Creativity part two

Now it is time for part two of my creativity post. You can check out the first part HERE. Most of these tips are tips that can work either for a classroom teacher or ideally, for a specials teacher who sees the same children year after year. This is definitely a process for building creativity. 

Start early

If you are a core teacher, start fostering creativity early in the year. If you set a precedent that creativity is acceptable, then students will be much more willing to continue being creative throughout the year. Students are always more willing to try new things at the beginning. They like to please their teachers early on. If you wait until later they will be much more concerned with their friends and looking "cool". 

For specials teachers, begin fostering creativity in kindergarten. I am always amazed at what Kindergartners can come up with when given the opportunity. This also helps set a precedent in your classroom. Student know that they must be creative in your room. This year is the first year that my 5th grade students will have spent all 6 years with me (they started as kindergartners in my program). Their creative ability is beyond any I have experienced before this. The fact that they have been being creative since kindergarten has really given them the confidence to push their limits. Their improvisational skills rival some 9th graders. So PROUD of them!

Start easy

Just like you scaffold core subjects like math and reading, you need to scaffold creativity as well. When you begin teaching creativity start with very simple tasks. Check out my creativity brain breaks for some ideas. I love to start off with games because kids think of  it as "fun" and not "learning;" it makes them much more willing to try new things. Once they have had some success with creativity, start assigning small assignments for them to get creative with. Make sure you work with them and encourage students to go farther. After they are good at small assignments, try a huge project. I love the bunraku assignment we use. Check it out here. This is a great assignment for students to be creative both in their writing and art. 

Give lots of opportunities

the more opportunities and ways to be creative, the more likely students will try. When creativity becomes part of their daily routine, students are more likely to integrate creativity. Try to make sure every day/week has at least one or two creative assignments. This does not need to be intense projects. It could simply be a simple game or writing assignment. But practice makes perfect, even in creativity. The more often they are creative, the more creative they will become. 

Praise

Students need confidence. When you are creative, you are very vulnerable. Students want to make sure they what they are doing is acceptable. The more praise you can give, the more confident they will become, the more likely they will be to become more creative. Students love praise. When they are really creative give lots of praise. Let them present/perform for the class or school; they will get tons of praise from the people who matter most (their peers). Find creative ways to praise the students. Have them display artwork in the building. Praise them in front of other teachers. Let them go and perform for another class. Try to do anything you can to get them excited about creating.

Have fun

Creativity happens when you are having fun. Don't be so serious. Sit back and relax!

It amazes me how creative my students are. I love teaching creativity in my classroom. I firmly believe that the jobs of the future rely on workers ability to be creative. If we do not take time to be creative now, students will never learn how to stretch their minds and push their limits. Even though creativity is not a specific common core standard, it is still one of the most important things we can teach our students. 

How do you teach creativity? Link up to this post in the comments and we can create a database of the best creative projects for students! 

Stage directions battleship

So for the week before spring break, which always happens to be crazy, I decided to adapt a game I saw on Pinterest for theatre. The original game was a musical note battle ship Check it out here!. It looked like so much fun that I thought my students could benefit from it as well. The kids loved it and it was great to play a game right before the break!

Set up

For each board you need two Manila folders and eight tokens (2  of four colors). Once I had the boards made I reused them for each class but you could have them create their own to take home.

First staple the two folders together so that one side can stand while the other side is flat on the ground (see picture). Then you or the students need to label the parts of the stage. This is a great time to talk about the difference between stage directions and house directions.

Rules of the game.

Player one goes first. Player one places four tokens (one from each color) anywhere on the board. The only rule is you can only have one token per space. Player two must then use stage directions to guess  how the director arranged the stage. 

"Is the red token down stage right"

"Miss"

"Is the blue token center stage?" 

"Hit"

When player two correctly guesses where a token is placed, player two places the corresponding token on his board (blue center stage) 

Player two continues to guess until they figure out player one's stage picture. Once the stages match, they game flips and it becomes player two's turn to direct and design the stage picture.

