Stimulating Creative Writing Using Found Objects

Author Kate Wiseman finds all sorts of scope for the imagination in objects she finds mudlarking on the Thames. Here she shares her approach for inspiring high school students to infuse their fiction writing with curiosity and historical-based speculation.

The first thing to say is that I am a mudlark, licensed by the Port of London Authority to comb the foreshores of the Thames at low tide, searching for trash and treasure. Very often my finds fall into both of these camps: broken clay pipes and pot shards are as exciting to me as medieval spurs (I haven’t actually found one of these yet and it’s second from top on my wish list) and Roman rings (I have found one of these. Well, the top of one.)

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      string(343) "... argument is rather rambling andunfocussed. It is also laden with quotes that the authorsobviously believe add weight to their argument. Perhaps itexemplifies the danger of using visual tools such as mind(or model) maps to plan writing. You end up with lots ofrelationships, associations and references. It you don’t ..."
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      string(5651) "60 Teaching Thinking  Autumn 2002www.teachthinking.comReview: booksBookRevi ewsThinking skills and Eye Q: Visual tools forraising intelligenceOliver Caviglioni, Ian Harris and BillTindallNetwork Educational Press, 2002-10-09The most valuable thing about this book is that it containsa catalogue of ‘visual tools’ – comprising descriptions of thekinds of charts and diagrams that can help us to organise,connect and recall our thinking.The authors have categorised the tools according to theirpurposes. So, for example, structural tools include targetmaps, bubble maps, tree diagrams, model maps (theauthors’ version of Mind Maps), concept maps and Veemaps. All these tools help us to organise ideas, knowledgeor information into hierarchies and clusters.Differential tools encourage us to identify similarities anddifferences between items of study. Venn diagrams, double-bubble maps, matrix diagrams, force field analysis charts,bridge maps, continuum lines, priorities grids and ranking-order diagrams are all explained. I recognised many of thesebut some were new to me.Temporal visual tools are also offered to capture thechronology of events and causal tools such as fishbonediagrams and algorithms are included to help us identifymultiple causes. There is also a comprehensive listing ofnumerical tools, representational tools, differential tools andorganisational tools.All this really is very useful and I found myself thinking ofquite a few ideas for lessons just by browsing casuallythrough the pages. By suggesting the purposes, essentialelements and histories of all the tools, the authors are surelyright to claim that they have empowered teachers andstudents. They have provided a set of tools that anyone canuse in a variety of learning situations.In the first part of the book, the authors seek to introducevisual tools and convince us that their use will bring greatbenefits to learners.Personally I would have preferred a concise argumentpresented, dare I say it, in a fairly linear way. For me theargument should be pretty straightforward. Knowledgedoesn’t flow like a story. It has no beginning, no end and noself-evident climax. It is hard, therefore, to find significancein the ideas