The 3 Cs:Creativity, Critical Thinking &

Craziness in the Primary

Classroom

Michelle Worgan

@michelleworgan

CreativityHelps us thrive in a fast changing world

CrazinessLowers affective barriers and creates a relaxed setting

for learning

Critical Thinkingpromotes independent thinking, personal autonomy and

reasoned judgment in thought and action

The 3 Cs: classroom ingredients for

successful 21st century learners

Creativity Critical Thinking Craziness

Back to Basics?

1.Creativity

‘’“The role of a creative

leader is not to have all the

ideas; it's to create a

culture where everyone

can have ideas and feel

that they're valued.”

Ken Robinson

Creative Thinking:

Renaming/rethinking purpose of objects

Finding things that are not there (pareidolia)

Fantasy Food

New Identities

A Forest of

Words

(brainstorming)

Circle Doodles

Fingerprint

people

Who are they?

What is their relationship?

What are they saying?

Fingerprint stories

Describe your scene

Cats and Dogs

What are their

names?

Where do they

live?

Who are their

owners?

What do they like

doing?

A Cat’s Birthday Party

Plan the perfect birthday

party for your cat.

Choose:

Food and drink

Games

Decorations

Presents

Tiger Activity Book to inspire creativity

Doodles

All the pages have plenty of space

for doodling. Doodling can help

learners to remember, has a

calming effect and can help us

express our emotions.

Simple sketches

The simplicity of the artwork

encourages learners to add their

own drawings, without spoiling the

effect. This can also help with self-

esteem, especially for those who

“can’t draw”.

Colour

Some pages are in colour, others

are black and white. Some are

both. The bright colours can

inspire creativity while the black

and white encourages the learner

to provide colour.

Shapes

Abstract geometric shapes run

through the book. Circles, squares

and basic outlines keep the pages

simple and clean. The shapes are

just waiting to be filled!

Mixed media

The use of different materials and

printed backgrounds creates an

interesting effect. Leaners can

make their own pages using

collage techniques as a frame for

writing.

Picture frames

There are some lovely pages with

images as a border that can

inspire creative writing. Later,

learners can make their own

illustrative page borders.

Creative writing

Emotions dice for storytelling

Different perspectives

Personalisation of inanimate objects

Book page frames

2.Critical Thinking

‘’

“Education must enable

one to sift and weigh

evidence, to discern the

true from the false, the real

from the unreal, and the

facts from the fiction. The

function of education,

therefore, is to teach one

to think intensively and to

think critically.”

-Martin Luther King, Jr.

The Purpose of Education

Formulating opinions

Justification

Decision-making

Analysis and evaluation

Problem solving

Reflective thinking

Inference and deduction

What is Critical Thinking?

What will happen next?

Was X a good idea?

Why?

How are X and Y

different/the same?

How else could the

story end?

How can we solve the

problem?

Fact or Opinion?

Dogs are friendlier

than cats.

Most dogs are bigger

than cats.

Cats are more

beautiful than dogs.

Dogs have more teeth

than cats

A Cat’s Birthday Party

Choose and give reasons:

Food and drink:Sardine sandwiches

Ice-cream

Milk cocktails

Salad

Activities:Chase the mouse game

Swimming

Tree climbing

Watch film about dogs

Design your own

cupcakes:

Which ingredients would

you choose?

Do x and y taste good

together?

Are your cupcakes suitable

for everybody in the class?

Does anybody have an

allergy? Do the cupcakes

contain gluten?

What could you change?

Speech bubbles for evaluation and

self-evaluation

3.Craziness

‘’“I'm struck by how laughter connects you

with people. It's almost impossible to

maintain any kind of distance or any

sense of social hierarchy when you're

just howling with laughter. Laughter is a

force for democracy.” - John Cleese

“The secret to humor is surprise.” –

Aristotle

"Like a welcome summer rain, humor

may suddenly cleanse and cool the

earth, the air and you." - Langston

Hughes (poet, activist, writer)

Crazy Activities

▣Paper Plates

▣Crazy Consequence Cupcakes

▣Flies…

On the Beach

Who are the

people? Character

profiles

Draw yourself in the picture.

What would you say to the

man?

The 3 Cs

Fact or

opinion

Give reasons

Classify

Differentiate

Evaluate

Subvert

Rename

Repurpose

Find

New identity

Unusual

behaviour,

materials,

images,

order,

activities

Over to youChoose a page or activity and say how you would use it.

Click on the image to open the padlet and add more ideas.

Thanks!Any questions?

You can find me at

@michelleworgan

michelleworgan@gmail.com

Bibliography

▣Creativity in the English Language Classroom Ed. Alan Maley and Nik Peachy

▣Fuel Creativity in the Classroom with Divergent Thinking, Stacey Goodman,

Edutopia

▣How to Explain Critical Thinking Skills to Young Children, Heidi

Butkus, www.heidisongs.com

▣eisforexplore.blogspot.com - science activities, creativity, critical thinking

▣The Adventures of a Cardboard Box https://vimeo.com/25239728

▣Bloom’s Taxonomy Questions Poster:

http://www.hendersoncountypublicschoolsnc.org/instructional-

technology/files/2011/02/05-2Bloom-13-Elem-Posters.pdf

▣Critical Thinking Skills for Young learners and Teens, H. Puchta

▣Developing Thinking Skills in the Young Learner’s Classroom, H. Puchta

▣To encourage creativity, Mr Gove, you must first understand what it is

http://gu.com/p/3gvf6

http://blog.ted.com/4-inspiring-kids-imagine-the-future-of-learning/

Credits

Special thanks to all the people who made and released these awesome resources

for free:

▣ Presentation template by SlidesCarnival

▣ Photographs from Morguefile