creativity

fluency

Quickstart Guide

About This Series

These guides are designed by the Global Digital
Citizen Foundation to help you gain a better
understanding of the 21st Century Fluencies and how
they work. Theyll aid you in your quest to discover
how you can utilize, communicate, and facilitate the
Fluencies within your classroom environments, and
within the context of the required curriculum.
This volume covers Creativity Fluency. The tools it
contains include:

The skills developed by each stage of the Fluency

and why theyre important

The Fluency Snapshot Tool for this Fluency

6 project-based learning scenarios to use in your

classesprimary, middle, and senior.
(These scenarios can be adapted for all grades
and subjects.)

We hope these handbooks will help you with the

development of the Fluencies as you work to infuse
them into your students' learning experiences.

creativity
fluency

Identify

This involves distinguishing the elements and the criteria of the desired
outcome. Its about figuring outwhat you need to create and what
limitations or restrictions you face.

Inspire
Creativity Fluency is the process by which
artistic proficiency adds meaning through
design, art, and storytelling. It is about
using innovative design to add value to
the function of a product though the form.
The process of Creativity Fluency is
defined by the 5Is.

In this next stage, the adventure begins by stimulating your creativity

with rich sensory input. This involves any action, encounter, or lively
conversation that fires your imagination.

Interpolate

Imagine

Inspect

Interpolate means to find a structured pattern within known information.

This is all about connecting the dots in the search for clear patterns and
higher level abstractions within the sensory input.

This is the ultimate synthesis between the previous stages of Inspire

and Interpolate. The unification of these stages results in the birth of
your ideayour Aha! moment.

With our new creative idea now a reality, we ask ourselves questions
about the effectiveness and feasibility of the new idea, and if it can be
accomplished within an existing timeframe and budget.

Understanding the problem

Gives the problem the proper context
Makes searching for data/information easier and more focused
Eliminates the dangers of flying blind
Leads to hearing unique perspectives from others

Identifying key words

IDENTIFY Skills
This involves distinguishing the
elements and the criteria of the
desired outcome. Its about
figuring outwhat you need to
create and what limitations or
restrictions you face.

Helps you identify and verbalize the desired outcome

You can better understand the purpose of your quest for an idea by
using keywords
Helps you narrow down your search for inspirational elements

Forming keyword questions

Asking good questions promotes critical thinking and a deeper
understanding of your creative wishes
You discover surprising things about an idea you didn't know before
It guides you in exploring the keywords for sources of inspiration

Brainstorming and lateral thinking

Brainstorming lets you examine your desired outcome from multiple
angles and viewpoints
Lateral thinking is an indirect and creative approach that helps you turn
problems into opportunities
Generating ideas and opinions is an important part of the creative process

Understanding ethical issues

IDENTIFY Skills
This involves distinguishing the
elements and the criteria of the
desired outcome. Its about
figuring outwhat you need to
create and what limitations or
restrictions you face.

Develops thinking habits based on empathy and compassion

Urges us to consider the far-reaching effects of a problem or issue
Guides us towards creating solutions that are ethical in nature
Lets us empathize with other professional, creative, or cultural viewpoints

Listening deeply,viewing wisely,and speakingcritically

These are habits of mind that develop exceptional communication skills
Encourages consideration of an idea from various viewpoints, and guards
against bias
Leads to working towards creating something that benefits everyone
Incorporates a broad understanding of human nature and behaviour

Sharing personalknowledge and experience

Lets you share expertise and experience that can be valuable to the
success of your creative idea
With this kind of sharing, everybody teaches and everybody learns
Develops communication and a willingness to be open without fear of
judgement or ridicule in a supportive environment
Lets us empathize with other professional, creative, or cultural viewpoints

IDENTIFY Skills
This involves distinguishing the
elements and the criteria of the
desired outcome. Its about
figuring outwhat you need to
create and what limitations or
restrictions you face.

Moving beyond what is known

You invite in new experiences to enrich your mind
Introduces you to new ideas, opinions, and perceptions
Teaches you to never be afraid of what you dont know
You can discover hidden talents and abilities you didnt know you had

Using familiar and unfamiliar sources

You can learn new abilities in seeking inspiration that can aid you on other
projects and challenges

INSPIRE Skills
In this next stage, the adventure
begins with stimulating your
creativity through rich sensory
input. This involves any action,
encounter, or lively conversation
that fires your imagination.