Advanced play

No horizontal or vertical lines (talk about how directors try to avoid straight lines on stage so they can't have straight lines on the board)

Two per square (allow two people to share the same space)

Script based (stage picture must be based off a script)

Adaptation 

I feel like there is a way to play this same game and teach foot positions (profile, full front etc) I am working on it!

This spring break I am going to try and create a cute board and standing people to use with the game to make it more realistic. Check back later to see the final result!

Brain Break: Silly Suspect

Premise

The premise of the game is simple. A police officer is interviewing a suspect about an unknown crime(let the kids make it up). The suspect is very silly though and can only say one word. This game results in hilarious conversations between the officer and suspect. 

Rules

Police officer can only ask classroom appropriate questions. The suspect can only answer using the silly word. Encourage your suspect to use nonverbal communication and vocal inflection to communicate the answers while only saying the one word.

Twist: have a competition between your two actors, the first one to giggle or break character looses.

Students should try to ask silly questions that make the answer seem even more outrageous.

Steps

Before the game write out several silly words on index cards (see silly words below). 

For each round choose two students to perform. Try to pick a quieter student for the suspect. This makes it easier since they already know what they are going to say. It also helps students build confidence in front of an audience and sets the student up for success. Pick a confident or gifted student as your police person. This will push those students to develop their creativity and improvisation skills.

Suggested words

You can really use any silly word you want for this game,but here are a few suggestions.

Apple

Wackadoodle

Lalalamoooo

Pizza

Mommy

Baby doll

Zipitiy 

Puppy dog

Blah blah blah

Guitar

Candy

Penguins

Hocus locus

Brain Break: What Can It Be?

What can it be? Is one of my favorite creativity increasing brain breaks around. It works for any grade level and can be played for as long or as short as you like. This game is super easy to set up and will have the kids thinking creatively and critically in no time!

The premise of the game is simple, give the students an object and say "I know this is a ------, but what can it be?" Students then use their creative and critical thinking skills to come up with as many different ways you could use the object and demonstrating that use. I only have two rules for this game 1) must be class room appropriate 2) you can't repeat what someone else said. 

Here is how the game is played at my school. 

First everyone comes and sits in a circle (you could have them stay that their desks but I like to get them closer together for the game). 

Next bring out any random item you have. I like to start with very nondescript items (length of fabric, a stick) and move towards more specific items (toothbrush, pencil)

Then tell you students "I know this is a ------, but what can it be?" ( if this is your first time playing you night want to give a few creative examples to get the thinking flowing).

Finally have the students answer the question one at a time acting out their answer. (For example the stick could be a baseball bat- act out swinging a bat, a dog stick - play fetch, or a curling iron - act out curling hair). The round is over when either everyone in the circle has passed or you run out of time.

For me this game is all about creativity. There are no wrong answers. If they can act it out and it's class appropriate, it counts. After the first round, if students can't think of an idea I let them pass their turn, but in the first round all must compete. This also forces some kids to be very creative. If possible I try to set it up so my more creative/gifted kids get the item near the end of the round, while my quieter students get it first.  I like to have the class compete against itself to come up with the most creative answers. Our towel is the winner at 55 different uses!

This game is great because it is simple, yet very funny. It really makes the kids look at items in a different light and try new ideas. Below are several of the ways the kids came up for what a towel can be! (unfortunately I was not taking notes they day we played with a towel, so several of the answers have been forgotten).

A skirt

A dress

A head wrap

A blanket

A pillow

A shawl

A hula costume

A rope

A whip

A mask

A parachute

A backpack

Rapunzel hair

A table cloth

A picnic cloth

A ghost costume

A trap

A foot warmer

A belt

A jump rope 

A tug of war starter kit

A necklace

A bracelet

A sleeping bag

A dog toy

A way to hide from penguins (the white towel in snow)

A band-aid

An animal carrier

A sweat rag

A super hero cape

String to a really big guitar

A door mat

A dog drying device 

I hope your class likes this game! How many ways did you all come up with for using a towel?

