The purpose of this qualitative action research study was to examine a published language arts curriculum, determine how Anna Craft's possibility thinking framework could be integrated into the curriculum, and then observe how students responded to the implementation of lessons integrating the elements of possibility thinking. The findings…

Young Children and the Arts: Nurturing Imagination and Creativity examines the place of the arts in the experiences of young and very young children at home and in out-of-home settings at school and in the community. There is great need for development of resources in the arts specifically designed to introduce babies and toddlers to participatory…

Early in her life, Nancy King discovered that stories are rich sources of wisdom, imagination, creativity, and comfort. In this essay, King describes her personal experiences developing and using the collaborative storymaking process with young people and adults in various school settings. The author states that collaborative storymaking…

A theory of teaching creative writing that involves preconscious learning is presented in this paper. Following a review of the literature on methods of developing writing ability, the paper describes a three-step creative process of preparation (the gathering and study of appropriate materials), incubation (the preconscious absorption and shaping…

Two studies involving 60 graduate and undergraduate students explored the role of structured imagination in story creation. Results indicate representational knowledge was an important influence on story meaning and originality and that meaningful and original stories were more likely to contain abstract concepts than were nonmeaningful and…

Responding to a definition of creativity, 449 Chinese language teachers identified imagination foremost, followed by inspiration and original ideas as a component of effective writing. Teachers identified developing student confidence and providing an open atmosphere as essential means of fostering creativity. The majority of teachers, however,…

An account of an "intensive writing" experiment to stimulate and teach secondary students to write freely and creatively is given in this book. The experimental teaching method which stresses emotion, brevity, simplicity, and honesty is described, as well as the stimulus used for each writing lesson, the results obtained, and the children's…

This article discusses the use of books, concrete experiences, and poetry as springboards to creative writing in the foreign language classroom. Examples are given for each of the three techniques. (CFM)

Teachers should foster in children's writing the use of words with "sparkle" and "spin"--"sparkle" implying brightness and vitality, "spin" connoting industry, patience, and painstaking work. By providing creative listening experiences with good children's or adult literature, the teacher can encourage students to broaden their imaginations and…

Based upon the conviction that children can be taught many of the aspects of writing unique to the preparation of professional writers, this book offers ideas for the teaching of creative writing to children. "Creative" writing is defined and its values for children are discussed. Specific suggestions to promote imaginative writing are proposed in…

THE ENGLISH TEACHER CAN ROUSE STUDENTS OUT OF UNTHINKING ACCEPTANCE AND PASSIVITY BY PROVIDING THEM WITH CREATIVE LANGUAGE EXPERIENCES DESIGNED TO SHAPE THEM INTO CURIOUS AND RESPONSIVE INDIVIDUALS. TO FIND A PERSPECTIVE ON TEACHING CREATIVELY THE MANY FACETS OF LANGUAGE, LITERATURE, AND COMPOSITION, TEACHERS SHOULD LOOK TO STATEMENTS MADE BY…

Following the establishment of working definitions of "creativity" and "English," Chapter 1 of this state-of-the-art paper surveys research into the nature of creativity, points out the need to establish criteria for creativity, and discusses the relation of creativity to English. Chapter 2 considers the classroom and the teacher as elements of a…

A child's own purpose in life is to educate himself and to explore experience; consequently, secondary-school children will benefit from English teaching that encourages their imaginative creativity rather than forces strict adherence to arbitrary rules. When considering their childhood memories and the adult experiences before them, children…