Having a list of familiar sources provides a sense of comfort, and allows

you to prepare for the unfamiliar with confidence
Broadens your awareness of new media and how it appeals to different
people in different ways

Seeing new possibilities

You begin to see more than one outcome and solution
Helps you to see current outcomes from different perspectives
As you discover more and more possible journeys, you become more
invested in the process of solidifying your idea
Conditions you to constantly strive for a vision and never give up

Playing with ideas

Play and playfulness are at the very heart of creativity
Encourages you to be as fearless with ideas as when you were a child
Has a positive effect on the emotions and keeps the brain healthy
Helps to form new neural connections
Teaches you to be fearless and limitless with your creative process

Experimenting and imagining

Imagining is an expression of our true inner desires and hopes for the
intended outcome

INSPIRE Skills
In this next stage, the adventure
begins with stimulating your
creativity through rich sensory
input. This involves any action,
encounter, or lively conversation
that fires your imagination.

Experimenting with ideas and mediums is in tandem with creative play,

which opens up new paths for learning and discovering
Gives you a chance to predict both the successful and the potentially
flawed outcomes

Pattern recognition
Allows us to predict what could happen next or what might be revealed
next in a logical progression
Trains you to use your senses and compare new experiences with
previous ones to see how new experiences can be used
Helps us to make decisions intelligently

Identifying connections/relationships
Allows you to make connections to prior experiences and apply them to
new ideas

INTERPOLATE Skills
Interpolate is all about finding
structured patterns within known
information. You connect the
dots in a search for clear patterns
and higher level abstractions
within the sensory input.

Recognizing connections in different concepts and ideas helps us

determine what made them effective
Helps to structure thought processes for gaining further inspiration and
developing new ideas

Combining opposing concepts/elements

Forms new ideas, experiences, and possibilities
Engages critical thinking skills by putting together unrelated elements or
concepts harmoniously
Personal success is often fuelled by integrating opposing ideas for the
purpose of forming new and better ones

Thinking laterally about existing knowledge

Lateral thinking is an indirect and creative approach that helps you
discover unique solutions and possibilities
Trains you to see the familiar in a new way, which can spark creative ideas
Frees you from limited thinking, and allows you to work in a mental space
in which there is always a solution or answer

INTERPOLATE Skills
Interpolate is all about finding
structured patterns within known
information. You connect the
dots in a search for clear patterns
and higher level abstractions
within the sensory input.

Forming mental images/sensations/concepts

With this skill, you create with elements that are not perceived through
your sight, hearing, or other senses
Exercises your imagination and pushes your creative potential
Encourages you to move beyond the restrictions of your senses while still
drawing on your personal experiences with them

Giving meaning to experiences

IMAGINE Skills
This is the ultimate synthesis
between the previous stages of
Inspire and Interpolate. Here, the
unification of these past stages
results in the birth of your idea
your Aha! moment.

Involves recalling past experiences and articulating them in your creation

Makes the idea or concept youre working with personally valuable
Lets you put both your heart and spirit into what you create as well as
your mind
Your enthusiasm for the creative process affects others in a positive way

Constructing with creative mediums

Puts you in a directors chair so you can create and synthesize your
vision freely
Allows you to work with different creative mediums (storytelling, art and
graphical design, music, poetry, video, etc.)
Shows you the creative results of your efforts, and helps you to develop a
sense of accomplishment and responsibility

Examining the product and the process

Lets you recognize how your idea actually addresses the challenge
Leads you to re-examine some of the steps you took to determine where
you could have made better choices
Gives you insight into the importance of the creative process, and also
demonstrates how any creation starts with an idea

Comparing/contrasting with the original purpose

Allows you to see if your idea answers the questions that led you to begin
the creative process

INSPECT Skills
With our new creative idea now
a reality, we ask questions about
the effectiveness and feasibility
of the new idea, and if it can be
accomplished within an existing
timeframe and budget.

Gives rise to new concepts and ideas to apply to the same challenge or
to other similar challenges
Reminds you why the product and process are relevant and meaningful

Internalizing and applying the new idea

Utilizing new learning is the only way to make it stickthe more you
practice this process, the more unconscious or "fluent" it becomes
Gives you a chance to see how the new idea can be applied to similar
situations and circumstances
Allows you to consider the time and budgetary implications of the idea

Re-examining/revising the idea

Gives you a fresh look at how an idea could be improved or enhanced
Shows that Creativity Fluency, like other fluencies, is a cyclical process
Revising an idea lets you discover the limits of its potential and then to
exceed them
Gives birth to new creative ideas and concepts

INSPECT Skills
With our new creative idea now
a reality, we ask questions about
the effectiveness and feasibility
of the new idea, and if it can be
accomplished within an existing
timeframe and budget.

