Discusses young teenagers' adoption of animal personas in their creative writing classes, and the way these classroom activities follow Montessori principles. Considers both the role of imagination in the animal identification and the psychological and pedagogical significance of the underlying development of unconscious kinship with Earth and its…

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,…

IN CREATIVE WRITING, UNLIKE IN FORMAL COMPOSITION, STUDENTS CHOOSE THEIR OWN FORMS AND MATERIALS TO EXPRESS THEIR THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS. SUCH AN OBJECTIVE DEMANDS A CLASSROOM ATMOSPHERE IN WHICH STUDENTS CAN EXPRESS THEMSELVES FREELY AND CONFIDENTLY WITHOUT FEAR OF HARSH NEGATIVE CRITICISM. IN ADDITION TO WRITING EXTENSIVELY, STUDENTS CAN BE AIDED…

Suggests two approaches to creative writing instruction that religion teachers can use to heighten students' awareness of themselves, others and the environment; to help them share their perspectives and develop the language to account for their experience; and to encourage their imagination. (DMM)

Discusses motivation for writing young adult horror books. Gives examples of where and how the author gets ideas. Illustrates several suggestions for classroom application. Suggests paying special attention to puns and other wordplays that flit through the mind. Suggests writing a random list of words and phrases given by brainstorming students…

Discusses the concept of teacher as coach for 11- to 14-year-old Montessori students writing poetry. Notes the children's need for nurturing at this sensitive age and the coach's process of acknowledging the universal and poetic in them. Presents samples of children's poetry to show how development and self-expression are fundamental partners in…

Creativity, a means of communicating a personal and unique response to life, should be nurtured and cultivated in the classroom. This document discusses the nature of creativity and, using the analogy of a gardener cultivating a garden, outlines nine steps a teacher may take in developing students' creativity--prepare the soil, plant the garden…

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…

Teachers can encourage youngsters to express their ideas creatively by providing help in three areas--content, language, and process. In terms of content, children often have few resources for tapping their thoughts, and may need 'pump primers' such as being told the beginning and end of a story and speculating about a variety of middles. Once…

Analyzes a Henry James short story and his notes on the process used to create it and then, as an aid for students in creative writing courses, formulates a scheme describing the creative process used for developing a written work. (TO)

Describes the problem a creative writer faces when he is associated with only one type of story. (RB)

A good English teacher is one who draws from his students stories that reveal the unique dignity of their personalities and the unique coloring of their experiences. The author shows how this is done, emphasizing use of student writing models as motivation, and stressing sensory diction. (Author/JB)

Argues that an English teacher should not be so concerned with permitting students' creative expression that he neglects nurturing their critical, evaluative skills. (RD)

Describes how music can be used to evoke creative responses from students. (SW)

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…