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One text - 8 ways to exploit it

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Principles and Procedures of Materials Development by Brian Tomlinson

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Adapting and supplementing ELT materials

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Getting students to notice language in reading texts

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To start with, why not try this little awareness test:

How successful were you in noticing? Whatever we are doing, we don't tend to notice everything- and we can miss some quite important elements!

We tend to notice things which are either frequent or salient. So, when I first went to live in Portual, I quickly noticed the word 'puxe', which was written on a lot of doors. It was something I saw frequently. It was also salient, or meaningful for me because the pronunciation is 'push'..but it means 'pull'!

Schmidt, who first coined the term 'noticing'(I think), carried out a study of his own language learning in Brazil (where they use 'empurre' rather than 'puxe' btw). He concluded that he was more likely to actually use language himself when his attention had been drawn to it in some way.

Or as Scott Thornbury puts it:

'1. Learners must attend to linguistic features of the input that they are exposed to, without which input cannot become 'intake'.

2. Learners must 'notice the gap', i.e. make comparisons between the current state of their developing linguistic system, as realised in their output, and the target language system, available as input.'

(Thornbury 1996)

A reading text is full of language that we can draw students' attention to in this way, and thus, hopefully, help them in the process of acquiring this language into their 'store'.

Before we can start to focus on language though, it is important to focus on the actual text as a whole ( see previous blog posts), and then we have to consider which aspects of language to focus on or we risk not seeing the wood for the trees (or the monkey for the basketball players).
Activities which help students to 'notice' vocabulary
Many texts will have a clear topic, so this is a good place to start (especially if the topic is one which is relevant to students' needs and interests- and if it isn't why are you using it? 😉 ). You can simply ask the students to find words and phrases in the text connected with the topic of X, or ask them to categorise the words and phrases they find into subsections of the topic (example here from IELTS Foundation 2nd ed-click to enlarge).

You can help to expand students' vocabulary by asking them to find synonyms of words you give them, in the text. This is particularly useful for those taking exams, where questions are usually paraphrased.

You can help students to see how texts are put together by asking them to find lexical links and chains in the text (example here from IELTS Foundation 2nd ed-click to enlarge)

Students can also develop their awareness of chunks and collocation by asking them to find chunks of words that go together, or asking them to search the text to find what collocates with a list of words from the text which you have given them.
Activities which help students to notice grammar or discourse
The most obvious task is to ask students to look at the examples of the language focus in the text and use them to complete rules about its use. Or they could try writing their own rules and then comparing them with a grammar reference.

An alternative is to remove those examples (or parts of them) and get students to complete the text, comparing their versions with the original. This is something which works very well for articles and for discourse markers.

Or you could give students another version of the text with deliberate errors, and ask them to find a ccertain numbers of mistakes and correct them- before, again, checking against the original.

Try a dictogloss (read a short section aloud, which contains the language you are focusing on) and ask students to write down as much as they can before reconstructing the text together. This works well for structures which are very frequent, such as reference links or articles.

Having thus drawn the students' attention to language, I believe that it is important to give them some opportunity to use the language. Opinion varies as to whether practising the language per se helps students to acquire it, but at the very least it is another opportunity to notice it, which does seem to help with acquisition.

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Getting students to notice language in reading texts

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To start with, why not try this little awareness test: How successful were you in noticing? Whatever we are doing, we don't tend to notice everything- and we can miss some quite important elements! We tend to notice things which are either frequent or salient. So, when I first went to live in Portual, I...

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Exploiting material: reading texts - youtube

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Exploiting material - getting the full potential from reading texts

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Lots of practical ideas for the classroom on how to get the most from the reading texts in your coursebook or authentic texts. If you liked this, there are more free videos and a 'Grammar for English Teachers' course at www.elt-training.com

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Exploiting a text

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This article summarises a range of ways of exploiting a written text from basic comprehension tasks to more creative ways of getting the most out of it.
Given a written text of some kind, what can we do with it, assuming it is at least within the grasp of our students and not just a dense forest of unfamiliar words?

