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Creative Thinking
Using Creativity to Produce Novel Outcomes to New Situations in Life through Art
Table of Contents
Scope and Sequence .......................................................................................................................................3 Course Foundations ........................................................................................................................................4 Summary of Units ............................................................................................................................................7 Unit 1: Seeing What No One Else is Seeing Unit Foundations ............................................................................................................................................8 Lessons ....................................................................................................................................................... 10 Unit 2: Thinking What No One Else is Thinking Unit Foundations ......................................................................................................................................... 12 Lessons ....................................................................................................................................................... 14 Unit 3: Doing What No One Else is Doing Unit Foundations ......................................................................................................................................... 17 Lessons ....................................................................................................................................................... 18 Exiting Performance Task .......................................................................................................................... 19 Rubric ............................................................................................................................................................... 20 Resources ........................................................................................................................................................ 21 Studies of Creativity Notes....................................................................................................................... 21 Artists, Thinkers, and Artworks............................................................................................................. 24 Works Cited ................................................................................................................................................... 25
Creative Thinking
Creative Thinking
Course Foundation
Course: Creative Thinking: Using Creativity to Produce Novel Outcomes to New
Situations in Life through Art
Class Level: High School, middle level art class (ART 2) Big Idea: Thinking creatively through art opens the possibilities to relate, imagine,
solve, and invent.
Theme: Using creative thinking to maximize seeing, thinking, and doing. Rationale:
In his book, A Whole New Mind, Daniel Pink argues that as we enter this new conceptual age, Creativity is becoming very important to move our world forward. A set of skills every student should be leaving High School with, is the capability for higher-order thinking processes in line with Blooms Taxonomy. Processes such as imagination, problem solving, comparing/ contrasting, analyzing, classifying, and so on, require deeper cognitive levels to perform. These skills in turn will benefit the learner as they learn to use both sides of their brain to think critically and creatively in all disciplines, future jobs, and areas of their life. Creative Thinking sets a foundation for this type of thinking. Michael Michalko, a leading expert in creative thinking says, students must "desire success but embrace failure, and listen to experts but know how to disregard them". This class will teach students to think creatively to solve problems, explore new ideas, and break restraints. It is about learning to think creatively through art and to apply that thinking across all other areas of life.
Narrative:
Americas greatest graphic designer, Milton Glaser, said, Theres no such thing as a creative type. I think people need to be reminded that creativity is a verb, a very timeconsuming verb. Creativity is not just coming up with a great idea, its about bringing the idea to life, developing it, and then communicating/presenting it to others. In this class students will explore different techniques of thinking to find ideas as well as how to apply those ideas to projects in the class as well as all other subjects of education/life. Readings and assignments are pulled from cross-disciplined resources to gain a greater perspective of what art is and how to use creativity. Students will learn to question everything and search out quantity to reach quality. Through course work they will begin to think creatively to solve problems, explore new ideas, and break restraints.
Creative Thinking
Creative Thinking
Recognize the importance of diversity and equity in the creation, performance, interpretation and evaluation of the arts. Use the visual and performing arts to solve problems.
Standards:
Know what art is and its many purposes/uses (LPS Core 2) Understand Diverse Social and Cultural Evolution and Advancement of Identity (National III) Select media, techniques, and processes (through experimentation); analyze and reflect upon their choices as they develop through the creative process (National 1a and LPS Core 1) Learn and become familiar with many forms of art mediums, disciplines, techniques, and processes to enhance communication of ideas (National 1b and LPS Core 5) Gain autonomy and motivation for why they are learning this (National II) Be able to read, interpret, and communicate ideas through art (LPS Core 3) Know, identify, and be able to use vocabulary coming from the design principles and elements of art (LPS Core 4) Be knowledgeable about the different careers and ways art is used in our world (LPS Core 6) Develop critical thinking skills in order to access others and their own art (LPS Core 7)
Creative Thinking
Summary of Units:
Unit 1
Big Idea: Unleashing Creativity and Seeing Possibilities Theme: Seeing What No One Else is Seeing Narrative of Learning: Coming up with a creatively genius idea does take a bit of luck some times but as Louis Pasteur said, Chance favors the prepared mind. To prepare for later units in this course students will first work on defining art and creativity. They will be introduced to the thinking and of geniuses and experts on creativity from the past and present. Through exploring the minds of these creative thinkers students will arrive on the elements of critical thinking, knowing how to see, and making their thoughts visible.
