities.

They may pull the website up on a personal computer to get a better look at them. http://www.scientificamerican.com/slideshow/creativity-cultivation-unlock-ingenuity/

• You may work in a group with people that have chosen the same activity or you may work by yourself. Either way I expect your page in the notebook to be clearly titled and the work done in an organized manner.

• Monitor the room and have discussions with students and groups. When students are finished pull back together to debrief as a class what they learned about creativity or what they have created. !

Working Definition of Creativity • Have you wondered why yet, who cares? Who cares if I am creative? Who really needs it?

WHY do I have to learn this? • Discuss what they think the answers to these questions are.

• Have a class discussion about professions that use creativity (all!!!) to show them it is necessary everywhere. Discuss how it can be used, right now, in their classrooms and at home.

• Does anyone think that our definition or generalizations of creativity need to be modified now that we have learned a little bit more?

• Make any changes that they want to the working definition of creativity…they are to make the changes in their notebook as well. (Not erasing anything…just adding or striking words) !

Extension: • Assign students to talk with their parents about how creativity is important to the profession

that they are in. • Now, I’d like you to go home today and ask your parents how people have to be creative at

their work and how they use creativity at their job. Remember, even parents have a misconception about what creativity is. You may need to educate them before you ask. ALL jobs need creativity. !

Components Menu for Lesson #2: The Flow Zone !

!

Topic: Invention Grade Level: 4-6 Lesson Length: Three 1-1.5 hour lessons.

Discipline(s): All Instructor: Mollie Bounds

Content Knowledge/Standards

Standards: Students will: • use multiple processes and diverse perspectives to explore alternative solutions • apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes • create original works as a means of personal or group expression • interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a

variety of digital environments and media • be able to adapt a variety of appropriate strategies to solve problems • read a wide range of print and non-print texts to build an understanding of

themselves and to acquire new information. Unit Conceptual Lens:

• Creativity Unit Essential Understanding(s):

• Strategies can be learned to build and foster perspectives and creativity. Unit Essential Question(s):

• What strategies can be learned to build and foster perspectives and creativity? Additional Concepts (this lesson):

• strategy, inventiveness Guiding Question(s) for this lesson:

• What is fluent thought? Flexible thought? Original thought? Elaborative thought? How will these brainstorming strategies help me be creative? Why is brainstorming called brainstorming?

Assessment In this lesson, students will know what fluent and flexible thinking are, they will understand that this type of thinking is required in order to produce creative ideas, and will be able to produce flexible and fluent ideas.

Pre-assessment: • What is brainstorming? Discuss different ways they have been asked to

brainstorm in the past. What ways work for you? What ways don’t? Why? Formative Assessment(s):

• creativity scores on verbal and visual prompts • class discussions from articles and topics of fluency, flexibility, originality, and

elaboration • contributions to brainstorming sessions

Post-assessment: • Ongoing mind map of creativity

Introduction (Hook) Type II !

• Read “The Real Neuroscience of Creativity,” by Scott kaufman (Appendix E) and discuss what looking in (Imaginative) vs. looking out (Executive) means. How is this related to creativity? Show brain scans of people doing various activities such as talking, math, writing, and creating. Discuss what is going on and connect this to the term “brainstorm.”

Teaching Methods • Pre-assessment of creativity (verbal and visual), literature analysis, brainstorming, reflective discussions, reflection, cooperative learning, journaling, debriefing, mind-mapping

Learning Activities Type II !

Type I and II !!Type II

Type II and I !!!Type II !!!!!!!!

Type I and II !!Type II !!!!

Type I and II !!Type I

• Introduce Tony Buzan’s Mind Mapping as a new way to brainstorm. Watch his video/tutorial on how to do it. http://memebers.optusnet.com.au/charles57/Creative/Mindmap/index.html.

• Show the online software as well: http://mindmapfree.com/# or http://app.wisemapping.com/c/maps/3/try. Give students about 10 minutes to tinker in pairs with the program. No product is expected.

• Go over brainstorming rules with the class. (Appendix F) • Have students turn to their pre-assessment of creativity. As a class, score the

activity in each category (fluency, flexibility, and originality) to get a final score (Appendix B). Make sure they understand that this was what we call a “cold run.” and lower scores are expected.

• Brainstorm a new topic together as a class. The teacher may use the mind mapping software on Smart Board to demonstrate it’s use and then print off the final product for students to paste into their notebook. If this method doesn’t work you can create the web on the board and take a picture of it, upload it, and then print for the students.

• Score this brainstorming session as you did the pre-assessment in order to compare scores. Discuss results.

• Point out the benefits of piggybacking and multiple perspectives coming together.

• Independently read bracketed parts of the article “Creativity is Collective,” by Alexander Haslam, Inmaculada Adarves-Yorno, and Tom Postmes about how creativity is enhanced by other people and groups. (Appendix G)

• Draw a stick figure on the board and label it “disgruntled.” Have student tell you how to make it more elaborative and add to it as they give suggestions. Discuss the attributes and benefits of elaboration. Have students take out the whole class brainstorm from the previous lesson and choose one of the original ideas and elaborate on it in pairs. Discuss elaborations.

• Repeat the brainstorming activity with a verbal cue such as: “name things that have holes,” or “I don’t have my homework because…” and compare these results to the verbal activity from the pre-assessment.

• Students create a mind-map of what they believe so far about creativity. Students should use the online software if resources allow or may be creative with it in their notebook.

Resources • The Real Neuroscience of Creativity by Scott Kaufman • Tony Buzan tutorial on mind mapping at http://members.optusnet.com.au/

charles57/Creative/Mindmap/index.html • Mind Map online software http://mindmapfree.com/# and https://

app.wisemapping.com/c/maps/3/try • Creativity is Collective by Alexander Haslam, Inmaculada Adarves-Yorno, and Tom

Postmes • Mind Map

Products • Brainstorming verbal/visual individual and group scores • Ongoing mind map about creativity

Grouping Whole group: class discussions of articles, on brainstorming techniques, analysis of scores on brainstorming activities, and stick figure elaboration Small group: exploration of mind mapping online software Individual: Article readings and creativity mind map

Extensions (Optional) Research the parts of the brain and how each section relates to creativity. Draw a simple picture of the brain (or get a handout from teacher) and diagram the parts. Write a one sentence description under each heading to tell what each portion does. Underneath that description write a sentence to explain how it helps (or does not help) with creativity.

!!

Differentiation/ Ascending Intellectual Demand

• If any of the articles prove to be difficult for a student to read they can choose a buddy to read with at any point or we can break it down as a class (depends on grade level).

• discussion of key vocabulary from articles before asking them to read them • brainstorming can be done on the mind mapping software or hand-written • extension activity is optional

Components Menu for Lesson #3: The Power of Perspective !

!

Topic: Invention Grade Level: 4-6 Lesson Length: Three 1 to 1.5 hour lessons.

Discipline(s): All Instructor: Mollie Bounds

Content Knowledge/Standards

Standards: Students will: • collect and analyze data to identify solutions • use multiple processes and diverse perspectives to explore alternative solutions • apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes • create original works as a means of personal or group expression • solve problems by developing new or improved products • adapt a variety of appropriate strategies to solve problems

Unit Conceptual Lens: • Creativity

Unit Essential Understanding(s): • Creativity can provide the multiple perspectives needed to invent and solve

problems. • Strategies can be learned to build and foster perspectives and creativity.

Unit Essential Question(s): • How does creativity provide the perspective needed to invent and solve

problems? • What strategies can be learned to build and foster perspectives and creativity?

Additional Concepts (this lesson): • perspective, strategy

Guiding Question(s) for this lesson: • How can I change my perspective? How does this help me think creatively?

What strategies are there to help me change my perspective?

Assessment In this lesson, students will know what perspective is and understand that it can be used to solve problems in unique ways, student will be able to change their perspective in order to solve a problem or create a new idea/product.

Pre-assessment: • After reading Magritte’s Marvelous Hat assess students knowledge of

perspective through discussion Formative Assessment(s):

• discussions, products and process from brainstorming, SCAMPER, forced connections, and problem reversal activities

Post-assessment: • ongoing mind map of creativity and products from above activities

Introduction (Hook) !Type II !

• Read Magritte’s Marvelous Hat by D.B. Johnson. Analyze the art to see if the students can come to a consensus of what they believe Magritte’s philosophy was.

