Dominic Davis ECaW

Literacy

Creativity in the Classroom Basic Skills

With thanks to Pie Corbett

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Creativity in the Classroom

• Alphabet game – say a word beginning with ‘A’, next person says a word beginning with ‘B’, etc.

• Say a word and make a sentence – CRISP – Charlie reads individual stories politely.

• Explode a word – Rhyming words, first letter patterns, synonyms, name it, art, facts, memories.

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• Crossing the river

• 10 things to do with a…crescent moon – a smile, bridge, skipping rope, etc.

• Innovate on a sign – On discovery of a fire press alarm – on discovery of a donkey give a carrot.

(Jumpstart books by Pie Corbett)

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Basic Skills

Exercise grammar rather than grammar exercises!

• Connective Game – CT starts a story and then hold up a connective card – child suggests next event – then CT carries on the story – hold up a connective card, etc.

• Gita ran home because…she wanted to see the cat – She wanted to see the cat because it was fluffy – It was fluffy because…

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• Make a sentence – give one word (dog), or two (shark jelly) or three (zebra humbug because) – write a sentence with these words.

• Boring sentences to improve – The cat went along the wall.

• Sentence doctor – He runned down the lain the men was behind him.

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• Finish – give them a fragment to finish – The old king….. ……..and laughed. ……across the lake because……

• Join – The cart stopped. The hobbit got down. (Connective either in the middle, or at the beginning)

• Compare – show sentences or paragraphs – put them in order worst to best.

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• Make a speech sandwich – Speech – how is it said? – what are they doing?

Listener action – add any background information – listener replies.

“My singers are by far the best,” said Simon smugly as he smiled at the camera.

Louis laughed, knowing what Simon was like. “You are lucky that Jedward have been voted

off,” he replied sarcastically.

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• Drop in – adjectives, adverbs, clauses – Brian drove his car to Bradford.

Brian drove his shiny car to Bradford.

Brian carefully drove his car to Bradford.

Brian, who was tired, drove his car to Bradford.

Brian, chewing a toffee, drove…

Brian, disgusted by his family, drove…

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Spelling

• Which one? wos woz was waz• Picture it – because – look at it – chant it – move

to it – write it – look at own writing – check!• Speedwrite – how many times can you write a

word in 30 seconds?• Shannon’s game – like hangman but without the

execution – give first sound to encourage thinking of spelling patterns.

• Rhyme it – train, wheel, bone, light, soap, etc.

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Creative Poetry

• Use poetry as a vehicle for narrative.

• Rhyming is very hard – it is much better to write poems based on our observations or to play with language.

• List poems can build confidence – start with a noun, than an adjective, then a verb and off we go!

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Playing with Language

• In this magical bag I found…

• I dreamed…

• In the clouds I saw…

• Through the window I saw…

• I wish I was…

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I want to paint…

A clapped out cockroach coughing constantly

A confusing clock as quiet as a corpse

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Observations

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• Branch

• Trees

• Snow

• Mist

• Hills

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Poetry…

The bare branch reaches out like lightning

Tangled trees tremble

Silent snow suffocates

Mist shrouds the valley

In the distance the hills wait patiently

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…as a vehicle for narrative

Horatio looked around the clearing. A bare branch reached out from a tree like lightning. Tangled trees trembled as the silent snow suffocated everything around him. Mist shrouded the valley and in the distance the hills waited patiently, watching.

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Shared Writing

• We need to teach them to write! And write well!

• Put up an image – carry out a short shared writing session, then give them some time to write their own.

• Never waste a good idea – magpie from authors, the teacher, each other.

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• Cautiously, Horatio crept into the darkened chamber. Drab curtains twitched…was something hiding there? Horatio held his breath. Splintered moonlight pierced the silent shadows. Behind him, a clock beat to the rhythm of his thudding heart.

• What have we taught? Alliteration, suspense, empty words, pulling the reader in, describing sounds, etc.

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• Flabbergasted, Horatio stared out at the ruined city. Towering skyscrapers leaned like a tiger’s broken teeth…what had caused this carnage? Horatio shivered with fear. An ancient sun disappeared over the desperate horizon. In the distance, drums were beating in time with Horatio’s racing heart.

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Shared Writing Checklist

• Generate lots of ideas – the first idea is not always the best

• Do lots!• Talk about it – articulate the process• Make it fun• Keep rereading it to test if it works• Magpie• Value everyone’s ideas but do not accept everything• Have an effective stimulus• Do enough (paragraph)• Pace

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What next?

• Try out some of the creative games/activities with your class.

• Use your basic skills sessions to explore the word and sentence activities (2 or 3 days a week) and for short shared writing/creative writing activities (2 or 3 days a week).