Found Materials
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From: heide@literacywork.com
Subject: [ProfessionalDevelopment 1034] jump starting creativity
Date: May 8, 2007 2:30:50 PM EDT
To: professionaldevelopment@nifl.gov
Many of the teachers we work with have learned how to use “found materials” (e.g., materials other than textbooks) to jump start their own creativity and that of their students. These include grocery store inserts, flyers, magazines, bills, and announcements along with various products that students bring in because they wonder about them (what do the labels say and mean).
We also use pictures a great deal (Material World [[1]] is a favorite book), videos (Modern Times by Charlie Chaplin) and music to bring history to life (5 Feet High and Rising -- a song by Johnny Cash, available for .99 on iTunes --) for Katrina and other stories on natural disasters, and “Deportees” for a unit on the history of the bracero program. We ask students to bring in artifacts that reflect their culture and have meaning in their family and then discuss what they remember about them and what they want their children to know about the culture and values reflected in these artifacts. We use drawing quite a bit and teachers have used the concept of a “life map” to draw their life journey and invite students to draw and illustrate theirs.
The most creative work is probably being done by students and teachers involved in Project_Based_Learning. Students use cameras for digital story telling, video to create “how to” videos for an audience, PowerPoint to raise awareness about community issues and story boarding and Chalk Talk to compose their ideas and think through what they want to do and say in a project. The final project is presented as part of a showcase to both the other learners and staff in a school and then to a wider audience in the community.
You can see lessons plans and examples of some of these projects on the site we developed with the teachers in Socorro, Texas. The site is http://www.bordercivics.org. For examples of Lesson Plans and project ideas, go to “tools”
All the best
Heide Wrigley
[Note: the above was lightly edited by David J. Rosen, including links to some resources mentioned]
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