Creativity in the Classroom

What I learned from our class Biography Project...

Recently my students completed a biography project.  One thing I have had trouble with is getting the students to read a book in completion.  They will read a chapter in the beginning, one in the middle, and of course the final few pages. They assume they have highlighted the main points.

I decided from the beginning that every book my students read, I would read too. (I must say it was rather enjoyable watching them squirm when I asked them specific questions).

Students enjoying new books!

At the school I teach at, we are required to do book reports with the students every term. I didn't want to do a typical written or spoken presentation of basic facts.  I think its boring. So I decided to spice things up a bit.

Dictionaries are crucial for language learning activities.

For our biography books I used the Who Was Series. I love the design of these books. They have highlighted amazing facts, added comics, maps, and in a way that makes a fast read seem even faster.

Instead of the traditional book report. I decided to make it a public event, inviting parents and colleagues.  I believe it is important to let kids see their efforts are appreciated. I also designed the assignment as follows:

• 3 newspapers articles had to be written as informative, opinion, and entertainment about their biography
• a cartoon depicting something that happened to the character
• 3-5 advertisements based on the same time period their person was from
• 2 minute presentation of their newspaper design
• dramatization with the 3-4 other biography characters from around the same time period
• a dinner party where they had to answer as the character with questions given to the parents, to ask during the dinner

Here are a few of our Biography Characters...

The children had a chance to eat and talk in character.

I learned about some amazing people in this project. The lives of Amelia, Twain, DaVinci, Monet, Tubman, Lincoln, Dr. Suess, and so many more.  One thing they all had in common:

Their passions mixed with their cultural-moment in time, produced movements.

Sure, it might have been more efficient and easier if I had done a traditional report, but I believe in meaning in education and I think that this project brought meaning, fun, and creativity to our English class.