Pre-reading tasks

Vocabulary

We can pre-teach vocabulary in a number of ways:

1. List the key words and tell them what they mean. (We don't always have to be fancy)

2. By a process of guided discovery, have students talk about themselves with questions and prompts skilfully crafted to lead them to need to use the target words and phrases. As the lexical items come up in this guided conversation, list them on the board, preferably in the order they're going to appear in the text, checking understanding as you go. (Sometimes it's nice to get fancy)

3. Choose the lexical items that you don't expect the students to know and create a matching exercise. Students match the new words and phrases with the definitions. (Students are sometimes their own best teacher)

4. If you have been focusing on affixation, pick out a collection of words that exemplify various suffixes and prefixes. Give students the root of the word families these items belong to and have them scan the text for the word that is based on this root. (Students who grasp this well can effectively double or triple their passive vocabulary at a stroke)

5. If the text has a clear relationship with a visual of some kind, students can attempt to label the visual with some of the key items. This could be a picture with words describing the objects in the picture, but could also be a process with labels for the steps, a diagram where the words reveal the connections and relationships between things and so on.

6. You could provide a list of the opposites of the target words and have students scan the text for the related word.

7. Have students brainstorm the topic area covered by the text to come up with words related to the topic. If this goes smoothly, wait for the appropriate lag in the brainstorm to add a few more of the target words before moving on the text itself.

Other pre-reading tasks

1. Speed reading: make sure the text is formatted in relatively narrow columns like a newspaper and ensure it's not too challenging for the students' level. Have the students glide their index finger down the centre of the columns at a steady pace and avoid reading anything in detail. If necessary, set a very strict time limit of mere seconds. Students turn over the text, or close the book and write a short list of any words they can remember catching a glimpse of - don't worry about spelling. Have the students generate questions about the words they think they saw. They then read the text to find the answer to their own questions. I have seen students gasp in amazement at this exercise. They sometimes find they had no idea they could grasp the key points of a text so quickly. You can then easily follow up with more traditional comprehension exercises etc.

2. Ask students to talk to each other about the topic area covered in the text. Another twist is to give them the topic and where the text was published and ask them to guess what the text might say.

Exercises while reading

1. Have students read the text and answer some comprehension questions. These can be multiple-choice, true/false, open-ended, prompts for reaction or discussion and so on.

2. Transfer the information in the text to a visual of some kind that represents the information in a diagram, chart, table etc.

3. The classic gap-fill exercise has a number of variants: we can provide a box of lexical items which the students use to fill the gaps - the process of elimination eases the burden. We can simply leave gaps and see if students can come up with suitable words or phrases. If they can figure out the general meaning of the missing words, it might make it easier to absorb the new, specific lexical items that you're trying to teach. It can be done in two stages: first ask students to identify the part of speech of the word in the gap, then have them supply a word.

4. Scanning can be fun. Just to ring the changes and encourage students to exploit a text rather than be overwhelmed by it, have the students scan a suitable text for specific pieces of information. We all have memories of irrelevant dense texts with pointless comprehension questions that we did at school. It can be refreshing for students to approach a text with a more focused, goal-oriented attitude. And it doesn't need to just be find-the-opening-time-of-the-museum type exercises. It could be pressing questions such as "Is it true Angelina Jolie prefers Scottish men?" (I'm a Glaswegian). Scanning a longish text just to get the answer to such a question can be very satisfying for students and gives them that sense of empowerment which can help build their confidence. (If you can find a text that actually answers that pressing question, let me know)

5. Arrange the text into two or more versions to create an information gap where different texts have different information missing. Students work in pairs or groups to share the information and complete their texts.

6. Present the text as a jigsaw. This depends on the length and complexity. For instance, if it's a set of instructions, have students put the jumbled instructions in the order that matches a set of visuals. If you're focusing on cohesive devices at the paragraph level, have students put paragraphs in a sensible order and link them with the cohesive devices supplied.

7. Present the text with the ends of some sentences missing where students have a good chance of guessing the overall point the writer is about to make. Students attempt to complete the sentences based on the context. They then compare the professional writer's original version with their own attempt. This may reveal, in a memorable way, the complexities of relative clauses, verb patterns, non-finite clauses or other ways of linking ideas.

8. Provide a set of texts that can be categorised in some way. For instance, as a prelude to teaching students how to write paragraphs following certain organisation patterns, provide short paragraphs which exemplify these patterns and have students identify which pattern the paragraph exemplifies.