Unit 2
Big Idea: Passing on the Tools for Thinking Theme: Thinking What No One Else is Thinking Narrative of Learning: In order to think creatively students will be given the tools to understand and find successes in their creativity. They will go learn creative thinking techniques like the 6 thinking hats of De Bono, the 9 thinking secrets of Michalko, and analytical thinking through synectic triggers. In this unit students will be introduced to a wealth of vocabulary to use in talking about art. They will also develop the skills needed to be critiques of their own and others work.
Unit 3
Big Idea: (Exploring Individual Creativity) Themes: Doing What No One Else is Doing Narrative of Learning: In this last unit students are given the chance to explore their interests through creativity and find their identity in creative thinking. They will carry out in depth group and individual projects that will require the use of all they have learned up to this point. This last unit of the class is where they will learn how to manage, present, communicate, and sell their ideas to others.
Creative Thinking
Unit 1: Foundations
Big Idea: Unleashing Creativity and Seeing Possibilities Theme: Seeing What No One Else is Seeing Narrative: Coming up with a creatively genius idea does take a bit of luck some times but as Louis Pasteur said, Chance favors the prepared mind. To prepare for later units in this course students will first work on defining art and creativity. They will be introduced to the thinking and of geniuses and experts on creativity from the past and present. Through exploring the minds of these creative thinkers students will arrive on the elements of critical thinking, knowing how to see, and making their thoughts visible. Key Concepts and Essential Questions: Key Concept #1: Creativity is an essential aspect of what it means to be human. Essential Question: Why is creativity important? Key Concept #2: Creativity is when an artist reframes ideas and experiences in order to generate new ideas. (Czikszentmihalyi) Essential Question: What is Creativity? Key Concept #3: Creativity occurs when an individual is faced with a problem that is ambiguous and proposes alternatives. (Dewey) Essential Question: What is Creativity? Key Concept #7: Creativity is hindered by low self-belief, fear, strong emotions (biases), and overspecialization (narrow minded). Essential Question: What limits creativity? Goals: Recognize and value the connection between the arts and their own lives and environments. Recognize the intrinsic and aesthetic value of the arts in their own learning and creative processes. Understand the roles of the arts and of artists in the past, present, and future. Recognize the importance of diversity and equity in the creation, performance, interpretation and evaluation of the arts. Use the visual and performing arts to solve problems.
Gain autonomy and motivation for why they are learning this (National II) Know what art is and its many purposes/uses (LPS Core 2) Understand Diverse Social and Cultural Evolution and Advancement of Identity (National III)
Creative Thinking
Communal Class Drawing (Telephone Style) Summary: Each student would start with an 11x17 and draw a 30 sec image then pass around till it got around to 10-15 people. Each person would add something to the drawing to make more sense or a more complex scene. Each student would get their drawing back and take 2 days to do their own drawing/ painting of what they liked about their 11x17 class drawing.