Brain Break-Splurt

Warning this game is extremely silly and can cause fits of giggles from your students. I will be honest there is not much educational value in this game. Students aren't learning great insights into improvisation or acting. This gme does help students work on their concentration skills. It helps teach kids to adjust to changing circumstances and be aware of their surroundings, but really this game is just to give the kids a break and have fun. Depending on your class you might have to referee the game. I tell them that my call is final.

Have the class form a large circle in the room. Make sure you can see everyone clearly from the center. Choose one person to be "it." This is the person who gets to spin in the center choosing the people. 

Here is how each round is played (it sounds much more difficult than it it). It spins in the circle and stops picking someone at random. The person "it" chooses must duck down. The two people standing on either side of the chosen person must look at each other. The first person to say "Splurt!" Wins (the looser must sit in their spot. (This game goes quickly so students should have the opportunity to stand again in a few seconds). The person who ducks can stand back up once Splurt is shouted. 

The game continues until you have three people left. I then choose one of the three to be the new "it" and the game starts over. A couple of notes, kids need to pay close attention to who is out in each round. Once a person is out you have to keep looking around the circle to find the next standing person. This means that two kids on opposite sides of a circle might be saying spurt to each other if everyone between them is out. 

Take a look at a couple of examples of some "monsters" playing this game for more explanation. I hope you enjoy this game. Did it work for your students? Did they have fun playing it?

Students as Directors: Parts of the Stage

"Sweetie can you move downstage some.... No move downstage..... No move downstage ... No move towards the audience." Most school directors have had a conversation similar to this several times in the course of a rehearsal. Teaching our students common theatre lingo, especially stage directions can be a huge lifesaver in making your rehearsals run smoothly. Teaching parts of the stage is a lesson that must be taught, it becomes very frustrating to assume that students will just "pick it up." If you consciously teach this skill students will take learning this skill much more seriously. It will also help students transfer to different directors much easier.

I like to teach the parts of the stage in several different ways but first a word on consistency. When working in class, after school, or in rehearsal always use the correct stage directions. It can be very easy to get lazy about this. I know I am very guilty of this. When you are trying to hurry and a kid doesn't remember which way stage right it, you really just want to tell them which way to move. But I have seen a great improvement in my students vocabulary and stage use since I have made a very conscious effort to only use stage directions.

Different ways to teach stage directions. 

Start off by using masking or spike tape to mark off a stage. If you are lucky enough to have access to a stage mark off that, if not simply tape down a big rectangle on the floor. Divide the stage into your 9 sections. Start off by simply standing in each box, naming it and having the students do basic call outs. Once they seem to have a basic understanding of the parts of the stage you can start to have some fun.

Simon Says

Put some kids on stage. Depending on your area you can either put the whole class, a 1/2 class or small group. Have everyone choose their own starting place. Start off easy. "Simon says move up stage" "Simon says move stage right" Any student who does not move to the correct place in the correct time frame is out. I like to give the kids 5 seconds to get to the correct side of the stage. Counting down on your fingers works really well as a management technique. After you have done a few easy directions to get the kids use to the stage get slightly more difficult. "Simon says boys move stage right, girls move stage left" "Simon says if you are wearing pants move downstage if you are not wearing pants move upstage" however you can easily divide up the kids so they have to work harder on remembering the parts of the stage. After you have eliminated more of the kids get even more specific. "Simon says if you are wearing red move down stage left" "if you are wearing blue move upstage center." This game is a great introduction and works well with your kinesthetic learners.

