3 activities to nurture creativity in the classroom

Laura Vazquez
Overhead shot of young childrens' arms playing with blocks and toys

What keeps people from?exercising?their creative potential? From negative past experiences to the way we see ourselves, there are many things that can hold us back, no matter how old we are. As teachers, it’s our job to help each individual find out what their creative barriers are, whether internal, external or imagined.

Our classrooms, therefore, need to become places where we nourish emotional safety and welcome mistakes. As such, we should encourage a culture that promotes failing as part of learning.??

Here are three activities to help nurture creativity in the primary classroom.

Activity one: My whole self

In this activity, students express themselves in words and images, using a life-sized drawing of their bodies. The aim of this is to help them share their feelings and ideas. With a little adaptation, it can work just as well with teens and young learners.?
Before the lesson, ensure you have enough cardboard or paper for each student. Each piece will need to be approximately 2m long. If you’re using paper, roll it into tubes, so it’s easier to distribute to each student later.

In class, hand out the paper/cardboard to each student. Tell them to draw a life-size outline of themselves on the paper. Students working online can copy the outline you share onto a large piece of paper. They can do this in their notebooks if they don’t have any paper to hand.?

In teen classes

Tell the students that they are free to use their creativity. They should draw, write, and express themselves however they want. If they are stuck for ideas, ask them:

  • How do you feel??
  • What are your ambitions??
  • What are you worried about??
  • What do you enjoy?
  • What are you looking forward to?

Note that questions should be adapted to your students’ age and level of English.?

During the activity, your students can use colors, stickers, magazines – and anything that will help them express what is in their minds and hearts.?

A note on using this activity in elementary classes

Primary-aged students will need more support. Here are some example instructions:

  • In your right hand, write what you do when you feel frustrated.?
  • In your right foot, write your favorite song.?
  • In your left leg, write the name of the person you get good advice from.?
  • In your right arm, write what makes you happy.?
  • In your left hand, write your greatest dream.?
  • In your left foot, write which cartoon character you would like to be.?
  • In your left leg, write what you like to do in your free time.?
  • In your left arm, write things you value the most.?
  • On your stomach write your favorite meal.

Afterwards, students should explain what they’ve included in their silhouettes to the rest of the class. Encourage students to ask each other respectful questions.?

Activity two: Message in the box

The aim of this activity is to establish a routine where students can share their ideas, thoughts and feelings on a regular basis.?

Have students bring an old box into class (of any type). Encourage them to personalize their boxes with decorative paper, markers, crayons, stickers, etc.?

Instruct students to write an idea, feeling, thought or question down. The complexity of the task will depend on the grade you teach and their level of English. Topic ideas include:

  • What are you grateful for today??
  • How do you feel today???
  • What do you wish for??
  • What do you do when you’re angry??
  • What do you like most about yourself?

Have your students write their answers and put them in the box. When everyone has finished, they should take turns to choose a piece of paper at random and read it out loud to the group.?

Wrap up this activity by asking the class, “What things do we have in common as a group?”. This way students will see that everyone has similar worries and dreams and hopefully they’ll be more willing to talk about their feelings in future classes.

Keep the box in a safe place and review the notes after a month to see if peoples' thoughts and feelings have changed since they did the activity.

Activity three: Activity story board

The ideal class environment is one where students feel challenged, but not overwhelmed.? The aim of this activity is to have students reflect on the challenges they have faced in their day-to-day learning and think about what they need to do to improve.?

On a blank piece of paper, ask students to draw two vertical lines and one horizontal line to form six boxes. They should number each box from 1 to 6.?Students should then write a challenge or objective in box number six. It should be something that they would like to improve, for example, studying habits, reading skills, doing homework, getting better at exam results, etc. Then encourage them to think of five things they can do to help them reach their objective and write them in boxes 1-5.?

  1. Read at least two paragraphs every day
  2. Draw what I think is the main idea on paper.?
  3. Look up the meaning of words I don?t understand.?
  4. Try to increase the number of paragraphs I read each week.?
  5. Make a monthly progress chart? to see if I have improved. If not, I need to work on another strategy.
  6. My objective:? Ex. Get better at reading comprehension quizzes.

Provide students with your support and constructive feedback. Have them share their objectives with the rest of the class and every couple of weeks check how they are doing.?
Remember to praise their ideas and efforts to improve. Students are more motivated when they feel their teachers are invested in their success.

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    Praise in the classroom is a valuable resource that every teacher has in their toolbox.?It can encourage struggling students and reward learners who have been studying diligently and working hard on their language skills.

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    Different types of praise in the classroom

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    • Personal praise: Here you praise a student for a specific ability or quality. For example, you might say something like,?“You have a great memory for vocabulary”.??
    • Effort-based praise: This?is when you comment on a student’s efforts. For example, you could say,?“I can see you tried really hard with this vocabulary homework – well done.”??
    • Behavior-based praise:?This type of praise?is where you comment on how a student is acting, an example would be,?“You were really paying attention during the vocabulary lesson – good job.”

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    Try not to praise ability

    The first type of praise – personal praise – should be avoided in the classroom.??has shown that this type of praise doesn’t have a beneficial effect on motivation.?

    In fact, praise for intelligence actually has a detrimental effect on student achievement. When students were praised for their intelligence, they tended to care more about their performance goals – the score they achieved on a test, for example. Learning goals, like mastering a new skill, became less important to them.?

    Moreover, personal praise has been shown to undermine student resilience in the face of failure. Students showed less persistence when it came to challenging tasks and less enjoyment of the challenge. They also performed more poorly than children praised for effort.?

    Furthermore, when you praise students for their ability, they also tend to see intelligence or aptitude as a fixed trait. However, students who are praised for effort are more likely to see ability as something they can improve on. This feeds into the development of a growth mindset vs a fixed mindset.?It’s important to?instill?a growth mindset in learners to enable them to reach their full potential.?

    How to praise effort and behavior

    When it comes to praising effort and behavior, what’s the most effective way to do it? Here are some techniques to employ:?

    1. Be specific ?

    General praise such as “Good job” isn’t nearly as effective as a comment that shows you’ve been paying attention to what the student is doing. A precise compliment will make a much bigger impact on a student, for example:?“I was really impressed at how hard you concentrated during the listening exercise. Well done.”??

    2. Give praise in the moment?

    Immediate praise doesn’t need to be disruptive, but it shows students that you are paying attention and noticing good behavior and effort.?

    3. Avoid comparisons with other students?

    Instead of saying, “You got the best mark in the class – well done!” say something like,?“You got a really high score in the reading test. Your hard work has really paid off this term.”

    4. Keep track of praise?

    Before your class, choose three or four students you’re going to praise that day. That way, you can be sure that each and every student will benefit from the motivational power of effective classroom praise!

    5. Personalize your praise, depending on the student?

    Young students enjoy being praised publicly, but shy students, older children and teenagers prefer positive feedback to be given quietly.?

    Don’t overpraise and watch your positive bias?

    It’s important to be sincere. Older children, especially adolescents, have an extremely low tolerance of insincerity. So, don’t be tempted to praise students too often, or too effusively – it can actually have a negative impact on your relationship with your whole class. Insincere praise can lead students to question your judgement.?

    It’s also really important to be aware of your positive bias.?that teachers consistently give students of color more positive feedback on their work. It’s done with good intentions, but it can actually be harmful. If you regularly overpraise students for minor achievements, it can imply that you have low expectations for these students. And, this can make your students feel like they might not be capable of fulfilling the high expectations that you should have of them.?

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