9. Reference exercises can be very revealing. Typically, you would do general comprehension exercises to ensure students have understood a text before attempting reference exercises, but it is sometimes interesting to use reference exercises as a starting point to get students exploring a text. So, create a set of questions like "What does it refer to on line 10?" and have students do them as they read. Encourage them not to read sequentially, but to simply figure out the references following the order of the questions. If you pick out the right pronouns and put the questions in the right order, you can create an exciting slow-reveal effect that students may appreciate.

10. Perhaps not much more than a grammar exercise to practise non-defining relative clauses, but it can be fun to give students a very plain story and a list of sentences with extra information. Students then attempt to spice up the story by interpolating these sentences into the text at the right places. This could be exploited for a range of grammatical or lexical items, such as adding adjectives in the most suitable places, inserting adverbials, adding non-defining relative clauses or non-finite clauses etc.

11. Arrange for the comprehension questions to lead to a discussion. If the answers to your questions naturally build a grid of related information, students can discuss their reaction, or speculate about the causes etc. A text about the famous Bhutanese notion of Gross National Happiness might include a definition of the concept then some information about the comparative GNH of various countries, one of which is the students'. The comprehension questions could simply be a pretext to have students fill in a comparative grid which could lead to quite fruitful discussions about, for example, the high GNH of some poor countries and the high level of dissatisfaction in some rich countries.

Post-reading exercises

1. Key lexical items can be highlighted (bold type or underlined) and students can match the items to their definitions. Sometimes students can cope with a text at a superficial level, answering comprehension questions successfully, but an exercise like this may give students a little quiet time for reflection to absorb new lexical items in a deeper way.

2. Summarise the text with some kind of challenge: write a headline for the text; write a topic sentence for a given paragraph; summarise the text in one sentence; summarise the text in a fixed number of words (or within a maximum number of words); with a time limit.

3. The text may act as a model for the kind of writing you want your students to do. Having worked through comprehension and analysis of the grammar, cohesive devices or other language features that are crucial to the text type, then have students write a text using the same pattern, from their own knowledge and experience or from prompts. For instance, your engineering students may need to analyse the cause of a particular technical problem. Provide a text with a range of examples of cause and effect language and then have students write a text using these features to explain the causes of something they're working on.

4. The text may lay out the facts of a case and you could have students speculate about what might have happened, what might have caused it or, indeed, who might have done it. Obviously detective stories spring to mind, or lateral thinking puzzles. Level matters here and you should only attempt this with higher level students who have a good grasp of modal auxiliary verbs.

1. Often a text exemplifies an area of grammar. A dramatic story may reveal the use of the past perfect to give the readers a flashback. A leaflet on safety may provide good examples of the use of modal auxiliary verbs to express obligation and permission. Crafting a text which exemplifies all the options that you are aiming to teach can provide excellent support for a grid of these options which the students create for themselves based on the examples in the text. For instance, you may want to help the students grasp the differences between must, mustn't, have to and don't have to.

2. References (both anaphoric and cataphoric) in a text can obscure meaning and confuse students. I sometimes think the hardest word in the English language is it. Students also have difficulty handling references, mixing up it and one or making mistakes of agreement where, for instance, the referent is a plural noun but they choose a singular pronoun to refer to it. After thorough coverage of a text for comprehension, vocabulary and the rest, it can be very helpful for students to go back over a text and analyse more closely the references within the text that help to maintain coherence.

Discourse and coherence

It can be useful to raise students' awareness of discourse to a slightly more abstract level. Have students analyse a text for given and new information. Sometimes this doesn't need to go much further than helping them to see the connection between the indefinite article for new information (countable nouns at least) and the definite article for given information, but can go deeper for higher level students. One feature of coherence is a well-maintained balance between given and new information. If you imagine a text which is a constant stream of new information, you will immediately see that it is essentially incoherent because nothing connects with anything else.

I hope this has given you a broader perspective on exploiting texts in the classroom. We can't be creative all the time, and a list of exercise types like this might help spark ideas for you and help you to ring the changes with your own materials.

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This article summarises a range of ways of exploiting a written text from basic comprehension tasks to more creative ways of getting the most out of it. Given a written text of some kind, what can we do with it, assuming it is at least within the grasp of our students and not just a dense forest of unfamiliar words?