• A great resource to discuss his philosophy (translated from french) is: http://www.philosophical-investigations.org/Magritte_on_Words_and_Images

• There is a vimeo of the book, but it doesn’t show the transparent overlays, like the real book does, and this could change what they see a little. It is a great resource if you don’t want to buy the book and you have a Smart Board or something similar. http://vimeo.com/38385363

Teaching Methods Art analysis, demonstration, brainstorming, reflective discussions, reflection, cooperative learning, journaling, debriefing, mind-mapping, questioning

!!

Learning Activities Type II and I !!!!!!

Type II and/or I !!!!!!!Type II and/or I !!!!

Type II !!Type I

• How can we help ourselves change our own perspective? • Introduce SCAMPER as a tool (If they already know this tool-then do a quick

review) (Appendix I) Do an object as a class, then have them try it in pairs with an object of their choosing. If they need help with a choice offer one such as (but not limited to): a Starbucks cup, fork, tennis racket…

• Repeat the SCAMPER process above with an idea such as school, democracy, or gravity

• Another way to change your perspective is to reverse something. • Complete a problem reversal activity. Take situations and reverse them or flip

them in order to change perspective on them so that you can see the problem better. Example: If a child can’t make the ball into the basket, ask yourself what is going on with the person that CAN make it into the basket? From this analysis, find the real problem and thus the opening to solutions. Students may choose their own problem and work by themselves, in pairs, or as a teacher led group.

• Another way to change your perspective is to find commonalities where at first there seemed to be none.

• Complete Morphological Forced Connections activity. (Appendix J) • Bring students way back to the very first visual prompt from the pre-assessment

but this time, give them perspective prompts and then compare and contrast to brainstorming not done with these prompts. Reflect on the difference. (Appendix K)

• Discuss what they believe perspective is and clear up any misconceptions. Write a personal definition of perspective in journal. Discuss and reflect on why this is important for creativity.

• Students add their new knowledge to the ongoing creativity mind map. • The above activities can all be done or you can pick a few to do depending on

time constraints.

Resources • Magritte’s Marvelous Hat by D.B. Johnson or vimeo of book at http://vimeo.com/38385363

• Magritte’s philosophy: http://www.philosophical-investigations.org/Magritte_on_Words_and_Images

• Mind Map

Products • Two SCAMPER inventions • Problem Reversal solution • Morphological Forced Connection invention

Grouping Whole group: Magritte’s Marvelous Hat by D.B. Johnson discussion, Magritte’s philosophy discussion and debate, SCAMPER Small group: SCAMPER, Forced Morphological Connections, Problem Reversal Individual: SCAMPER, Forced Morphological Connections, Problem Reversal, ongoing creativity mind map

Extensions • (Optional) Teach a non-gifted student or teacher how to SCAMPER. Be prepared to come back and discuss the results.

Differentiation/ Ascending Intellectual Demand

• Students are given the choice to work in pairs or individually to practice the new perspective strategy

• Student are given the option to choose their own problems to work with or their own objects and ideas to SCAMPER

Components Menu for Lesson #4: Connect the Dots !

!Topic: Invention Grade Level: 4-6 Lesson Length:

Two 1.5 hour lessonsDiscipline(s): All Instructor: Mollie Bounds

Content Knowledge/Standards

Standards: Students Will:

• use multiple processes and diverse perspectives to explore alternative solutions • apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes • create original works as a means of personal or group expression • interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others • adapt a variety of appropriate strategies to solve problems • select and use various types of reasoning and methods of proof

Unit Conceptual Lens: • Creativity

Unit Essential Understanding(s): • Creativity can provide the multiple perspectives needed to invent and solve

problems. • Strategies can be learned to build and foster perspectives and creativity. • Creativity is necessary for inventive thinking.

Unit Essential Question(s): • How does creativity provide the perspective needed to invent and solve

problems? • What strategies can be learned to build and foster perspectives and creativity?

Additional Concepts (this lesson): • inventiveness, perspective, strategy

Guiding Question(s) for this lesson: • What strategies help me think creatively and change my perspective? Why is

connecting the dots so important? What does that mean? What strategies are being used to find connections between thing?

Assessment In this lesson, students will know that synectic thinking strategies can solve problems or create new ideas and understand that they can learn this type of thinking. Students will be able to use synectic thinking to create and/or solve a problem.

Pre-assessment: • Do a remote association cold, with no help or instruction. Ask students to name

three random objects and find a connection between them. Do not prompt or guide the students answers, just write them on the board for 2 minutes.

Formative Assessment(s): • Discussions and products of remote associations and Stories with Holes.

Post-assessment: • Products from activities and ongoing creativity mind-map.

Introduction (Hook) Type I and II !

• Reread the quote by Steve Jobs on creativity. What do you think he means by experience? Connecting the Dots? Do you believe that creativity can be learned at this point? Answer these questions in your journal and be ready to discuss.

Teaching Methods quote analysis, demonstration, brainstorming, promote reflective discussions, reflection, cooperative learning, journaling, facilitate discussions, debriefing, mind-mapping, questioning

!!

Learning Activities !Type I !!!!!!!!!Type I Type I !!!Type II !!!!!

Type 1 and II !!Type II Type II

• Introduce the term synectics and the philosophy of creativity through these quotes:

• Creative behavior occurs in the process of becoming aware of problems, deficiencies, gaps in knowledge, missing elements, disharmonies, bringing together in new relationships available information; identifying the missing elements; searching for solutions, making guesses, or formulating hypotheses. - E Paul Torrance

• Creativity is the marvelous capacity to grasp mutually distinct realities and draw a spark from their juxtaposition - Max Ernst

• A man becomes creative, whether he is an artist or scientist, when he finds a new unity in the variety of nature. He does so by finding a likeness between things which were not thought alike before - Jacob Bronowski

• Go over the Trigger Questions (Appendix M) list to help foster creative thinking. • Introduce Remote Associations (Appendix L). What strategies could train your

brain to find and/or create these associations. Why are they called remote? • Practice some together making a list of all associations. Can there be associations

that are strong but not the “right answer?” Discuss answers on board from pre-assessment.

• Practice one on your own. Was this easier or harder? Add to the ongoing discussion about group creativity and the power of perspective from multiple people.

• Does this activity remind you of a game you like to play? [Apples to Apples] • What added element in Apples to Apples makes it difficult? [Having to guess how

the judge perceives the connections] • If time, play Apples to Apples or set it up for another day. • Introduce Stories with Holes. Discuss good questioning strategies and how remote

associations can help you solve the puzzles. (Appendix N) • Complete a few Stories with Holes together. • Add to ongoing creativity mind-map keeping in mind your answers to the

questions in the pre-assessment. Has your mind changed since then?

Resources • Trigger Questions • Remote Associations list (there are many that you can find on the internet as well) • Apples to Apples game (there is a version with words and one with just pictures) • Stories with Holes by Nathan Levy • Mind Map

Products • Remote Association answers • Stories with Holes answers • Mind Map

Grouping Whole group: Discussions and practice on quotes, Trigger Question, remote associations, and Stories with Holes Small group: practice with remote associations, Stories with Holes, and Apples to Apples Individual:Answer to pre-assessment questions, Remote Associations and Mind Map

Extensions • At the dinner table, in the car, or just hanging out- ask everyone to name one random object and then try and find something in common with all of them.

Differentiation/ Ascending Intellectual Demand

• Students individualize themselves with how much they decide to participate in the discussions and what answers they come up with. Those that are not participating may need some one on one work during the individual work times.

• If they want a little more of a challenge, Apples to Apples with just pictures can provide a more challenging way to practice synectic thinking.

Components Menu for Lesson #5: Some Fun with Creative Thinking !

!Topic: Invention Grade Level: 4-6 Lesson Length:

One 1.5 hour lessonDiscipline(s): All Instructor: Mollie Bounds

Content Knowledge/Standards

Standards: Students will:

• use multiple processes and diverse perspectives to explore alternative solutions • apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes • interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others • adapt a variety of appropriate strategies to solve problems

Unit Conceptual Lens: • Creativity

Unit Essential Understanding(s): • Creativity can provide the multiple perspectives needed to invent and solve

problems. • Strategies can be learned to build and foster perspectives and creativity.