Army Men (or any other small toy/figurine)

This is a great lesson for teachers that don't have the space to move around. This is also great if you like a little more control and less chaos in your class. Give each student a piece of paper and a few of the old school green army men. Have the students draw out a basic rectangle and draw stick people on one side. Then have the students label the stage according to wear the audience is. After each stage is drawn call out different stage positions and have the students place army men at the correct spot. You can even have the students practice creating stage pictures by allowing them to place several army men at once. Or you can give groups of students a large sheet of paper and have them practice placing an entire company onstage for a major musical. This game is great for your visual learners.

Stage Pictures

This is a good game for students who need some differentiation. Allow your more advanced students to be the directors to this game. Have your directors create stage pictures with different groups of students. The directors can only use stage directions to move the groups around stage. For added interest, you can add a mini lesson on levels to this game and your directors can practice using stage directions and levels to create their pictures.

Pick a direction

Give each student an index card and have students write a series of stage directions in short hand on the paper. Enter USR X DSR, Exit DSL. (enter upstage right, cross downstage right, exit downstage left). Gather all the index cards together and spot check for correctness. Then have students pick a stage direction card and act out those directions on stage. This activity is a great assessment because each card will be slightly different. Students won't be able to simply copy what someone else has done.

However you choose to teach stage directions, make sure you are consistent in using stage directions when you direct students in class and rehearsals. You should also talk to any other Fine Arts teachers at your school (especially dance and chorus teachers) and make sure that they are using stage directions in their classes as well. If everyone comes together and learns the correct theatre lingo, all of the students will benefit.

These are just a couple of ways that I have taught stage directions. What are some ideas you have for teaching stage directions in class?

Brain Break- Moving Statues

This is one of my favorite brain breaks for all ages. It gets kids up moving. It also makes them think about how the hold their body and present themselves onstage.  The other great thing about this game is it give focus to the students and you can play for as short or as long as you want.

This is a game I made up that is based on the game "Red Light Green Light." In this game I have the students find their own space in the room (or you could have the kids stand at their chairs). When I say so the kids move in their space any way they want to. I am pretty liberal with this, kids can sit, stand, lay down, jump whatever as long as they don't touch anyone else and they don't leave their area.

When I say "Freeze!" all the kids must Freeze in whatever position they were in. Let the students think about their pose for a few seconds. Then ask a few students who have great poses "What are you?"  The student then has to describe what type of statue they are "I'm a statue of someone break dancing" or "I'm a statue of someone shooting a boy and arrow" whatever they can think up that looks like their body.

After you have asked a few students what they are tell everyone to move again. Then freeze again pick students who have interesting poses. In the younger grades especially they like to copy each other and you don't need 12 kids all throwing a football. Highly praise the kids who give creative answers but remember all answers are correct and we want to encourage kids to make choices about their bodies and characters. This also helps build confidence about being silly and going big with their actions.

Continue around the room allowing kids to move and freeze until you have either run out of time or asked all the students what type of statues they are. If you have students constantly copying each other allow them to give two answers. "That's great, what else could you be?" This will force them to think about their body position in a new way.

This is the basic game, short sweat and easy. It helps get the kids up and moving, it encourages creativity, and it helps focus students. They really like freezing when you say freeze. Encourage kids to move in pantomime (silently) to minimize noise.

Alternative versions:

Dancing Statues: Play music while doing this game have the students move to the music then freeze when the music stops. Great preview for musical theatre where you want to teach how music affects the body. Play different types of music so and explore how the music makes you move in different ways (fast music, slow, hip hop, ballet etc).

Feelings Statues: Tell the students move like they are feeling different emotions ("move like you are frightened" "more like you are excited" "move like you are mad") then have the students freeze. Ask them to make choices of "Why are frightened?" "why are you excited?"

Speaking Statues: Play the game normally until the end. Instead of asking students "what are you?" ask them "what would you say" Students then have to respond in character. For example if they are a football player they might say "Hut Hut Hike"If they were a singer they might start singing a song, if they were a dancer they might start talking about moving into first position. This is a great way to transition students into a character state of mind and allow them to explore talking like several different characters.