and bits of information that pass us by. One wayof establishing significance is to notice relationships suchas similarity and difference, cause and effect, plan and action,reason and conclusion, main idea and detail, important andnot important, relevant and not relevant.Visual tools are immensely useful because they promptus to grasp at such relationships. The graphic layout helpsto make the target relationship clear and the use ofkeywords and key images encourages us to simplify ourthinking temporarily in order to concentrate on the centraltask of finding patterns. However, it is when we come toexplain those patterns to others or to ourselves that thevalue of the tools is fully realised. For I believe that theprocess of expanding the keywords and images intocoherent sentences and arguments is an essential step onthe road to understanding. The acts of compressing,mapping and expanding ideas are very stimulating anddemanding. That is what makes the tools that prompt themso useful.The authors take a long time to tell us why we should usevisual tools. For me, their argument is rather rambling andunfocussed. It is also laden with quotes that the authorsobviously believe add weight to their argument. Perhaps itexemplifies the danger of using visual tools such as mind(or model) maps to plan writing. You end up with lots ofrelationships, associations and references. It you don’t distilthose into a concise argument that expands on the essentialpoints and limits the others, then you risk losing yourreaders. For example, the book cover states confidently that,‘there has been a great deal of fuzzy thinking about thinkingskills. Thinking Skills and Eye Q makes very clear what thinkingis.’ There is a paragraph in the book on ‘thought objects’ thatcarries the weight of this claim, but not enough space wasgiven to explaining what thought objects are and in whatways they are related to language. After reading it, I was leftwith more questions than answers.Having said that, we still have a very useful book and, inparticular, the catalogue of visual tools is something I wouldlike at my side whenever I set out to plan lessons.Steve Williamswww.teachthinking.com61Teaching Thinking  Autumn 2002Review: booksBook Reviews�Concept cartoons in science educationStuart Naylor and Brenda Keogh, 2000Milgate House Publishers,This book is a real find. It introduces a simple but verypowerful learning tool – a cartoon style drawing in whichcharacters express a range of viewpoints about the scienceinvolved in an everyday situation. The cartoon stimulatespupils who read it to enter the argument and justify theirviews. Often their discussions lead them to constructexperiments to explore the conundrum further.Concept cartoons are suitable for learners in all Key Stagesand across a range of subjects. They are also very useful asassessment tools, as the latest Key Stage 3 guidelinesrecognise. The authors’ list of possible uses is quite extensive:● Making the learners ideas explicit● Challenging and developing learners ideas● Illustrating alternative viewpoints● Providing a stimulus for discussion● Helping learners to ask their own questions● Providing starting points for discussion● Promoting involvement and enhancing motivation● Applying scientific ideas in everyday situations● As a means of differentiation and assessment●"
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Creative Teaching & Learning