Unit Essential Question(s): • How does creativity provide the perspective needed to invent and solve

problems? • What strategies can be learned to build and foster perspectives and creativity?

Additional Concepts (this lesson): • strategy, perspective

Guiding Question(s) for this lesson: • What strategies help me think creatively and change my perspective?

Assessment In this lesson, students will know which creative strategies to employ to solve a problem and understand that creative strategies are necessary to solve problems. Students will create new ideas or solve problems with new thinking strategies.

Pre-assessment: • The discussion connecting Magritte’s painting, “Le Chateau des Pyrennes” to

“What if.” Formative Assessment(s):

• responses to and creation of “what if ’s” and brain teasers • observations of strategies used by students

Post-assessment: • mind map

Introduction (Hook) ! • Show them Magritte’s painting “Le Chateau des Pyrenees.” What are all the “What if ’s” that Magritte has employed to make this painting a reality?

Teaching Methods • art analysis, demonstration, brainstorming, promote reflective discussions, reflection, cooperative learning, journaling, facilitate discussions, debriefing, mind-mapping, questioning

Learning Activities Type I

Type I and II !Type I

Type I and II !!Type I

• Introduce Assumption Smashing (Appendix O) What if…Why is it good to ask, “What if…”

• Have students come up with their own “what if.” One that affects them greatly. Discuss.

• Relate back to Magritte’s philosophy of, “What is it not?” [For example, What if the sky were the ground…What if the sky WAS the ground…]

• Introduce lateral thinking problems (students call these brain teasers). (Appendix P) These are great to explore using new thinking skills to see which ones work the best.

• Students add to mind map

!!

Resources • Assumption Smashing list • Lateral thinking puzzles • Mind Map

Products • answers to “What if” prompt and lateral thinking puzzles • mind map

Grouping Whole group: class discussions on paining, assumption smashing, and lateral thinking problems. Small group: students can choose to work in small groups or individually on given problems on assumption smashing and lateral thinking problems Individual: students can choose to work in small groups or individually on given problems on assumption smashing and lateral thinking problems, and mind map

Extensions Optional: Study the surrealist art movement. What are some other philosophies of the painters of that time? Create a form of presentation to present to the class on your findings.

Differentiation/ Ascending Intellectual Demand

• Students are given the option to work within groups or individually. The nature of the lesson differentiates the students automatically.

Components Menu for Lesson #6: Invention !

!

Topic: Invention Grade Level: 4-6 Lesson Length: Three or Four 1.5 hour Lessons

Discipline(s): All Instructor: Mollie Bounds

Content Knowledge/Standards

Standards: • Students will: • identify and define authentic problems and significant questions for investigation • plan and manage activities to develop a solution or complete a project • collect and analyze data to identify solutions and/or make informed decisions • use multiple processes and diverse perspectives to explore alternative solutions • apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes • create original works as a means of personal or group expression • identify trends and forecast possibilities • develop an understanding of troubleshooting, research and development,

invention and innovation, and experimentation in problem solving • interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a

variety of digital environments and media • understand that invention is a new product and innovation is the introduction of

a an invention into a use that has economic value • understand that entrepreneurs are innovative. They attempt to solve problems

by developing and marketing new or improved products. • adapt a variety of appropriate strategies to solve problems • select and use various types of reasoning and methods of proof • adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language to communicate

effectively with a variety of audiences and purposes • conduct research on issues and interests by generating ideas and questions and

by posing problems. They gather, evaluate, and synthesize date from a variety of sources to communicate their discoveries in way stat suit their purpose and audience

• use a variety of technological and information resources to gather and synthesize information and to create and communicate knowledge

• read a wide range of print and non-print texts to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace

Unit Conceptual Lens: • Creativity

Unit Essential Understanding(s): • Creativity can provide the multiple perspectives needed to invent and solve

problems. • Creativity is necessary for inventive thinking.

Unit Essential Question(s): • How does creativity provide the perspective needed to invent and solve

problems? • Why is creativity necessary for inventive thinking?

Additional Concepts (this lesson): • strategy, inventiveness, perspective

Guiding Question(s) for this lesson: • What is invention? Why is creativity necessary for invention? Why is perspective

necessary? How can I use invention, creativity, and perspective to solve a problem?

Assessment In this lesson, students will know that perspective can be changed to be creative and invent and understand that it is necessary for innovation. Students will be able to change their perspective in order to invent.

Pre-assessment: • Have students look up the definitions of innovation and creativity. Individually

write what they believe is the difference between the two in their notebook. • Discuss journal entries as a class.

Formative Assessment(s): • observation during discussions and research, list-group-label, group conferences

during process, graphic organizer Post-assessment:

• pitch

Introduction (Hook) !Type II

• Read Creativity vs. Innovation (Appendix Q) and discuss the difference between creativity and innovation. Which do kids tend to be good at? How do we get to innovation stage? Clear up misconceptions and add to definition in notebook.

Teaching Methods • text analysis, demonstration, brainstorming, promote reflective discussions, reflection, cooperative learning, journaling, facilitate discussions, debriefing, mind-mapping, questioning, research, presentations

Learning Activities !Type II !!!Type II !!Type III !!!Type III !!!!Type III !!Type I

• Let students know we are ready to begin the culminating activity. Have them reread the prompt.

• List as many companies as they can think of on post-it notes. Group them into categories. Discuss categories chosen and companies written by each group. Take all the companies and arrange them on a larger poster on the wall separated by industries. Title groups.

• Have students research more companies that they can add to the groups. Make sure students add what the company makes/manufactures under their names so that the grouping makes sense.

• Have teams pick two completely unrelated companies in two different industries that are going to “merge.” Remind them of their profession and interest in the merger.

• Student then use the graphic organizer (Appendix R) to research the companies. • Students will then employ self-selected strategies from the unit to come up with a

solution to the problem stated in the performance task. Make sure students see the rubric for their pitch before they begin planning the pitch. Show them some clips from Shark Tank so they understand what a good pitch looks like. Suggest that they look up the components of a good pitch.

• Students will need to be able to pitch the problem to a judge. (Judge’s Rubric Appendix S) This judge can be the classroom teacher, practicing professional, or a parent. A winner will be chosen from the highest scoring rubrics.

• Add any new learning to mind-map.

Resources • Creativity vs. Innovation article • post it notes • internet • graphic organizer • various resources as students decide what to include in their pitch • judges rubric • mind map

Products • pitch • mind map

Grouping Whole group: discussions on article, list-group-label, and pitches Small group: list-group-label and research, preparation, and employment of pitch Individual: group assigned tasks and mind map

!!

Extensions • If available watch a few Shark Tank episodes at home to better understand what pitching means. Pay close attention to the composure of the entrepreneurs.

Differentiation/ Ascending Intellectual Demand

• Work with any individual groups or students that need support during research and organization of ideas.

• Groups can be set up by interest, ability, or self-selected.

Components Menu for Lesson #7: Now What? and So What? !

!Topic: Invention Grade Level: 4-6 Lesson Length:

One 1.5 hour lessonDiscipline(s): All Instructor: Mollie Bounds

Content Knowledge/Standards

Standards: Students will:

• use multiple processes and diverse perspectives to explore alternative solutions • apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes • create original works as a means of personal or group expression

Unit Conceptual Lens: • Creativity

Unit Essential Understanding(s): • Creativity can provide the multiple perspectives needed to invent and solve

problems. • Strategies can be learned to build and foster perspectives and creativity. • Creativity is necessary for inventive thinking.

Unit Essential Question(s): • How does creativity provide the perspective needed to invent and solve

problems? • What strategies can be learned to build and foster perspectives and creativity? • Why is creativity necessary for inventive thinking?

Additional Concepts (this lesson): • strategy, perspective, inventiveness

Guiding Question(s) for this lesson: • Can I be creative? What strategies have I learned to help me be creative? What

straggles have I learned to help me change my perspective? Why is invention so important?

Assessment In this lesson, students will know to employ strategies in order to solve a problem or create a new idea. Students will understand that they have improved their creativity ability by practicing these strategies. Students will be able to employ these strategies in the future.

This activity is a post-assessment

Introduction (Hook) !!Discuss the pitches from the previous lesson. Discuss strengths and weaknesses. Ask what strategies the students used to come up with their new products?

Teaching Methods post-assessment, self-reflection, comparison, and discussion

Learning Activities Type II Type I !