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Exploiting texts for grammar practice

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10 ways to exploit reading texts

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How to teach creatively using the textbook

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How to teach creatively using the textbook

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In this video, Shahid Fiaz from Pakistan talks about how teachers can play with and supplement the textbook, often the only teaching resource in low-resource contexts, to inject variation into less

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Adapting your coursebook

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Very often, this happens because what is on the page doesn't match what the learners want or need, or because what is on the page doesn't fit with our beliefs as teachers.

There are a number of areas that can cause us problems:

Mis-matched methods

Language content / selection

Topic areas

Balance of skills

The sequence and scope of language items

The cultural context

Visual appeal

(adapted from Cunningsworth, 1995, p.136)

Whenever we look at the pages of a coursebook there are a series of questions that we ask ourselves to try and work out if and what we are going to use from those pages. The diagram below tries to encapsulate the process of assessment and adaptation that we go through when we ask ourselves those questions.
It starts with a teacher opening a coursebook at the pages to be dealt with in that day's lesson:

( click here to download a larger version in pdf format)

As you see, it ends with one of five possible outcomes:

1. The book lesson. When your assessment suggests a perfect match between material and learners, then the book lesson is the best option. This is quite rare and I suspect most book lessons occur due to other constraints upon the teacher, time pressures and the like, rather than because of a principled choice.

2. The alternative lesson. If you are not obligated to use the book, then you may be able to draw on different coursebooks and supplementary books for suitable materials, or to create your own version of the lesson.

3. Light supplementation. If the main focus of the materials works well enough then it is possible to "bookend" this with other resources. You can find, or create, a different start and a different end to the lesson. Alternatively, you can swap one or more parts of the materials for something different, for example a more meaningful language practice activity.

4. Heavy supplementation. If you are obligated to use the material AND to work with the language feature / skills focus on the page, then heavy supplementation may be the only answer. This might involve finding or creating an alternative lesson around the key focus and then selecting one or more aspect from the book to fit into that alternative lesson. In essence, you use your coursebook to supplement the alternative lesson. One example might be to use a single grammar practice activity from the coursebook as part of a larger lesson on the same language point.

5. Skip it and move on. If the material has absolutely no redeeming features, then you have to question why you are trying to use it. If the material is in the syllabus and you must deal with it, or more importantly if you think your learners need to work on this area, then either option 2) or option 4) above should be your choices. But if there is no need to do it? Why bother?

The diagram represents a thought process and it is probably a process that most teachers follow instinctively and intuitively on a daily basis. However, it is often the case that when the frustration of dealing with a difficult piece of material hits you, there is an element of stress and irritation in your thinking which only complicates the evaluation and lesson planning process. In these circumstances, taking a step back and using diagrams like this can help to reach a quick and easy decision about what to do with the material before you.

References:
Cunningsworth, A. (1995). Choosing your Coursebook. Macmillan Heinemann.

The diagram was made with a trial version of the online diagramming software from http://www.gliffy.com/

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Very often, this happens because what is on the page doesn't match what the learners want or need, or because what is on the page doesn't fit with our beliefs as teachers.There are a number of areas that can cause us problems:Mis-matched methodsLanguage content / selectionTopic areasBalance of skillsThe sequence and scope of language itemsThe cultural contextVisual appeal(adapted from Cunningsworth, 1995, p.136)

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30 things you can do to promote creativity

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30 things you can do to promote creativity

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The concept of teaching creativity has been around for quite some time.

Academics such as E. Paul Torrance, dedicated an entire lifetime to the advancement of creativity in education. Torrance faced much opposition in his day about the nature of creativity. Creativity was considered to be an immeasurable, natural ability. Torrance called for explicit teaching of creativity. He advocated that it was skill-specific, requiring intentional instruction. His life's work ultimately led to the development of the Torrance tests and gifted programs throughout the world.

In recent times, there has been a shift towards the increased acceptance of valuing creativity for all learners. A 2003 TED talk by Sir Ken Robinson discussing this subject reached over 5 million viewers. It discusses how our current school systems suppress creativity. He proposes that our current model leaves little room for divergent thinking.

Much of the blame for a lack of creativity, and therefore innovation, can be traced to our traditional educational systems.

It relies on teaching to the correct answer. An innovative thinking model is needed. Robinson recently tweeted an article about a new study that suggested 80% of educators surveyed preferred creativity to be included as part of learning standards.