Book Reviews

24 Feb 2011

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      string(5670) "As the students wouldbe doing some creative writing about the story at a later date, I was asked torestrict myself to non-plot-driven writing as far as possible.Making it synaestheticOne of the major principles of synaesthetic learning is that students can learnmore readily if they are given a variety of routes into a topic. Their senses arestimulated by giving them more than simply verbal cues. The challenge in thisproject was not just to employ synaesthetic methods to make the experience asmemorable as possible, but to see if thestrategies could measurably enhancethe students’ writing outcomes.To this end, aural, tactile and visualcues were prepared to introduce thetopic, with word cards and discussionwork developing the initial impact. Ascheme was designed to differentiatework for a mixed ability class, with ahigh proportion of students for whomEnglish was an additional language.One aim of the session was to showthe class teacher how to reproducethe style of the session on anotheroccasion, so it was important not tomake resourcing a potential problem.The materials needed to be inexpensiveand readily available. They consistedof:Six sets of laminated word cards in different coloursBlank word cards in appropriate coloursA small, decorated box for word cardsA larger box to act as a treasure chestItems for the treasure chest, of various colours and types. We used beads,broken jewellery, Christmas decorations, velvet and other materials, and aselection of items contributed by staff members.A recording of sea soundsAn extract from ‘The Hobbit’A writing frame of six sectionsSo how did it go?The session began with an aural resource, a tape of seaside noise – wavescrashing on the beach, gulls crying and so on – designed to calm the childrenand focus them on the session. The children were asked to sit quietly with theireyes shut to listen to this, and to think about the place they imagined they couldbe hearing those noises. All the children talked about being at the seaside, andthen quickly associated this with their recent reading of ‘Treasure Island’. Theywere asked to imagine being on the island. What sort of treasure might they belooking for? They came up with a range of ideas for the treasure chest.nnnnnnnn29Volume4.2nCreativeTeaching&LearningTeachingApproachesWe then moved on to text and storytelling, maintaining the aural focus byreading a passage from ‘The Hobbit’ about the treasure of Smaug the dragon.This was a familiar text for the children, and we were able to discuss the detailsof the way in which the treasure is presented. The children picked up on the ideathat the description was composed both of details about the physical appearanceof the treasure, and details recording Bilbo’s feelings about the treasure. In thisway, the idea of drawing in all kinds of experiences to descriptive writing wasintroduced.After this, the tape of sea sounds was played again, and the children sat withclosed eyes while the treasure chest was brought out. This was a large boxfilled with tapestries, sequinned fabrics, gold coins, fake jewels, ropes of pearlsand beads, silver goblets and other beautiful things. When the children openedtheir eyes, they were speechless initially, and then eager to look closely at allthe things in the box. The children wanted to touch and look at the treasure,and we did this for a while, as they asked questions about what was in there(mainly of the ‘is it real?’ variety). This activity introduced a tactile focus, whichreinforced learning by strongly linking words and mental images with physicalobjects.Students then began to talk about finding words to describe the treasure theywere examining. Going for a visual approach this time, I picked up a fake rubyand asked if there was a better word than ‘red’ to describe its colour. Somechildren were silent, while others came up with various suggestions. Theywere encouraged to ask each other and share ideas. All suggestions werepraised and discussed. We did the same with some other objects, and then Iasked what we could do if we didn’t have friends to ask – how would we finda different word for ‘red’ or ‘green’? Some of the children already knew aboutdictionaries, and suggested these, but others pointed out that dictionaries mightnot help if you wanted to find synonyms. Eventually, they came up with the ideaof a thesaurus, and I found that, as expected, there was a divide in the classbetween those children who were happy to use a thesaurus, and those whowere intimidated by the idea of it.At this point, we introduced the etymology of ‘thesaurus’, discussing theidea of treasure-hoards and word-hoards with examples of how you could find,for instance, different words that meant ‘shiny’. An old-fashioned brass-boundchest full of different coloured word cards was then produced. Each set of wordcards contained a large range of words designed to intrigue and challenge thechildren. They were told that this chest was their thesaurus for today. Insideit were words that would allow them to describe the big treasure chest morevividly. Words were deliberately included that even the highest-ability child wouldbe unlikely to know (e.g. coruscating), mixed in with more familiar words. Acentral sheet was provided with the words and brief definitions, so that all thechildren would be encouraged to find out what different words meant.The children were fascinated by the word cards. Students were divided intomixed-ability groups and each group was assigned a colour. The children thenhad to take all the words of"
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Creative Teaching & Learning

