I am super excited about my latest Interactive Bulletin Board! Check out my October-themed board and grab a few freebies below.

I wanted a new writing "hook" to motivate and engage my 3-5 students in the new year. Even though the majority of my students are identified as academically and/or intellectually gifted, I still have some very, (and I mean VERY), reluctant writers.

So, here's my thought . . . pictures! A picture is worth a thousand words, right? So, I created a series of visual writing prompts to engage my little learners. Each writing prompt includes 4-6 pictures with purposefully open-ended labels, such as "a science experiment," "an explosion," "an unexpected outcome," and "a bewildered student." Students combine the 4-6 elements to craft an original story. Simple, easy, and engaging. And the best part - the activity is naturally differentiated. Writers at all levels can access and interact with the prompts in the way that is most appropriate for their unique strengths and abilities.




My hope is that these visual prompts will not only motivate my students, but also help to scaffold and support the writing process. It is also an opportunity for students to look at familiar objects and events in new ways (aka: a forced association). A forced association asks students to find similarities among items/ideas that are seemingly unrelated. By combining words that appear to be dissimilar, students are encouraged to think in new ways and to develop new perspectives and understandings. Forced associations are a great way to promote critical and creative thinking. (You can read more about forced associations here.)

Hi All! I am checking in today to share one of my favorite K-2 activities - Animal Soup! Animal Soup, by Paul Doodler, is a short, lift-the-flap book that combines everyday animals to create silly outcomes.


Let's check out how it works! Below are two sample pages from the book. After considering the question, students can lift the flap to see the 3rd page. Give it a try:






Seriously, this book cracks me up every year! My favorite combination is the flamingo and monkey. (A flamonkey :-)

Once we read the story as a class, I give students the task of creating their own animal. Each student selects two animal cards. (I cut the cards and put them in a "magic box" prior to the lesson. Students randomly select their animals from the magic box; it makes the selection of the animals for their soup a little dramatic and a lot of fun!)

Students then glue the cards to the activity sheet below.



From here, students combine elements of each animal's name to create a new animal species. Some examples might include:

Creativity is a skill, just like reading or math, that can be taught and learned. No kidding!! :-) Through exposure, experience, and practice, creative thinking is a skill anyone can cultivate.

Not only is creative thinking FUN, but it is also important! Divergent thinking increases a student’s desire to learn and supports his/her intellectual development. When we encourage creative thinking, we promote student engagement, motivation, and love for learning.

My first post in this series, "Let's Get Creative," addressed the 4-Framework model of creativity and shared easy, low or no-prep activities to use in the classroom. You can read more about that here, if you like. This post will focus on ways to develop a culture of creativity in the classroom.

I am all about creativity in the classroom! (Who isn't? Creativity rocks, right?) I've always known that creativity is an art, but I've learned that it is also a science. In fact creativity is a skill, just like reading or math, that can be taught and learned. Yes, for real!! :-) Through exposure, experience, and practice, creative thinking is a skill anyone can cultivate.


According to Paul Torrance, (who is often referred to as the "Father of Creativity"), creative thinking can be quantified. He broke it into a 4-part framework, which includes fluency, flexibility, originality, and elaboration. I love this framework because it gives me a scaffold with which to promote, support, and nurture creativity in my students, myself, and my class.

After much research and planning, I am thrilled to introduce my 5th grade reading group to GENIUS HOUR! Genius Hour is a project-based learning activity that allows students to explore their own passions; it encourages creativity in the classroom and promotes inquiry, perseverance, problem solving, and innovation, among other lifelong skills. It provides students a choice in what they learn during a set period of time during school.

Genius Hour has many roots, but is based on a business practice used by Google with its employees. Google allows their developers to spend up to 20% of their work week to pursue projects of personal interest. The rationale is that happy, inspired, engaged employees are more motivated, innovative, and productive. Google’s 20% projects have worked so well that some of their most popular ideas, such as g-mail and Google News were created during this time. To learn more about Genius Hour, check out the short video below:

How will it work?
Over the next semester, my students will pursue a project of personal interest. It can be on whatever topic they are passionate about, but it must include the following project guidelines:

1. Projects are inquiry based; an essential question drives the project. Students need to communicate what they want to learn about and why. If a question can be answered with a quick “Google search,” then we will develop the question or topic to include greater depth.

2. Projects are research based. For example, if a student wants to learn how to design an App or how to speak Italian, research on the topic must be involved.

3. Projects are shared! Every student will present their final project within and outside our class. Students may share on a small scale, like with another class, or they may elect to go big and share the information they've learned in a global way.



What Common Core State Standards does Genius Hour support and develop?
Genius Hour nurtures the vast majority of the College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Reading. (You can read more about the Common Core Anchor Standards here: http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/RI/5 The standards our 5th grade ELA group will address with intensity include:

• RI.5.1 Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
• RI.5.7 Draw on information from multiple print or digital sources, demonstrating the ability to locate an answer to a question quickly or to solve a problem efficiently.
• RI.5.9 Integrate information from several texts on the same topic in order to write or speak about the subject knowledgeably.
• SL.5.2 Summarize a written text read aloud or information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.
• SL.5.4 Report on a topic or text or present an opinion, sequencing ideas logically and using appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details to support main ideas or themes; speak clearly at an understandable pace.

I introduced Genius Hour over the course of a week with some inspirational videos from Kid President, a young boy named Cain from East L.A., and group of elementary-aged school students who tried to save the world in 5 minutes a day. We talked about how these videos could inspire, drive, and relate to our own passions. I also wanted students to realize that they could think BIG! Genius Hour projects have no boundaries, so I want students to think outside of the box (or the classroom!) to pursue areas of genuine, authentic interest and inquiry.

We also read about and discussed the difference between an interest and a PASSION. A.J. Juliani's Blog post, "6 Simple Strategies to Help You Find your Passion," has some wonderful insights, which I used to prepare for the lesson. Based on our initial brainstorming session, my 5th graders established that we have thousands of (if not more!) interests! Using Juliani's idea of a "March Madness" bracket, we organized our favorite topics and teased out our interests from our Passions.


Once an area of interest was selected, each student generated "I wonder" questions, which we used to create a WONDER WALL. Questions were then analyzed and sorted. Questions that could be answered with a quick Google search were eliminated. Open-ended, inquiry based questions were identified and improved. On Friday (the 4th day of Genius Hour), students submitted a project proposal, which included three of their best inquiry-based questions.


I have brought the students' proposals home to pour over this weekend. Once projects are approved, I plan to solicit the knowledge, skills, and expertise or our parents and community to help students achieve their goals. (I'm working on an volunteer survey now, which I will post for free once complete.) Stay tuned!

If you are interested in learning more about or starting a Genius Hour with your own class, the following three web sites are a TERRIFIC place to start!

• Genius Hour LiveBinders
• Genius Hour Wiki
• Genius Hour - Where Passions Come Alive

Thanks for checking in!