Creative Inspirations

The quote above is located in the restroom at the Horses Mouth Bookstore and Internet Cafe in Buffalo, Texas. If you were here, as I am (far from my home in Bothell, Washington), you would not need to read it backwards because it is located on the wall directly across from the mirror, so of course it is reflected backwards, which is forwards to the reader.

How amazingly clever is that? And what a great example of creativity. And how did Laura St. John, the owner of this absolutely charming establishment (that I would frequent daily, were it only located in my part of the country) come up with the idea? She was in her car driving, thinking about the bookstore when the movie, The Shining popped into her head, specifically, the part where a little girl writes the words, red drum on a mirror, which of course when read backwards is murder. Leonardo da Vinci often wrote things backwards. And so the whole thing flows together perfectly, beautifully.

I love this story because it shows how the experiences of our lives can inspire creativity. Something you see, do, feel, learn, or experience in one sphere of your life can be the beginning of a creative idea in a whole different part of your life.

Which means that one great way to facilitate creativity is to have a great many and varied experiences, and to give your kids that same opportunity. So, go to the zoo, the museum, the bookstore. Travel, read, ask questions, walk in the woods, try a new recipe, learn new things and on and on and on and on. Creativity is everywhere, even, and perhaps especially, thousands of miles from home.

Cooking with Kids

Literature Questions Grades 1-3

Traveling with Kids: No Screens Allowed

Yes, you have a portable DVD player (your vehicle may have even come with one) and yes, your kids have a wide array of handheld video games. And yes, making use of these devices ensures a quiet and peaceful ride. It also ensures that your kids' brains will be on autopilot and that no interaction of any depth will take place.

The alternative? Make a travel kit for your children. Put everything into a bin, plant it in the backseat (or under the seat in an airplane) and watch your kids actually use their brains, have fun, and perhaps even grow closer to their siblings as they interact together (really, it can happen!)

Audio Books With books on CD, MP3 or cassettes, you get basically the same effect as a movie or video game - kids are happy and quiet, but they are also listening to quality literature and using their imaginations. Public libraries have a wide selection and many have ways to download MP3 audio books online without even visiting the library. You can listen as a family by using the vehicles audio system, or you can hook your kids up with earphones. A double jack is a handy thing to have so that two children can listen to the same story.

Arts and Crafts Materials You can buy a travel set, but it is not all that hard to collect things from around the house. Consider including:

• Colored pencils and markers (no crayons if you are going somewhere warm!)
• Pad of drawing paper
• Stickers (get lots of colored dots for little kids)
• A portable whiteboard with markers
• Small amount of playdough in a baggie
• Wiki Stix
• Colorful pipe cleaners
• Yarn if you have a knitter, finger weaver, or braider

Games It seems like every board game ever made now has a travel edition, which is great, but just because it is small, does not necessarily make it a good choice for the car. Watch out for small pieces that are easily lost and games that require a flat playing surface. Choose two or three favorites. We have gotten a lot of mileage from Trouble, Travel Bingo, Mad Libs, and card type trivia games. You can also play family car games.

Other Neat Stuff

• Map of where you are going so they can track the journey
• Puzzle books - sudoku, invisible pen books, word searches etc.
• Mini Etcha Sketch
• Various Klutz products
• Magnet boards
• Window stickies
• Prism glasses (makes lights into rainbows, great for night travel)
• One-piece handheld puzzles such as a Rubrics Cube or those puzzles with loops, and rings that you have to untangle in some clever way
• You could print out Daily Brain Teasers for some challenging fun
• Snacks!

I'm sure I missed many great ideas. If you have more to add, please add a comment!

Would You Rather Questions

Creative and Critical Thinking Activities

Thanksgiving Activities

Okay, enough with the hand turkeys. There are plenty of other activities you can do for Thanksgiving.

Here are some ideas from Minds in Bloom:

• You can give your students Thanksgiving Analogies.
• You can ask them some fun Thanksgiving Would You Rather Questions.
• Here are four Thanksgiving Brainteasers.
• Students could also make a Really Long List of things they are thankful for.
• Or you could do a Class Brainstorm with Post-Its.
• Before you pash the motatoes or pake the bie, you could try writing some Thanksgiving Spoonerisms.
• You could do a Pass it On Thanksgiving Story.
• You could practice thinking fluently and flexibly using Thanksgiving themes.
• And finally you could teach your students this great Thanksgiving song

Thanksgiving Analogies

Here are some fun Thanksgiving Analogies to use with your students.