Using synaesthetic principles to develop extended writing

18 Oct 2013

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      string(5742) "this:Find a stone.Hold it in your hand.Feel its weight.What colour is it?Is the surface rough or smooth?What does it smell like?With a partner, write down some words about the stone.Describe the place you found the stone.Who might use the stone? What for?Someone remembers using the stone. Write down the memory.Now you can add any writing activity you like (for any age group or ability) andextend it in any direction: a word association game, a poem about texturesand smells, a murder mystery that starts on a beach, a feature article aboutunemployment in tourist resorts, an interview with an older person aboutmemories of childhood.Why it isn’t easy…I’ll stop to contradict myself now: one of the important things about creativityis that it isn’t easy. Sometimes I wonder if this applies to adults wanting tobe creative more than to children. What do I mean? There are three differentaspects to this way of thinking:nnnnnnnnnnnnnnn“Psychologistshave provedthat theeasier a taskbecomes, themore likely weare to do it ”37Volume3.2nCreativeTeaching&LearningCreativeapproachesYou have to look in a new way. It’s sometimes easy to go for the mostobvious: the stereotyped phrase, story, character, image, or situation, theone we’ve seen repeated on TV or on the Internet. Creativity means (perhapsusing close observation) avoiding the most obvious path or reworking it.We’re not finding something new, but often we’re looking at ordinary thingsin a new way.You have to be brave. When everyone else seems to be going for anuninteresting or same-old approach, it takes some nerve to stand out fromthe crowd, to say ‘yes, I am creative’, to get your idea out – especially asit might be criticised.You have to be disciplined. Creative practice takes practice. There is nosuch thing as getting it right first time, or even getting it right. With a media(seemingly) full of instant gratification, and a vision of creativity influencedby the Romantics, it can be hard to understand that creativity is not aboutinstant results or bolts of lightning. The more you practise the better at ityou get.Constraints in creativityOne of the things I discovered as I looked at my own creative processes wasthat anything at all can be an idea (or perhaps it’s better to say anything can bea starting point or a trigger or can tell a story). In a way, creativity is a way ofdescribing your ability to shape, like a potter shapes clay. That is, we take thematerial (the idea, startingpoint or trigger) and weapply a constraint to it.This can be as simple asplaying a Creative Writinggame or as complicatedas plotting a 100,000 wordnovel. There is somethingabout the constraint thatallows one to be creative.When we teach creativityw e ’ r e s u g g e s t i n gconstraints (or exercisesor structures) for studentsto adopt and explore, andwe’re allowing studentsspace to apply their ownconstraints. In so doingwe make the process easyat first, repeatedly usingshort exercises or wordplay activities. Gradually we build on this approach,extending the exercises and making them more and more open ended,until we start to ask students to come up with their own structures andpatterns.Making the steps small enoughYou’ve looked at your own creative processes and have begun to write downwhat you do when you’re ‘being creative’. You can extend and develop yourlist over the coming weeks, remembering the different approaches you tookand recording them in a notebook. Once your list is fairly substantial, turnwhat you have into a list of short writing exercises. Take steps backwards untilyou have a set of instructions. Make sure the first instruction is as simple aspossible. How do you make sure your steps are small enough? Keep takingsteps back until you can’t simplify the process any more. Look at my closeobservation exercise called ‘Find a Stone’ above for an example.1.2.3.Creativeapproaches38Volume3.2nCreativeTeaching&LearningSetting up your own small steps approachHere’s a recap:Look at your own creative processes. Think back to a time when you were ‘beingcreative’. Don’t analyse too much. What did you do? Make a list.Keep adding to your list over a few weeks.Turn your list into a set of writing exercises. Write a series of instructions foreach item on your list.Keep taking steps back until you’ve made the first instruction as simple aspossible. (For example, ‘Find a Stone’.)Try adapting the activities for particular groups of students, based on particularthemes. (For example, the beach.)Pay attention to the layout of the room. Experiment with seating students in smallgroups in circles, for instance, or around a small display of natural objects, or everydayobjects they have brought in themselves to create learning stations. (A bag withobjects spilling out of it is a good stimulus.) You can also use props: a woodenspoon, a box, a set of dominos, or a plant pot, for example, are all interesting propsthat can be displayed in an empty space. I recently had the opportunity to start awriting activity in a drama studio, with some beginner playwrights. I used a photoalbum, a set of postcards, an umbrella and a hat. The resulting pieces of writingwere all very different.One way to structure creative learning is to ask students to move betweendifferent stations, responding to particular activities. Alternatively, use jigsaw-learning. Have students work on the same activity together in small groups, andafter ten minutes, ask one representative of each group to move on to a new group.That person reports on what happened in his"
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Creative Teaching & Learning