Black and White Square Summary: Cut up a black square to arrange pieces on a sheet of paper to imply a White square out of the negative space. Creative Thinking 10
Rationale: Teaches design rules such as rule of thirds, positive negative space, alignment, balance, implied line, overlapping shapes, etc. Rules and boundaries will be given but encouraged to be appealed with a new adjusted rule. Students are to come up with new rules for themselves for their individual project. Rules will be taught to confine yet give freedom inside the boundaries. Continued Aspect for Remaining of Class: Each Project will have specific rules and boundaries, which students will be encouraged to break by appealing to the teacher a valid reason. Resources: Theo van Doesburg, "Russian Dance" - 1918 Mies van der Rohe, Barcelona Pavilion floor plan 1929 Freedom by Daren Earlewine Why Everything Summary: Students will go through everyday life questioning: Why what they use was designed the way it was and can it be better? After coming up with some improvements to designed objects in everyday use, they will come up with designs for a better object than the original. Students will brainstorm, make concept drawings, document process, make mock-ups, and a concept replica (as close to realistic as possible). Rationale: Students will learn the importance of process and how to work in and with process.
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Unit 2: Foundation
Big Idea: Passing on the Tools for Thinking Theme: Thinking What No One Else is Thinking Narrative: In order to think creatively students will be given the tools to understand and find successes in their creativity. They will go learn creative thinking techniques like the 6 thinking hats of De Bono, the 9 thinking secrets of Michalko, and analytical thinking through synectic triggers. In this unit students will be introduced to a wealth of vocabulary to use in talking about art. They will also develop the skills needed to be critiques of their own and others work. Key Concepts and Essential Questions: Key Concept #4: Artists have many ways by which they organize and form their work. Essential Question: What tools and techniques are used to be creative? Key Concept #5: Creativity allows our internal thinking to be made visible and communicate to others. Creation is a dialogue, not a monologue. (Eisner) Essential Question: How can creativity be used to communicate? Key Concept #6: The creative process is not linear but rather a changing flow of goal setting, researching, playing, reflection, and editing. Essential Question: What does a creative process look like? Goals: Understand the roles of the arts and of artists in the past, present, and future. Exhibit visual, kinesthetic, auditory, oral and written communication skills in responding to their own artistic expression and that of others. Be able to develop criteria based on knowledge and experience in evaluating their own and others creative expressions or work. Understand connections between the arts and other fields of study. Use the visual and performing arts to solve problems.
Standards:
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Learn and become familiar with many forms of art mediums, disciplines, techniques, and processes to enhance communication of ideas (National 1b and LPS Core 5) Be able to read, interpret, and communicate ideas through art (LPS Core 3) Know, identify, and be able to use vocabulary coming from the design principles and elements of art (LPS Core 4) Be knowledgeable about the different careers and ways art is used in our world (LPS Core 6) Develop critical thinking skills in order to access others and their own art (LPS Core 7)
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techniques in their own work. Students will be able to break away from normality and the rules they have been taught about proper drawing techniques to come up with their own rules and style. Narrative: Students will bring in objects and materials to experiment with to make marks or set up some sort of drawing machine. Then, they will make a final piece after exploring the possibilities of a new technique by combining the use of line, composition, contrast, etc. Anticipatory Set: Students will be asked to move away from conventional thinking and away from seeing an object, tool, or medium in the way it is commonly used. Students are most likely at a level where they have been told the right techniques for drawing. Now they will be asked to come up with an original technique. Procedure: -Previous Class: -Introduce vaguely the project -Ask students to bring with them to class random tools, mediums, objects, that can be used to make a mark -Beginning of class: -State objectives and overall project -Focus activity to involve class -Demonstration: -Definition -Rationale -Connect to art history/ artist -Student Practice: -Have students start experimenting with mark making with brought objects -Introduce more materials and objects to be used -Allow students to move about class to give and take ideas from each other -Present examples to inspire more ideas -Start thinking of composition -Start making a final piece Prompts for students: -Constantly ask yourself what if? -Maybe use your whole body. -How can you use motion? -How can you use your environment/surroundings? -Can you use a tool backwards? Upside-down? Sideways? -Use a tool for its strengths. -Once you find an interesting mark/technique then start experimenting with it. -Is there something you like that others are doing? Experiment with that too. -Experiment with mistakes to be opportunities and strengths