Type II and I Type I

• Take Post-Assessment of creativity and score (Appendix T) This is the “after” picture.

• Take time to discuss and reflect on growth. Students will rate themselves again on a scale of 1-10 and once again, give their reasoning for the number they chose.

• Students will then answer the essential question in their journals and discuss. • Add finishing touches and embellishments to your mind-map and do a gallery walk

to let people see each others.

Resources • post-assessment • mind map

Products • post-assessment scores • compare and contrast of pre-assessment to post-assessment • reflection on growth • mind map

Grouping Whole group: discussion of pitches and strategies employed Small group: none Individual: post-assessments and reflections

Extensions • Share your strategies with someone not in this class. • Share your product with your parents, teacher, and friends.

Differentiation/ Ascending Intellectual Demand

• Because this is a post-assessment and self-reflective piece it is differentiated automatically.

Appendices !Lesson 1: A. Frayer Graphic Organizer B. Creativity Pre-Assessment C. Concept Development Activity D. Creativity Quotes !Lesson 2: E. The Real Neuroscience of Creativity by Scott Kaufman F. Brainstorming Rules and Brainstorm Pictures G. Creativity is Collective by Alexander Haslam, inmaculada Adarves-Yorno, and Tom Postmes !Lesson 3: H. Magritte’s Marvelous Hat by D.B. Johnson art connection I. SCAMPER (and prompt list) J. Morphological Forced Connections K. Visual Perspective Prompts !Lesson 4: L. Remote Associations M. Synectics N. Stories with Holes by Nathan Levy !Lesson 5: O. Assumption Smashing P. Lateral Thinking !Lesson 6: Q. Creativity vs. Innovation by Andrew Marshall R. Culminating Performance Task Graphic Organizer S. Judge’s Rubric !Lesson 7: T. Post-Assessment !

Appendix A Frayer Model !

Name: ________________________ Date: _______________ Class: _______________ !Fill out the information to the best of your ability and independently. !

Examples Non-Examples

Most important characteristics

Less important characteristics

Definition:

Concept: !Creativity

Appendix B Creativity Pre-Assessment !

Name: _________________________ Date: _______________ Class: _______________ !In the time given use the squiggle below to make as many different pictures as you can. Give each a title. !!

Fluency: ________ Flexibility: _________ Originality: _________ TOTAL: _____

�

�

�

�

�

�

�

�

�

Appendix B cont… Creativity Pre-Assessment !

Name: _________________________ Date: _______________ Class: _______________ !!Name as many uses for construction paper as you can in the time given. !

Fluency: __________ Flexibility: __________ Originality: _________ TOTAL: ________ !

1 16

2 17

3 18

4 19

5 20

6 21

7 22

8 23

9 24

10 25

11 26

12 27

13 28

14 29

15 30

Appendix B cont… Grading Pre-Assessment !

1. The fluency score is derived from counting all answers that were not repeated. !2. The flexibility score is derived from counting how many categories of answers (different perspectives) that they came up with. For example, if a student answered: !

1. make a mobile 2. fold it into a hat 3. book mark 4. wallpaper 5. burn it 6. sell it 7. wrapping paper 8. origami 9. blow your nose in it 10. paper airplane 11. mosaic 12. use it as a napkin 13. carpet for a doll house 14. curtains for a doll house 15. bedding for a doll house 16. coaster 17. chalkboard 18. snowflakes 19. sun visor 20. spit balls 21. play tic-tac-toe on it !

You would have to decide how many are in the art category: #1,#8, #18, #11. So the student would get a point for that category. Another category would be the dollhouse. #13, 14, and 15 are one category because they all provide something for the dollhouse. This can be very tricky and may require teacher discussion with each child to derive at the fluency score. One trick is to have them write them on little slips of paper and organize them into common sense groups on the table and letting ones that don’t fit into a group be there own. !3. Originality scores are derived simply by the fact no one else in the room put that answer. Each student must determine what answers they put are completely original to them. This score should be pretty low compared to the fluency score. !Add up all three categories for a total score.

Appendix C Concept Attainment Activity !

Purpose: to develop understanding of the concept of creativity !!1. Generate examples of the concept of creativity (25 examples per group) !Guiding Questions: What words come to mind when you think about creativity? What are some examples of things exhibiting creativity? What is it about them that makes them creative?

What evidence do you look for to determine whether something is creative or has elements of creativity? !

2. After generating your list of examples, group them into categories. !Guiding Questions: How would you categorize these ideas into groups? What would you call each group? Why? Do all of your ideas of creativity fall into groups? Might some of them belong in more than one group? Is there a different way you might categorize your ideas? What other categories might you use?

What are some of the characteristics of creativity, based on the ideas you wrote? !

3. Think of non-examples of the concept of creativity. List 6-8 examples. !Guiding Questions: What are some things that do not make something creative?

What are some things that always seem to be necessary for something to be creative? What evidence or proof do you have that these things are not creative? !

4. Write generalizations about the concept of creativity using your lists of examples, categories, and non-examples. !

Guiding Questions: A generalization is something that is always or almost always true. What generalizations can you make about creativity?

Appendix D Creativity Quotes

Creativity involves breaking out of established patterns in order to look at things in a different way. ~ Edward de Bono

��� “Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life's coming attractions.” ― Albert Einstein

��� “Creativity is knowing how to hide your sources” ― Albert Einstein

��� “Creativity takes courage. ” ― Henri Matisse

��� “Don't be satisfied with stories, how things have gone with others. Unfold your own myth.” ― Rumi

��� “Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people.” ― Eleanor Roosevelt

��� “We have to continually be jumping off cliffs and developing our wings on the way down.” ― Kurt Vonnegut

��� “Others have seen what is and asked why. I have seen what could be and asked why not. ” ― Pablo Picasso

��� “An idea that is not dangerous is unworthy of being called an idea at all.” ― Oscar Wilde

��� “You can never solve a problem on the level on which it was created.” ― Albert Einstein

��� “The painter has the Universe in his mind and hands.” ― Leonardo da Vinci

��� “Doors are for people with no imagination.” ― Derek Landy

��� “There are painters who transform the sun to a yellow spot, but there are others who with the help of their art and their intelligence, transform a yellow spot into sun” ― Pablo Picasso

��� “I never made one of my discoveries through the process of rational thinking” ― Albert Einstein

��� “Around here, however, we don't look backwards for very long. We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things, because we're curious...and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.” ― Walt Disney Company

��� “The chief enemy of creativity is good sense.” ― Pablo Picasso

��� “Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.” ― Scott Adams

��� “There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and will be lost.” ― Martha Graham

��� “To be creative means to be in love with life. You can be creative only if you love life enough that you want to enhance its beauty, you want to bring a little more music to it, a little more poetry to it, a little more dance to it.” ― Osho

��� “The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.” ― Sylvia Plath

��� “Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is non-existent. And don’t bother concealing your thievery - celebrate it if you feel like it. In any case, always remember what Jean-Luc Godard said: “It’s not where you take things from - it’s where you take them to." ![MovieMaker Magazine #53 - Winter, January 22, 2004 ]” ― Jim Jarmusch

Here’s to the crazy ones — the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently — they’re not fond of rules. You

can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can’t do is

ignore them because they change things. They push the human race forward, and while some

may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy

enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.

Steve Jobs

Have no fear of perfection, you will never reach it.

Salvador Dali

��� “Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.” ― Pablo Picasso

��� “If you're not prepared to be wrong, you'll never come up with anything original.” ― Ken Robinson,

��� “The urge to destroy is also a creative urge.” ― Pablo Picasso

��� “One must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star.” ― Friedrich Nietzsche

!

!!

Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That’s because they were able to connect experiences they’ve had and synthesize new things. And the reason they were able to do that was that they’ve had more experiences or they have thought more about their experiences than other people. Unfortunately, that’s too rare a commodity. A lot of people . . . haven’t had very diverse experiences. So they don’t have enough dots to connect, and they end up with very linear solutions without a broad perspective on the problem. The broader one’s understanding of the human experience, the better design we will have. Steve Jobs

Curiosity about life in all of its aspects, I think, is still the secret of great creative people.