1. Thanksgiving : November : : Valentine's Day : _________
2. pilgrim hat : head : : pilgrim shoes : ______________
3. turkey : bird : : yam : ______________
4. parade : watch : : food : ______________
5. kind : helpful : : grateful : _____________
6. empty : full : : apart : ______________
7. Thanksgiving : Thursday : : Mother's Day ____________
8. drumstick : turkey : : crust : _________
9. Plymouth Rock : place : : The Mayflower : ___________
10. fork : utensil : : plate : ___________
11. water : cup : : food : ____________
12. mash : potatoes : : carve : ____________
13. Miles Standish : Pilgrim : : Squanto : ____________
14. turkey leg : drumstick : : spud : ____________
15. delicious : yummy : : stuffed : ____________

Analogy Worksheets

Creative and Critical Thinking Skills

Need a Great Thanksgiving Song?

Here is a link to A Turkey Knocked on My Back Door, from Gettin Creative. It has the lyrics and a video of a child singing the song, which is great for learning the tune.

My daughter brought this song home in second grade. She is in eighth grade now and I still make her sing it!

The Creative Classroom: Come to the Front

Your students spend a lot of time looking at the front of your classroom, so it is important to make the most of that space. This is valuable real estate, so think carefully about how you want to use it.

In most classrooms, the central feature is the whiteboard. If you are one of the lucky few that is blessed with an Interactive White Board (sometimes called an Activboard or SMART board) you may want to have a look at this excellent site on Interactive White Boards in the Classroom, which includes all kinds of ideas for uses, tutorials, and software downloads.

A document camera (sometimes called an ELMO), is another amazing teaching tool to have. If have one, you may want to take a peek at this site, which offers 100 Ideas for using a document camera.

Even if you have these fabulous tools, you probably also have a traditional whiteboard, and in fact, many teaches only have a white board. Hopefully, yours is big and magnetic. Here are some thoughts on making the most of it:

Markers

• Colored dry-erase markers cost the same as black ones, yet so many teachers just have black and red. Colors engage your students and can help make a point. Just stay clear of yellow and light shades of orange and pink.
  
• All dry-erase pens are not created equal. Find a brand you like and stick with it.
  
• If your school does not budget enough for dry-erase pens, have each child bring a pack at the start of the year as part of their school supplies.
• I've heard that storing dry-erase markers vertically, caps down extends their life. Consider mounting a marker holder on the whiteboard try for that purpose.
• Keep nondry-erase markers away from the whiteboard (seems obvious but...)

Magnets

• Make sure you have lots of strong ones. Great for displaying specific lesson visual aids, posters, charts, etc. You can get some with hooks too.
• Make a set of magnets with each child's name. Make sure they are big and easy to grab for the younger grades. These can be used to split kids into groups, take attendance, show the results of a poll, track individual students, show classroom jobs etc.
• Rather than writing the daily schedule on the board each day, use strips of tag board (sentence strips work great) to write the names of the subjects, laminate, and put magnets on the back. Now you just have to move the subjects around each day and maybe add the times.

More Ways to Use the Space
In addition to the alphabet, roll-up screen and maps, clock etc., you might also want to consider some of these ideas:

• Table space with commonly used teaching supplies.
• A tall stool.
  
• Banners above and/or below the white board with you favorite quote or saying.
• Charts or posters you'd like to be in the front of your student's minds, e.g., classroom rules, steps to the writing process, editing symbols, classroom jobs etc.
  
• An extra whiteboard, flip chart or giant pad of paper on a stand.
• You can make a class dictionary by labeling a library pocket with each letter of the alphabet and then putting them below the whiteboard. Add index cards with the corresponding letters for each pocket. When students need a word, they bring it to you (or another classroom helper) to write the word on the card. By December, many of the words students need are already on the cards. When a student needs a word, he simply gets the card, copies the word and puts it back for the next user.

Every so often, sit in one of your student's desks and take a look at what they see when they look at the front of your classroom. Ask yourself: Is it interesting and appealing? Is it too busy? Is it too plain?

Be sure to check back next week for ideas about how to make the most of the back of your classroom.

You may also want to check out the other posts in the Creative Classroom Series

Image from Ms. Larsen's Classroom Homepage.

Nonfiction Activities to Use with Any Book

Differentiated Spelling Activities for Any List