Fluency
Snapshot

This tool is designed to help you

evaluate the level of proficiency
that you or your studentshave
with Creativity Fluency.
There are 10 statements for you to
consider. As you movethrough the
statements, chose a value you feel
represents howwellthe individual
or group has demonstrated that
characteristic. Better still, have
your students assess themselves
anddiscuss the outcome.
You now have a baseline, and you
cananalyze the results to decide
where focus andimprovement
may be needed.

PRIMARY SCHOOL SCENARIOS

Magic Mystery
Essential Question: How can
we use art and storytelling to help
solve mysteries?
Subjects: Language Arts, Arts,
Scientific Reasoning, Design

The Light Painters

Essential Question: How can
you combine your knowledge of
math, art and design to help
resolve a problem?
Subjects: Geography, Science,
Language Arts, Technology

Exploring the unknown is very exciting, and solving the problem

becomes an incredible reward. Do you have what it takes to create
a mystery? Lets find out!
Create a mystery story to train new detectives in solving crimes.
Act out your tales using props for the new detectives in training (the
rest of the class). Once the stories are created, challenge the rest of
the observing detectives to solve them using clues, evidence,
observations, and a detailed timeline summarizing the crime and its
participants. Now the game is afoot!

A heavy storm recently struck your city, and ravaged a prominent

stained glass window in a landmark church. Rather than build a
replica of the broken window, the church council has called for
artists to submit design templates for a brand new window.
You have a good design sense and a talent for creating geometric
patterns. Why not try your hand at creating a design? Work in pairs
or groups to create the most remarkable stained glass draft you
can think of, using the tools of mathematics and fun research. Then
present your design to the council and show them your amazing
work! Create a light-infused work of art!

MIDDLE SCHOOL SCENARIOS

FUNderwater!
Essential Question: How would
you explain the stages of the
water cycle using illustration and
animation techniques?

The water cycle is food for the Earth and all its inhabitants, from the
smallest organism to the largest mammal alive. If you had the
chance, how would you both entertain and educate younger kids
about this amazing process?

Subjects: Science, Graphic Arts,

Design, Environmental Studies,
Language Arts

Bring the magic of Earths water cycle to a younger audience. You

get to explain how the water cycle works and why its important to
life on our planet in a creative and engaging animated cartoon,
comic storyboard, or original live skit designed for a childrens
educational science program.

Design Star

A successful designer is one who has an innate sense of style and

a solid mathematical foundation. Could you succeed in the design
industry? This is a great way to find out!

Essential Question: How can

interior designers use math to
bring their visions to life?

Select a messy or uninspiring space to redesign, and build a scale

model to display your vision. Plan the new design and build a
diorama that displays the major lengths, widths, and heights of the
space to scale. Then put your design mojo to work!

Subjects: Math, Language Arts,

Design, Art, Technology

You can create a video or slideshow that captures the design

process along with before shots of the chosen space and after
shots of your scale model. Design your perfect space!

SENIOR SCHOOL SCENARIOS

Mock Doc
Essential Question: What goes
on behind the scenes when
making a documentary about an
important topic?
Subjects: Language Arts, Design,
Media, Technology, Filmmaking

Break the Silence

Essential Question: How can
we express ourselves about
important issues in ways other
than simply verbalizing them?
Subjects: Language Arts,
Design, Theatre, Dance, Visual
Arts, Self-Expression

Documentaries demonstrate an intimate knowledge about a

particular subject, something that the creator cares very deeply
about. Think about the documentaries youve seen on TV that you
really enjoyed. What about them gave you that WOW! reaction?
Working in groups, pick a topic of interest to yourselves and create a
full-fledged documentary on this amazing subject. Demonstrate
your expertise about the steps involved in research and production,
and get to know more about how documentaries are designed to
be both informative and compelling!

There is always something that we are not comfortable talking

about. How would you express yourself and get people to listen
using more than just normal speech? Are you a singer/songwriter?
Are you a dancer? An artist or a poet? Time to let it shine!
Draw on special talents and abilities you have (and that others may
not know about) to express yourself about an issue that concerns
you. Use something more than just simple words to bring your
ideas and feelings out into the most powerful and creative means
of self-expression. Let yourself be heard without fear.

Meet your new best friend

in the classroom.
The Solution Fluency Activity Planner is an exciting collaborative toolfor
creating and exploring lesson plans that engage, inspire, and enable
todays modern students.

Access thousandsofinquiry and PBL units

Create your own custom lesson plans
Align with your curricular standards
Collaborate with a global network ofeducators

Start Planning for Free!

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