Leo Burnett

!“Creativity is more than just being different. Anybody can plan weird; that’s easy. What’s hard is to be as simple as Bach. Making the simple, awesomely simple, that’s creativity” !Charles Mingus

This is Where Creativity Hides

Hollow out your memoriesuntil you get to the dustiest bitsjammed into the cornersof your spirit !forgotten weekendsbeliefs you thought were glued on tight the way shame ignitesonly dormantnever gone !how does it all fit the wake of a life so much historyspooled inside us !you wonder what the point isin all this remembering

but a tree does more than reach for the sunit feasts on the rain sucking it like a straw from its darkestburiedroots !this is where creativity hideswearing the mask of your old storieswords and imagesthe debris of time waiting to be stitchedinto art. !!!Samantha Reynolds

Appendix E The Real Neuroscience of Creativity !!

The Real Neuroscience of Creativity By Scott Barry Kaufman | August 19, 2013 |  " 12 The views expressed are those of the author and are not necessarily those of Scientific American. !So yea, you know how the left brain is really realistic, analytical, practical, organized, and logical, and the right brain is so darn creative, passionate, sensual, tasteful, colorful, vivid, and poetic?

No.

Just no.

Stop it.

Please.

" Thoughtful cognitive neuroscientists such as Anna Abraham, Mark Beeman, Adam Bristol, Kalina Christoff, Andreas Fink, Jeremy Gray, Adam Green, Rex Jung, John Kounios, Hikaru Takeuchi, Oshin Vartanian, Darya Zabelina and others are on the

forefront of investigating what actually happens in the brain during the creative process. And their findings are overturning conventional and overly simplistic notions surrounding the neuroscience of creativity.

The latest findings from the real neuroscience of creativity suggest that the right brain/left brain distinction does not offer us the full picture of how creativity is implemented in the brain.* Creativity does not involve a single brain region or single side of the brain.

Instead, the entire creative process– from preparation to incubation to illumination to verification– consists of many interacting cognitive processes (both conscious and unconscious) and emotions. Depending on the stage of the creative process, and what you’re actually attempting to create, different brain regions are recruited to handle the task.

Importantly, many of these brain regions work as a team to get the job done, and many recruit structures from both the left and right side of the brain. In recent years, evidence has accumulated suggesting that “cognition results from the dynamic interactions of distributed brain areas operating in large-scale networks.”

Depending on the task, different brain networks will be recruited.

For instance, every time you pay attention to the outside world, or attempt to mentally rotate a physical image in your mind (e.g., trying to figure out how to fit luggage into the trunk of your car), the Dorsal Attention / Visuospatial Network is likely to be active. This network involves communication between the frontal eye fields and the intraparietal sulcus:

" The Dorsal Attention / Visuospatial Network

If your task makes greater demands on language, however, Broca’s area and Wernicke’s area are more likely to be recruited:

!

" The Language Network

But what about creative cognition? Three large-scale brain networks are critical to understanding the neuroscience of creativity. Let’s review them here.

Network 1: The Executive Attention Network

The Executive Attention Network is recruited when a task requires that the spotlight of attention is focused like a laser beam. This network is active when you’re concentrating on a challenging lecture, or engaging in complex problem solving and reasoning that puts heavy demands on working memory. This neural architecture involves efficient and reliable communication between lateral (outer) regions of the prefrontal cortex and areas toward the back (posterior) of the parietal lobe.

Network 2: The Imagination Network

According to Randy Buckner and colleagues, the Default Network (referred to here as the Imagination Network) is involved in “constructing dynamic mental simulations based on personal past experiences such as used during remembering, thinking about the future, and generally when imagining alternative perspectives and scenarios to the present.” The Imagination Network is also involved in social cognition. For instance, when we are imagining what someone else is thinking, this brain network is active. The Imagination Network involves areas deep inside the prefrontal cortex and temporal lobe (medial regions), along with communication with various outer and inner regions of the parietal cortex.

Green= The Executive Attention Network!Red= The Imagination Network

 Network 3: The Salience Network

The Salience Network constantly monitors both external events and the internal stream of consciousness and flexibly passes the baton to whatever information is most salient to solving the task at hand. This network consists of the dorsal anterior cingulate cortices [dACC] and anterior insular [AI] and is important for dynamic switching between networks.

" The Salience Network

The Neuroscience of Creative Cognition: A First Approximation

The key to understanding the neuroscience of creativity lies not only in knowledge of large-scale networks, but in recognizing that different patterns of neural activations and deactivations are important at different stages of the creative process. Sometimes, it’s helpful for the networks to work with each other, and sometimes such cooperation can impede the creative process.

In a recent large review, Rex Jung and colleagues provide a “first approximation” regarding how creative cognition might map on to the human brain. Their review suggests that when you want to loosen your associations, allow your mind to roam free, imagine new possibilities, and silence the inner critic, it’s good to reduce activation of the Executive Attention Network (a bit, but not completely) and increase activation of the Imagination and Salience Networks. Indeed, recent research on jazz musicians and rappers engaging in creative improvisation suggests that’s precisely what is happening in the brain while in a flow state.

However, sometimes it’s important to bring the Executive Attention Network back online, and critically evaluate and implement your creative ideas.

Or else this can happen:

" As Jung and colleagues note, their model of the structure of creative cognition is only a first approximation. At this point, we just have leads on the real neuroscience of creativity. The investigation of large-scale brain networks does appear to be a more promising research direction than focusing entirely on the left and right hemispheres; the creative process appears to involve the dynamic interplay of these large-scale networks. Also, converging research findings do suggest that creative cognition recruits brain regions that are critical for daydreaming, imagining the future, remembering deeply personal memories, constructive internal reflection, meaning making, and social cognition.

Nevertheless, much more research is needed that investigates how the brain creates across different domains, species, and timescales.

It’s an exciting time for the neuroscience of creativity, as long as you ditch outdated notions of how creativity works. This requires embracing the messiness of the creative process and the dynamic brain activations and collaborations among many different brains that make it all possible.

© 2013 Scott Barry Kaufman, All Rights Reserved

!

Appendix F Brainstorming Rules/Pictures!

https://dschool.stanford.edu/wp-content/themes/dschool/method-cards/brainstorm-rules.pdf!!

Brainstorming METHOD

��� �!���"#�!�

�� #� �!���"#�!�

Brainstorming is a great way to come up with a lot of ideas that you would not be able to generate by just sitting down with a pen and paper. The intention of brainstorming is to leverage the collective thinking of the group, by engaging with each other, listening, and building on other ideas. Conducting a brainstorm also creates a distinct segment of time when you intentionally turn up the generative part of your brain and turn down the evaluative part. Brainstorming can be used throughout a design process; of course to come up with design solutions, but also any time you are trying to come up with ideas, such as planning where to do empathy work, or thinking about product and services related to your project – as two examples.

Be intentional about setting aside a period of time when your team will be in “brainstorm mode” – when the sole goal is to come up with as many ideas as possible, and when judgment of those ideas will not come into the discussion. Invest energy into a short period of time, such as 15 or 30 minutes of high engagement. Get in front of a whiteboard or around a table, but take an active posture of standing or sitting upright. Get close together. Write down clearly what you are brainstorming. Using a How-Might-We (HMW) question is a great way to frame a brainstorm (e.g. HMW give each shopper a personal checkout experience?). (See more on the “’How Might We’” Questions” method card.) There are at least two ways to capture the ideas of a brainstorming: 1.  Scribe: the scribe legibly and visually captures on the board ideas that team members call out. It is very

important to capture every idea, regardless of your own feelings about each idea. 2.  All-in: Each person will write down each of his or her ideas as they come, and verbally share it with the

group. It is great to do this with post-it notes, so you can write your idea and then stick it on the board.

Follow and (nicely) enforce the brainstorming rules – they are intended to increase your creative output.

:: 28 ::

Appendix F!Brainstorming Rules/Pictures!!!

!

!!!xhttp://www.onlinehumananatomycourse.net/parts-of-the-brain-and-their-functions/!!

Appendix G Creativity is Collective!

!

Appendix H Art Connection

!

!!

!!

!!!!!!!!

!

Appendix I SCAMPERS !!

!!!!!

Substitute • What materials or resources can you substitute or swap to improve the product? • What other product or process could you use? • What rules could you substitute? • Can you use this product somewhere else, or as a substitute for something else? • What will happen if you change your feelings or attitude toward this product?

Combine • What would happen if you combined this product with another, to create

something new? • What if you combined purposes or objectives? • What could you combine to maximize the uses of this product? • How could you combine talent and resources to create a new approach to this

product?