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-Dont borrow someones idea/technique, steal it, expand upon it and make it your own. -Start thinking about how you can make a good composition with your strongest discoveries. -Can you make marks without physically making the marks yourself? -Can you make a machine to make the marks? -Can you set up a situation to make the marks? -What can you join together to make a marking tool? Length of time: Allow for about two hours of time to experiment with the materials and tools. Then redirect the students to start working on making a final drawing for at least an hour. Materials: -Each student should bring materials with them that they find at home, trash, or locker. -Provide random materials -Paints, inks, pencils, pastels, crayons, etc. -Scissors, whole punch, brushes, etc. -Trash, bottles, wrappers, etc. -Paper, cardboard, foam core, etc. -Tools, drill, sander, screws, nails, hammer, etc. -Straws, feathers, toothbrush, hairdryer, comb, etc -Food, fruits, veggies, paste, coffee, frosting, etc. -Rocks, leaves, sticks, dirt, sand, etc. Assessment Narrative: Students will be judged by how much they experiment outside of conventional ways: how many new tools they tried, how many tries they took to discover something new, etc. Extension Activity: For students having difficulty, or who have came to a lull in their creative process, show them examples of others works to see if they can take inspiration from it. Or give them a tool and ask them some of the prompting questions directly. Resources: Works from Angeles Cassioss Intermediate Drawing Class
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Unit 3: Foundations
Big Idea: (Exploring Individual Creativity) Themes: Doing What No One Else is Doing Narrative: In this last unit students are given the chance to explore their interests through creativity and find their identity in creative thinking. They will carry out in depth group and individual projects that will require the use of all they have learned up to this point. This last unit of the class is where they will learn how to manage, present, communicate, and sell their ideas to others. Key Concepts and Essential Questions: Key Concept #1: Creativity is an essential aspect of what it means to be human. Essential Question: Why is creativity important? Key Concept #7: Creativity is hindered by low self-belief, fear, strong emotions (biases), and overspecialization (narrow minded). Essential Question: What limits creativity? Goals: Recognize and value the connection between the arts and their own lives and environments. Be able to develop criteria based on knowledge and experience in evaluating their own and others creative expressions or work. Use the visual and performing arts to solve problems.
Standards: Select media, techniques, and processes (through experimentation); analyze and reflect upon their choices as they develop through the creative process (National 1a and LPS Core 1) Learn and become familiar with many forms of art mediums, disciplines, techniques, and processes to enhance communication of ideas (National 1b and LPS Core 5)
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Invention Project
(based off of about.com lesson plan) -Students would each invent something and plan it out all the way through to marketing.
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project is done then each group will present their results to the class for entire class to learn from each other. The individual project will be an assessment of how the student did at understanding what was learned from the group project. The instructor will give help and verbal cues during the group process and not during the individual process as a way of scaffolding. Student groups would be given a list of perspectives to think from (exp: Social, Economical, Racial, Aesthetics, Political, Religion, Education, etc) but then students would have to come up with those perspectives on their own when working individually. Students/ Groups will each be given the same case study (different from previous cases) to come up with as many different ideas of potential problems in each perspective category (some may or may not be as important or relative depending on case). After students come up with as many as they can they will then pick the two most prominent issues and come up with a laid out plan to solve it/ prevent it. Case Study Examples: Futuristic Clothing Public Space Travel Alternative Energy Assessment Assessment areas: Impact: -Presentation Content: -Amount of Problems Form: -Writing Explanation -Development of Solutions Process: -Use of Group members/ Participation
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-an integral component of human intelligence -accessible to all humans -exercisable within any discipline, as well as in social relations and daily life -the consequence of intention, determination and persistence -And creativity can practiced, encouraged and enhanced. (Or abandoned, discouraged and diminished). Creativity is a PROCESS which: -draws on both sides of the brain -uses intuition as well as logic, imagination as well as analysis -uses multiple intelligences -makes use of ones experience -uses divergent as well as convergent thinking -produces outcomes (things or processes) which are useful or valuable -requires certain mental attitude or mindset -both produces new discoveries AND refines and builds upon other work A WORKING DEFINITION: -Creativity, or creative thinking is flexible, fluent, confident, prolific, resourceful, self-directed and imaginative thinking and making, including the ability to get, develop, communicate and critique ideas. Creativity manifests as outcomes (things or processes) of use or value in the world. Creativity can be encouraged, developed and enhanced by conscious attitudes, strategies and behaviors.
