Creativity is an aspect of the human condition that eludes a common definition, description, and experience. When trying to make sense of creativity, some describe creative behavior while others describe creative products. There are those who are curious about the process of creativity and others who want to understand what inspires that process.…

It is important to find the means by which struggling writers can find success in the English Language Arts. For students struggling with reading and writing, the visual arts may be a way of accessing and expressing their ideas and ultimately opening up a world of creative possibilities. This article explores drawing and painting as a pre-writing…

Describes Image-Making, a workshop in creative bookmaking based on a series of simple, carefully structured, parallel verbal and visual activities. Explains how each teacher and student designed and created an individual book (of his or her own poems and visual images) and a large communal book. (MG)

The classroom activities suggested in this resource booklet, proven successful by South Dakota poet Jack Kreitzer, are designed to spark or increase students' creativity by bringing the exciting language of poetry alive in the elementary and secondary classroom. Introductory comments present thoughts on what poetry is and how it should be taught,…

This digest paper presents strategies and activities that can be used to encourage gifted students to develop their individual talents in the language arts. Suggestions for exploring poetic language especially free verse, include ideas for creating group poems and catalysts for creating individual poems. Suggestions for exploring the elements of…

Children will enjoy creative writing in the primary grades if they are given inspiration, time to write, and the opportunity to share their work with classmates. A second-grade class began a creative writing project by listening to poetry and selecting poems to memorize and recite. This stimulated and encouraged them to evaluate and to write…

Outlines a method to help students through the beginning phases of writing that will also show them the vital relationship between observation and creation. (RL)