Adapt • How could you adapt or readjust this product to serve another purpose or use? • What else is the product like? • Who or what could you emulate to adapt this product? • What else is like your product? • What other context could you put your product into? • What other products or ideas could you use for inspiration?

Modify • How could you change the shape, look, or feel of your product? • What could you add to modify this product?

• What could you emphasize or highlight to create more value? • What element of this product could you strengthen to create something new?

Put to Another Use • Can you use this product somewhere else, perhaps in another industry? • Who else could use this product? • How would this product behave differently in another setting? • Could you recycle the waste from this product to make something new?

Eliminate • How could you streamline or simplify this product? • What features, parts, or rules could you eliminate? • What could you understate or tone down? • How could you make it smaller, faster, lighter, or more fun? • What would happen if you took away part of this product? What would you have

in its place?

Reverse • What would happen if you reversed this process or sequenced things differently? • What if you try to do the exact opposite of what you're trying to do now? • What components could you substitute to change the order of this product? • What roles could you reverse or swap? • How could you reorganize this product? !Example SCAMPER Ideas: Items: Sharpie, 3 ring binder, Starbucks cup, fork, tennis shoes, racket, door, keyboard,

remote control airplane, elevator, crutches, etc… Ideas: pollution, democracy, school, gravity, etc… !

Appendix J Morphological Forced Connections!!!

http://www.proactivestyle.com/www.proactivestyle.com/pepass/X53017_MFCON_A.pdf

��P

roa

ctive

S

tyle 200

5

ww

w.p

ro

active

style

.co

m

Sheet 1 of

1

Mo

rph

olo

gical F

orced

C

on

nectio

ns

Theme: Curre

ntAppr

oaches:

Alternativ

es:

Alternatives

Attrib

utes

Attribute

Heading:

Instruction

s:

Ide

ntify a ran

ge

of attrib

ute

s app

licab

le to the

topic/thing

(hea

din

gs for colu

mn

s)

List the curren

t attribu

tes/chara

cteristics as the

topic/thing

is curre

ntly on the

seco

nd

row

A

dd furthe

r variation

s of each attribu

te un

de

r the rele

va

nt co

lum

n hea

din

g

Loo

k for differe

nt co

mb

ina

tio

ns of attrib

ute

s (on

e from

each

colum

n) to join a

s a chain

. P

ick the m

ost prom

ising

, ring

and link the sele

cted a

ttribu

tes.

Appendix K Visual Perspective Prompts !

While brainstorming consider what your squiggle could be: 2. on a door 3. in your hand 4. on a train 5. at the grocery store 6. on the water 7. at a museum in a garden 8. under the water 9. in the arcade 10.at a toy store 11. on the playground 12. in your pocket 13.on a bicycle 14.at the zoo 15.on a dog 16.on a baseball field 17.beside your bed 18.at the circus 19.on an airplane 20. in your backyard 21.on a car 22. in the sky 23.at the library 24.on a face 25.at a movie theater 26.on a plate 27. in the kitchen 28.on a farm 29. in a tree 30.under a plate 31.etc… !Prompts from Primary Education Thinking Skills, 2012. !

Appendix L Remote Associations !!

Test 1 Each of the ten problems below consists of three “clue” words. For each problem, please think of a fourth word that relates to each of the other three “clue” words. Write your response on the line alongside each problem.!––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––!Example:!Elephant–Lapse–Vivid Answer: Memory!––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––!1. Bass–Complex–Sleep ______________!2. Chamber–Staff–Box ______________!3. Desert–Ice–Spell ______________!4. Base–Show–Dance ______________!5. Inch–Deal–Peg ______________!6. Soap–Shoe–Tissue ______________!7. Blood–Music–Cheese ______________!8. Skunk–Kings–Boiled ______________!9. Jump–Kill–Bliss ______________!10. Shopping–Washer–Picture ______________!!!!Test 2 Each of the ten problems below consists of three “clue” words. For each problem, please think of a fourth word that relates to each of the other three “clue” words. Write you response on the line alongside each problem.!––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––!Example:!Elephant–Lapse–Vivid Answer: Memory!––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––!1. Athletes–Web–Rabbit ______________!2. Shelf–Read–End ______________!3. Sea–Home–Stomach ______________!4. Car–Swimming–Cue ______________!5. Board–Magic–Death ______________!6. Walker–Main–Sweeper ______________!7. Cookies–Sixteen–Heart ______________!8. Chocolate–Fortune–Tin ______________!9. Lounge–Hour–Drink ______________!10. Keel–Show–Row ______________!!

!Test 1!1. deep!2. music!3. dry!4. ball!5. square!6. box!7. blue!8. cabbage!9. joy!10. window!!!Test 2!1. foot!2. book!3. sick!4. pool!5. black!6. street!7. sweet!8. cookie!9. cocktail!10. boat!!!www.mike-stalkfleet.com/downloads/Remote_Associates_Test.pdf !

Appendix M Synectics !

The term Synectics from the Greek word synectikos which means "bringing forth together" or "bringing different things into unified connection.” !Since creativity involves the coordination of things into new structures, every creative thought or action draws on synectic thinking. !Creative behavior occurs in the process of becoming aware of problems, deficiencies, gaps in knowledge, missing elements, disharmonies, bringing together in new relationships available information; identifying the missing elements; searching for solutions, making guesses, or formulating hypotheses. - E Paul Torrance - !Creativity is the marvelous capacity to grasp mutually distinct realities and draw a spark from their juxtaposition - Max Ernst !A man becomes creative, whether he is an artist or scientist, when he finds a new unity in the variety of nature. He does so by finding a likeness between things which were not thought alike before - Jacob Bronowski !Buckminster Fuller summed up the essence of Synectics when he said all things regardless of their dissimilarity can somehow be linked together, either in a physical, psychological or symbolic way. !Synectic thinking is the process of discovering the links that unite seemingly disconnected elements. It is a way of mentally taking things apart and putting them together to furnish new insight for all types of problems. !Ideas are not born in a vacuum. First of all, you must identify the problem you have and write it down. Next, you must gather information about it to mix in with the information already stored in the brain. Now do something. Take creative action by using the Trigger Questions to transform your ideas and information into something new. These questions are tools for transformational thinking and may lead you to some great discoveries. !!

Trigger Questions for Synectics

SUBTRACT ADD TRANSFER EMPATHIZE ANIMATE SUPERIMPOSE CHANGE SCALE SUBSTITUTE FRAGMENTATE

ISOLATE DISTORT DISGUISE CONTRADICT PARODY PREVARICATE ANALOGIZE HYBRIDIZE

METAMORPHOSE SYMBOLIZE MYTHOLOGIZE FANTASIZE REPEAT COMBINE !

SUBTRACT

Remove certain parts or elements Compress or make it smaller

What can be reduced or disposed of? What rules can you break?

How to simplify? How to abstract, stylise or abbreviate? !

ADD Extend or expand

Develop your reference subject Augment, advance or annex it

Magnify, make it bigger What else can be added to your idea, image, object, material? !

TRANSFER Move subject into a new situation

Adapt, transpose, relocate, dislocate Adapt subject to a different frame of reference Move subject out of its normal environment

Transpose to a different historical, social, geographical setting Adapt a bird wing model to design a bridge

How subject can be converted, translated, transfigured? !EMPATHIZE

Sympathize with subject Put yourself in its shoes

What if subject has human qualities? Relate to subject emotionally, subjectively !

ANIMATE Mobilize the visual and psychological tensions Control the pictorial movements and forces Apply factors of repetition and progression

What human qualities subject has? !SUPERIMPOSE

Overlap, place over, cover, overlay Superimpose dissimilar images or ideas

Overlay elements to produce new images, ideas, meanings Superimpose elements from different perspectives, disciplines, time

Combine sensory perceptions such as sound and color Superimpose several views to show different moments in time !

CHANGE SCALE Make subject bigger or smaller

Change time scale - seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years Change proportion, relative size, ratios, dimensions !

SUBSTITUTE Exchange, switch or replace

What other idea, image, or material can you substitute? What alternate or supplementary plan can be employed?

FRAGMENTATE Separate, divide, split, dissect

Take your subject or idea apart Chop up, disassemble it

What devices can divide it into smaller increments? How to make it appear discontinuous? !