-Playfulness helps get to creative solutions -Break the rules (Need to set new rules to break old rules) -Gain different judgment -Go for quantity to reach quality -Look into Eams Designers -Exploration through quantity -Think with hands (building ideas) -Use role-play to think through a problem -Work in and out of play time to efficiently get work done (TED talk) Michael Michalko: -The most important thing students should be taught is that everyone "is born a creative, spontaneous thinker." If students are told they're creative, they become creative, and start working to acquire the skills needed to express that creative identity. Conversely, students who accept that they're not creative develop mental blocks that keep them "from trying or attempting anything new." -"All creative geniuses work passionately hard and produce incredible numbers of ideas, most of which are bad." -"Creativity is paradoxical." Schools are places where students are supposed to acquire knowledgebut to create, a person must "forget the knowledge." If you're not able to leave what you think you know behind, you can't approach problems with a fresh perspective. Students must also be taught to "desire success but embrace failure," and to "listen to experts but know how to disregard them." (Cracking Creativity) -Productive Thinker: Geniuses think productively, not reproductively. They ask themselves, how many different ways they can look at the problem, how they can rethink it, and how many different ways they can solve it, instead of asking how they have been taught to solve it. one generates as many alternative approaches as one can, considering the least as well as the most likely approaches. It is the willingness to explore all approaches that is important, even after one has found a promising one. (Cracking Creativity pg 2-3) -J.P. Guilford says Creativity is not the same as Intelligence. An individual can be far more creative than he or she is intelligent, or far more intelligent than creative. (Cracking Creativity pg 2) Daniel Pink on Sam Glucksberg: -Rewards/ Incentives narrow focus and lower creativity. Intrinsic motivators promote cognitive tasks and Extrinsic confines cognitive tasks. (The Candle Problem) Von Helmholtz: Creative Thinking 23
-The stages of creative process are saturation, incubation, and illumination (followed by verification) Milton Glaser: -Theres no such thing as a creative type. As if creative people can just show up and make stuff up. As if it were that easy. I think people need to be reminded that creativity is a verb, a very time-consuming verb. Its about taking an idea in your head, and transforming that idea into something real. And thats always going to be a long and difficult process. If youre doing it right, its going to feel like work. (quoted in Jonah Lehrers Imagine)
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Works Cited:
Cracking Creativity: The Secrets of Creative Genius by Michael Michalko Teaching Strategies: A Guide to Effective Instruction by Orlich, Harder, Callahan, Trevisan, and Brown The Arts and the Creation of Mind by Elliot Eisner Art Synectics: Stimulating Creativity in Art by Nicholas Roukes Design Synectics: Stimulating Creativity in Design by Nicholas Roukes Creative Sparks: Images and Exercises to Ignite Your Design Ingenuity by Jim Krause Making Art Together: How Collaborative Art Making can Transform Kids, Classrooms, and Communities by Cooper and Sjostrom TED.com TED Talks: Ideas Worth Spreading Creativity 101 (Course) Liz Ingram ScottBerkun.com and How to Create and Manage Ideas COM 597 (Course) Scott Berkun Wikipedia.org/wiki/Creativity
Readings:
101 Problem Solving Techniques (James M Higgins) They All Laughed (Ira Flatow) Great Essays on Creative Thinking http://www.scottberkun.com/essays/ Great Invetors/inventions Philo T. Farnsworth http://www.gladwell.com/2002/2002_05_27_a_televisionary.htm The American Kitchen http://www.gladwell.com/2000/2000_10_30_a_pitchman.htm
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