Silly Statues: This is where you can really work on getting kids to be silly (great for the older kids who think they are too cool). Tell the students to move in very silly situations "move like you are in a bag of popping Popcorn" "move like you are on mars" "move like you are a penguin" When they freeze have the students tell you what their character is thinking. "Man that oil is HOT" "I can't believe there is no gravity on Mars" have fun and be as silly as possible we want students to become comfortable with getting laughed at and being silly.


These are some of the statue games I play. What games do you play that are similar? Do you have any advice for teachers using this game as a brain break? 

Improv Game- What are You Doing?

Every Wednesday I am going to label as Wacky Wednesday. This is day where I bring you one of my favorite Improvisation Games, Warm-ups or Brain Breaks. These are a must if you are a theatre teacher.  They are also great to use in the regular education classroom to get kids up moving and get the creativity flowing.

Improvisation: AKA Improv- I teach my kids that Improv is acting without a script. There are several rules you should teach regarding improvisation. We will cover these in a later post. 

Today I simply want to give you a fun game to play with your kids that helps foster creativity. This game is also great for teaching students the importance of say "Yes" in improvisation. One of the huge issues I have at the elementary level is students don't want to accept what is happening in an improv scene. For example one kid will say "Hey there is a scary Pirate Monster over there" the other student will then respond with "no there's not" UGH. This is so frustrating when this happens. And it happens way to often in my class. This game helps teach kids to accept what is said on stage.

Material: there are no materials for this game! It is free and easy to set up.

Time: This game goes very quickly. The first time you play I recommend going through the game at least twice so that everyone can get their creativity flowing (most kids are pretty conservative the first time they play) after that, this game takes as little as 5 minuets. A great brain break for students!

Before the Game: Divide your students into two even groups. Have the students line up on either side of the playing area (stage). I like to remind students about classroom appropriate behavior at this point. In my class if you say something inappropriate you are automatically out of the game, this usually keeps kids in the safe range. Make sure that you have already defined what counts as inappropriate behavior in your class (I don't allow any "bathroom" humor or play hurting/killing in my class). Then start the game.

Rules: For each round students must follow the below script. Students are encouraged to be as creative as possible with their responses. Once a student has performed they go to the end of the line (or sit down).

Student A begins the game by asking Student B "What are you doing?"
Student B responds with some type of creative activity: Water skiing on an alligator, Eating 10,000 jellybeans, Fighting a crazy shark. (Whatever silly idea they can come up with.)
Student A must then begin acting out whatever Student B said (how silly would you look trying to water ski on an alligator?) Student A must continue to act out the idea until they leave the stage.
Student B leaves stage,
Student C walks on stage (this is the next student in B group) Student C asks "What are you doing?"
Student A must respond with a new silly, creative action.
Student C begins performing Student A's action. Student A walks off stage
Student D enters from A team and the game continues back and forth.


Alternative Rules: I don't typically keep score when playing this game. It is fun enough without worrying  about who wins.  However if you want to add more variety to the game here are some great ideas.
Creativity Points: Give out a point for each student on the team who gives a very creative answer.
Acting Points: Give out a point for each student who commits to really acting out the action (facial expressions and full body movements needed to get the point).
No Repeats: Anyone who gives a similar action must sit out or loose points (eliminates the I'm Fighting a Crazy Shark, I'm fighting a crazy moose, I'm fighting a crazy dinosaur)
Time Limit: Set an amount of time students have to think about their response (for example you only get 30 seconds to respond). This moves the game along very quickly. I do not recommend adding this rule until your students are very comfortable with the game. This rule will stress out some of your students.

I am sure there are other adaptations you can add.  As I said before this game is great for getting students moving. It also helps improve students creativity. Be mindful when playing this game, that this is suppose to be a short fun game. It should not replace basic improvisations that you use in your theatre class. Do you play this game in your class? How does it work for you?