ISOLATE Separate, set apart, crop, detach Take only part of your subject

"Crop" your ideas with a "mental" viewfinder What element can you detach or focus on? !

DISTORT Twist subject out of its true shape, proportion or meaning

Make imagined or actual distortions Misshape it, yet produce unique metaphoric/aesthetic quality

Make it longer, wider, fatter, narrower Melt, crush, bury, crack, tear, torture, spill something on it !

DISGUISE Camouflage, conceal, deceive, encrypt

Hide, mask, "implant" subject into another frame of reference Conceal by mimicry, like chameleons and moths

Create a latent image that communicate subconsciously !CONTRADICT

Contradict the subject's original function Contradict visually and intellectually, yet remain structurally integrated

Contradict laws of nature such as gravity, time, human functions Contradict normal procedures, social conventions, rituals Contradict optical and perceptual harmony (eg. illusions)

Deny, reverse !PARODY

Ridicule, mimic, mock, burlesque or caricature Make fun of your subject, roast it

Transform it into a joke, limerick or pun Make zany, ludicrous or comic references

Make a humourous cartoon drawing of the problem !PREVARICATE

Fictionalise, "bend" the truth, falsify, fantasize Use subject as a theme to present ersatz information

Interprete information differently to mislead or confuse !ANALOGIZE

Draw associations

Seek similarities between things that are different Compare with elements from different domains, disciplines

What can I compare my subject to? Make logical or illogical associations !

HYBRIDIZE Cross-fertilize - wed subject with an improbable mate

What would you get if you crossed a _____ with a ______? Cross-fertilize color, form and structure

Cross-fertilize organic and inorganic elements Cross-fertilize ideas and perceptions !

METAMORPHOSE Transform, convert, transmutate

Depict your subject in a state of change Change color, configuration

Make structural progressions Make aging (cocoon-to-butterfly) transformation

Make "Jekyll and Hyde" transmutations !SYMBOLIZE

A visual symbol stands for something other than what it is Design an icon for your idea

How can your subject be imbued with symbolic qualities? Public symbols are cliche, well-known and understood

Private symbols are cryptic, have special meaning to its originator Works of art are often integrations of both public and private symbols

Turn your subject into a symbol (public or private) !MYTHOLOGIZE

Build a myth around your subject Transform your subject into an iconic object !

FANTASIZE Fantasize your subject

Trigger surreal, preposterous, outlandish, bizarre thoughts Topple mental and sensory expectations

How far out can you extend your imagination? What if automobiles were made of bricks?

What if alligators played pool? What if insects grew larger than humans?

What if night and day occurred simultaneously? !REPEAT

Repeat a shape, color, form, image, or idea Reiterate, echo, restate or duplicate your reference subject in some way

Control the factors of occurrence, repercussion, sequence and progression !

COMBINE Bring things together

Connect, arrange, link, unify, mix, merge, rearrange Combine ideas, materials and techniques

Bring together dissimilar things to produce synergistic integrations What else can you connect to your subject?

Connect different sensory modes, frames of reference, disciplines !!!http://members.optusnet.com.au/charles57/Creative/Techniques/syn_quest.htm

!Appendix N

Stories with Holes !The following guidelines and prompts were taken from Nathan Levy’s book Stories with Holes Volume 3 (2007). !Methodology: The first time a group plays, it will be necessary to begin by announcing something like the following: “I am going to tell you a story with a hole in it — I mean that an important part of the story is missing. Listen carefully so you can find the missing part, for the story may not seem to make much sense to you at first…” !At this point, tell the story once, pause, and then tell it the same way again. Then say… !“You can ask questions that can be answered either with a “yes” or a “no”. I can only answer “yes”, “no”, “does not compute”, or “is not relevant”. If I answer, “does not compute”, that means that the question

you asked cannot receive a straight “yes” or “no” without throwing you off the track. !Allow for questions about the process, if there are any, but usually it is best simply to jump into the game by having the questioning start. The process becomes clear as the game progresses. Once a group has played the game, the full directions given above for playing the game are unnecessary. !From this point on, answer only in one of the four designated ways. The following is an example of a computed story taken from Stories with Holes, and how it might be played: !Story: Mitch lives on the twentieth floor of an apartment building. Every time he leaves, he rides a self-service elevator from the twentieth floor to the street; but every time he returns, he rides the same self-service elevator only to the fifteenth floor, where he leaves the elevator and walks up the remaining five flights of stairs. Repeat, then ask who knows the answer already; if any do, ask them to observe and not give away the answer. !Question: Does the elevator go all the way up? Answer: Yes Q: Does he want the exercise? A: No. Q:Does it have something to do with the elevator not working right? A:No. Q:Does he have a girlfriend on the 15th floor who he stops to see? A:No. Q:Does he have something different about him? A:Yes. Q:Is he a robber? A:No. Q:Is he a real person? A:Yes. Q:A tall person? A:No.

Q:Is size important? A:Yes. Q:I know! He’s too short to reach the button! A:Right. !At this point, make certain that all the participants understand the answer and why it is the correct answer. !Some example prompts: !1. As the dentist looked into the mouth, he was frightened. By what? (The dentist was kayaking into the

mouth of a river. He realized that he still had a long way to paddle and he might not make it) !2. “I ain’t done nothing. Why are you taking me in? Nothing is broke, “ said Frank.,“There truly is

something broken, and you must learn to never commit this crime again,” said the authority. (Frank had fractured (broken) the English language. His teacher was taking Frank in to school for extra tutoring. !

3. Noah’s quiet boat is very dangerous for swimmers in the ocean. (QUIET (shhhhh!) and Boat of Noah’s (ARK) = shark !

4. Phillip can eat pears, cream, carrots, bread and spinach, but not apples, milk, burgers, or fish. Why?(Phillip can only eat foods with at least three letter words in them. (pears, cream, carrots, bread, spinach) !!

Levy, Nathan. (2007). Stories with Holes, Volume 3. N.L. Associates, Inc. NJ. For personal use only.

Appendix O Assumption Smashing !

Assumption Smashing

A useful technique of generating ideas is to list the assumptions of the problem, and then explore what happens as you drop each of these assumptions individually or in combination. For example, I used to work in the Customer Service division of a software company. When customers purchase software, they are encouraged to purchase support agreements for a cost of 15% of the software value. The revenue from this maintenance funds the support personnel who answer telephones. The assumptions of this situation are: ! • Customers purchase maintenance agreements • Customers pay 15% of the software's worth for support • Support is a product and should therefore be sold • The software vendor provides helpful, timely support !Now think about the situations as each attribute is dropped.

What happens if support is free? - Maybe the software price should be increased and the support given away, creating the impression of free support.

Don't support the product - Don't offer support. The vendor doesn't have to support it, so doesn't have to employ support staff. If anyone rings for help, tell them to buzz off! This could lead to customers forming their own support groups (user groups) or turning to other areas such as the Internet, bulletin boards, newsletters, independent support specialists and so on.

Even more assumptions could be dropped. What if the vendor gave away the software. You are most likely reading this file with Netscape Naviagor or Microsoft Explorer. Did you buy that software? How do you think Netscape makes money if most people don't pay for the browser?

!Free form assumption dropping

Assumption dropping is a great way to relax and think of crazy ideas. How would you answer these questions? • What if gravity stopped for one minute every day? • What would you do if you didn't have to sleep? • Describe your working week if you only had to go to work (or school) for one day a week? Or one

month of the year? More examples can be found in a document on Escape Thinking.

http://members.optusnet.com.au/charles57/Creative/Techniques/assump.htm

Appendix P Lateral Thinking !

Lateral Thinking Puzzles, unlike most puzzles, are inexact. In a sense, they are a hybrid between puzzles and storytelling. In each puzzle, some clues to a scenario are given, but the clues don't tell the full story. Your job is to fill in the details and complete the story. Obviously, there is usually more than one answer to any given puzzle, but, in general, only one solution is truly satisfying. !For example: A man lives on the twelfth floor of an apartment building. Every morning he takes the elevator down to the lobby and leaves the building. In the evening, he gets into the elevator, and, if there is someone else in the elevator -- or if it was raining that day -- he goes back to his floor directly. Otherwise, he goes to the tenth floor and walks up two flights of stairs to his apartment. !Solution: The man is a dwarf. He can't reach the upper elevator buttons, but he can ask people to push them for him. He can also push them with his umbrella. !Some websites with great lateral thinking puzzles: !http://www.rinkworks.com/brainfood/p/latreal1.shtml http://www.folj.com/lateral/ http://www.thecourse.us/students/lateral_thinking.htm http://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/sk/puzzles.htm http://goto.bilkent.edu.tr/gunes/lateralthinking.htm

Appendix Q Creativity vs. Innovation !