Small steps to creative thinking

30 Apr 2014

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      string(5695) "juxtaposed pictures. Once the musicis over ask them to write down as many feeling wordsthey can to describe the emotions they felt about theoceans in the first fantasy and how these changed inthe second fantasy.Ask the children to work in small groups of four to sixand ask them to create a verbal collage for presentationto the rest of the group. They need to think about howthe words they used to describe the beautiful placecan be juxtaposed with those used to describe theenvironmental destruction. By sharing and combiningtheir words ask them to create a visual and verbalcollage that can be performed using their bodies andtheir voices.Ocean envirOnments 2 l Cross CurriCulum ProjeCt Plan83Volume 2.3 n Creative Teaching & LearningPhilosophy for ChildrenThose teachers who are familiar with P4C can use theGuided Fantasy work as a stimulus for a philosophicalenquiry. Ask children to work in groups of three togenerate a question they would like to discuss in theirActivity 3: Creating Sea Paintingsand ProseThis activity is designed to involve children incollaborative artwork. The activities will help themstudy how different colours and textures are used inart to depict different landscapes and moods. It willalso develop children’s ability to work in pastels. Theycan use their own work to compare and contrast withthe work of each other and other artists. They can alsoexperiment with some of the methods used by otherartists and use them imaginatively to inform their ownwork.ResourcesMake a collection of postcards or photocopies ofpaintings of the work of different artists who havepainted the seas, oceans and beaches. These canbe found on the Internet. We suggest you includeTurner’s Snow Storm: Steam Boat off a Harbour’sMouth, William Henry Hunt, Seascape, Sir Cedric Morris’Landscape of Shame, Lowry’s Seaside Promenade andalso Dame Ethel Walker’s Seascape: Autumn Morning.Monet has a number of paintings featuring the seaincluding Rocks at Belle-Ile. These are available fromthe Tate Gallery in London as well as on their websitewww.tate.org.uk. If you want hard copies there havebeen some excellent collections from different artistspublished in books at very reasonable prices. You willneed to choose one painting for each group of four,which can be cut into four equal pieces for the childrento work from.Each child will need a sheet of A4 paper, pencils andpastels.GroupingsChildren work in groups of four.ProcedureThe task is for each group to work on the reproductionof one painting, which has been divided into four equalpieces, each child taking responsibility for one piece.Each child will enlarge their quarter of the pictureto A4 size, taking care to match each quarter so thefinished result will form a whole picture. Each childshould begin by using pencils to sketch and enlargethe main outline of their portion of the picture. Oncethey have done the sketching they need to put the fourpieces together to see if the lines match up. They needto discuss where distinctive objects in the paintingswould be located. They need to collaborate throughoutthe activity to see if all the pieces match up. The finalpictures should be done in pastels, paying attentionto the colours and tones in the picture. The picture isfinished when all four pieces have been fitted together.Put the pictures on display for the children to view.Schools using this activity have been delighted with thequality of their artwork.enquiry circle. Each question should be displayed anddiscussed before the class vote on which question theythink would produce the best enquiry. After a secretballot lead an enquiry into the chosen question with thechildren.Ocean envirOnments 2 l Cross CurriCulum ProjeCt Plan84 Creative Teaching & Learning n Volume 2.3Activity 4: Imaginative WritingGroupingsChildren work as a class, individually and in smallgroups.ResourcesThe set of paintings collected for the previous activity,either printed out or collated into a power-point slideshow.Stage 1: Viewing the paintingsShow the slides or paintings and ask each child tochoose one of the paintings which appeals to themthat they would like to use as a stimulus for creativewriting. Ask them to look closely at their chosenpainting (this can be done by viewing the picture ona computer or printing it out) and brainstorm wordswhich come to their minds when they look at it.Stage 2: Preparing to writeAfter they have created their ‘word hoard’, they canjoin with others who have selected the same paintingand compare their words. Have they used ‘feeling’words to describe emotions? They should separate allthe feeling words and put them together and discusshow the paintings made them feel and why theychoose particular words to go with their painting.Next they should group together nouns and adjectives– the describing words. How do the words help themto describe what the painting looks like to someonewho hasn’t seen it?What do they think the artist was trying to express intheir chosen painting?Stage 3: WritingAfter they have had an opportunity to discuss theirpaintings and the words they have chosen with atleast one other person, they should use these wordsto produce a piece of creative writing, either poetryor prose, which has been inspired by the painting,making use of the words which they have collected.The children could also consider how the use ofmetaphor could enhance their creative writing.If there are people in their chosen painting they maylike to create a story about the characters.The final versions of their chosen pieces of writing canbe displayed"
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Creative Teaching & Learning

Project Plan: Ocean Environments Part II

10 Feb 2012

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