There's A Critical Difference Between Creativity And Innovation DREW MARSHALL, PRIMED ASSOCIATES APR. 10, 2013, 5:19 PM 71,656 !There’s a lot of confusion surrounding creativity and innovation. “Creative types,” in particular, claim that creativity and innovation can’t be measured. Performance, however, demands measurement so you can identify what success looks like. In a world that changes every two seconds, it’s imperative that companies figure out the difference between creativity and innovation.

You better believe they’re different.

Creativity vs. Innovation

The main difference between creativity and innovation is the focus. Creativity is about unleashing the potential of the mind to conceive new ideas. Those concepts could manifest themselves in any number of ways, but most often, they become something we can see, hear, smell, touch, or taste. However, creative ideas can also be thought experiments within one person’s mind.

Creativity is subjective, making it hard to measure, as our creative friends assert.

Innovation, on the other hand, is completely measurable. Innovation is about introducing change into relatively stable systems. It’s also concerned with the work required to make an idea viable. By identifying an unrecognized and unmet need, an organization can use innovation to apply its creative resources to design an appropriate solution and reap a return on its investment.

Organizations often chase creativity, but what they really need to pursue is innovation. Theodore Levitt puts it best: “What is often lacking is not creativity in the idea-creating sense but innovation in the action-producing sense, i.e. putting ideas to work.”

Managing Innovation

Because creativity and innovation are often confused, it’s long been assumed that you cannot force innovation within an organization. It’s either there, or it isn’t. The introduction of a common language for innovation — design thinking — enables organizations to better measure milestones in their innovative efforts. 

In order to employ design thinking, it’s necessary to understand it as a system of overlapping spaces, rather than a set of process steps to move through. Those spaces are: inspiration, during which the problem that motivates solution-finding is identified; ideation, the process of generating and developing ideas; and implementation, the activities that enable a creative idea to move from the drawing board to the marketplace. Any design thinking-based project may loop back to an earlier space more than once as a team explores, develops, and implements its idea.

Design thinking provides a consistent approach to defining challenges. It helps organizations identify problems before they even begin the brainstorming sessions most associated with creativity. Now, organizations can actually see what they were missing when previous ideas didn’t reach market sustainability.

Using design thinking, organizations can capitalize on creativity by paying attention to the life of the idea after its initial development. To be of value, applied creativity must always lead to innovation — linking a great idea with an actual customer need (or, better yet, the needs of a whole market!). The use of design thinking in this manner also demands the guidance of engaged leadership.

Leaders are critical to the success of any group’s long-term innovation strategy. It’s their job to ensure that innovation is consistently pursued and their employees don’t settle into business as usual. They set the tone for what is, and is not, possible in the business through their attention and action.

Companies to Model

Organizations serious about fostering innovation have to wrestle with two main issues: risk-taking and failure aversion. All innovation involves risk, and all risks include the possibility of failure. Failure should never be seen as a black mark; it is a learning experience. Leaders and their organizations cannot be afraid of failure — or they will never incorporate the innovation they need to truly meet customers’ needs. Design thinking offers a path to risk-taking that’s manageable, repeatable, and driven toward maximizing the effectiveness of the new idea.

Of course, the very term “innovation” connotes something new and different. Still, paying attention to companies that are consistently innovative in their industries is always a good practice. Consider these companies that use the principles of design thinking to achieve their strategic goals:

• Proctor & Gamble embraced innovation under former CEO A.G. Lafley. During his tenure, P&G’s value increased by more than $100 billion. In 2000, it had 10 billion-dollar consumer brands; today, it has 22.

• Kaiser Permanente is the largest not-for-profit health provider in the USA. Kaiser’s National Facilities Services group has, for over five years, been working on the Total Health Environment, a program applying design thinking to every aspect of Kaiser’s operations, from medical records to color palettes. The results speak for themselves: improved patient health, satisfaction, soundness of sleep, speed of healing, and cost control.

• Square is particularly associated with innovation since its plugin device helps millions of mobile vendors and small business owners. No longer are they confined to cash payments or expensive credit card machines. Square noticed that the economy was quickly becoming paperless and provided customers a way to keep up.

Creativity is important in today’s business world, but it’s really only the beginning. Organizations need to foster creativity. Driving business results by running ideas through an innovation process puts those ideas to work — for companies and their customers. Creativity is the price of admission, but it’s innovation that pays the bills.

Andrew (Drew) C. Marshall is the Principal of Primed Associates, an innovation consultancy. He lives in central New Jersey and works with clients across the U.S. and around the world. He is a co-host of weekly innovation-focused Twitter chat, #innochat; founder, host, and producer of Ignite Princeton; and a contributor to the Innovation Excellence blog. He is also providing support for the implementation of the Design Thinking for Scholars model with the Network of Leadership Scholars (a network within the Academy of Management).

!!Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/difference-between-creativity-and-innovation-2013-4#ixzz3A3EXWLjq!!http://www.businessinsider.com/difference-between-creativity-and-innovation-2013-4 !!

Appendix R Graphic Organzier !

Name: ________________________ Date: __________________ Class: ____________ !What two companies are you merging and what do they produce? !Company 1: _____________________________________________________________ Company 2: _____________________________________________________________ !

Now that you know a little about the two companies you are ready to use some of your new creative strategies to come up with the best new product that both these companies could come together to make. Try to keep both companies happy and create a product that can be sold to the public.

Company 1: _______________________________ Company 2: _______________________________

Where are the manufacturing plants located? !!Where are the manufacturing plants located?

How many plants do they have? !!How many plants do they have?

What kind equipment is needed to manufacture their goods? !!

What kind equipment is needed to manufacture their goods?

What is their advertising like? !!What is their advertising like?

What is the history of the company? !!What is the history of the company?

What is the overall personality of the company? !!What is the overall personality of the company?

Strengths? !!Strengths? !!

Weaknesses? !!Weaknesses? !!

Appendix S Judge’s Rubric

! Multimedia Project : Merger Pitch

!Teacher Name: Mollie Bounds Group Name: ________________________________________ !!Originality 4-Product shows a large amount of original thought. Ideas are creative and inventive. 3-Product shows some original thought. Work shows new ideas and insights. 2-Uses other people\'s ideas (giving them credit), but there is little evidence of original thinking. 1-Uses other people\'s ideas, but does not give them credit. Oral Presentation 4-Interesting, well-rehearsed with smooth delivery that holds audience attention. 3-Relatively interesting, rehearsed with a fairly smooth delivery that usually holds audience attention. 2-Delivery not smooth, but able to hold audience attention most of the time. 1-Delivery not smooth and audience attention lost. Presentation 4-Well-rehearsed with smooth delivery that holds audience attention. 3-Rehearsed with fairly smooth delivery that holds audience attention most of the time. 2-Delivery not smooth, but able to maintain interest of the audience most of the time. 1-Delivery not smooth and audience attention often lost. Project Planner 4-All requirements are met and exceeded. 3-All requirements are met. 2-One requirement was not completely met. 1-More than one requirement was not completely met. Workload 4-The workload is divided and shared equally by all team members. 3-The workload is divided and shared fairly by all team members, though workloads may vary from person to person. 2-The workload was divided, but one person in the group is viewed as not doing his/her fair share of the work. 1-The workload was not divided OR several people in the group are viewed as not doing their fair share of the work. !Rubric Made Using: RubiStar ( http://rubistar.4teachers.org ) !

Appendix T Post-Assessment !!

In the time given use the squiggle below to make as many different pictures as you can. Give each a title. !!

Fluency: ______ Flexibility: _______ Originality: _______ TOTAL: _______ !

�

�

�

�

�

�

�

�

�

!!Name: _________________________ Date: _______________ Class: _______________ !!Name things that drop. !

Fluency: ________ Flexibility: _________ Originality: _________ TOTAL: _________

1 16

2 17

3 18

4 19

5 20

6 21

7 22

8 23

9 24

10 25

11 26

12 27

13 28

14 29

15 30