In the same way, David Hughes, founder of Decision Labs and professor at UNC Chapel Hill, argues that innovation is an essential skill for our global economy. In talking about creativity in schools he says, much of the blame for a lack of creativity, and therefore innovation, can be traced to our traditional educational systems.

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Most of the practice of creative methods is being done outside the traditional educational institutions by consulting firms and by persons in companies who have been trained in creative problem solving methods. In universities not much has changed since 1950, when the distinguished psychologist J. P. Guilford in his inaugural address as president of the American Psychological Association stated that education's neglect of the subject of creativity was appalling.

Adding to this sequence of events is the fact that textbooks are at least three years out of date when they are published and . . . educational systems were the slowest adopters of innovation. Thus, we see that educational institutions need a strong dose of creative problem solving.

What are some ways then, as educators, that we promote creativity in our classrooms?

1. Embrace creativity as part of learning. Create a classroom that recognizes creativity. You may want to design awards or bulletin boards to showcase different ways of solving a problem, or creative solutions to a real world scenario.

2. Use the most effective strategies. Torrance performed an extensive meta-analysis that considered the most effective ways to teach creativity. He found that the most successful approaches used creative arts, media-oriented programs, or relied on the Osborn-Parnes training program. Programs that incorporated cognitive and emotional functioning were the most successful.

3. Think of creativity as a skill. Much like resourcefulness and inventiveness it is less a trait and more a proficiency that can be taught. If we see it this way, our job as educators becomes to find ways to encourage its use and break it down into smaller skill sets. Psychologists tend to think of creativity as Big-C and Little C. Big C drives big societal ideas, like the Civil Rights movement or a new literary style. Little C is more of a working model of creativity that solves everyday problems. Both concepts can be included in our classrooms to promote creativity in general.

4. Participate in or create a program to develop creative skills. Programs like Odyssey of the Mind and Thinkquest bring together students from around the world to promote creativity, design creative solutions, and bring them to competition.

5. Use emotional connections. Research suggests that the best creativity instruction ties in the emotions of the learner. In the "Odyssey angels" program students can devise a solution to help their local community, such as helping homeless youth. This topic is worthy of more discussion by itself. A blog postby fellow blogger Julie DeNeen gives some valuable information about this type of teaching.

Research suggests that the best creativity instruction ties in the emotions of the learner.

6. Use a creativity model. The Osborne-Parnes model is oldest, widely accepted model. It is often used in education and business improvement to promote creativity. Each step involves a divergent thinking pattern to challenge ideas, and then convergent thinking to narrow down exploration. It has six steps:

Mess-finding. Identify a goal or objective.

Fact-finding. Gathering data.

Problem-finding. Clarifying the problem

Idea-finding. Generating ideas

Solution-finding. Strengthening & evaluating ideas

Acceptance-finding. Plan of action for Implementing ideas

7. Consider how classroom assignments use divergent and convergent thinking. Standardized tests do a great job of measuring convergent thinking that includes analytical thinking or logical answers with one correct response. Divergent thinking considers how a learner can use different ways to approach a problem. It requires using association and multiplicity of thought. We should design assignments that consider both types of thinking models.

8. Creativity flourishes in a "congenial environment". Creative thinking needs to be shared and validated by others in a socially supportive atmosphere. Researcher Csikszentmihalyi (1996) coined this term, to explain the importance of reception from others. Others consider how to create social communities that promote creativity to solve problems.

9. Be aware during discussions. You know that student who often asks the question that goes a bit outside the lecture? Well, engage him. Once a week, intentionally address those questions. Write them down on an assigned space in the board to go back to later. Promote creativity by validating students' creative thinking.

10. See creativity in a positive light. In his blog in Psychology Today, Eric Jaffe talks about research that suggests see creativity in a negative light. If we are going to promote creativity, we need to embrace it too. Reward students for thinking of problems in varied ways by recognizing their efforts.

11. Try the Incubation Model. E. Paul Torrance designed this model. It involves 3 stages:

1. Heightening Anticipation: Make connections between the classroom and student's real lives. "Create the desire to know".

2. Deepen Expectations: Engage the curriculum in new ways. Brainstorm and create opportunities to solve a novel problem.

3. Keep it going: Continue the thinking beyond the lesson or classroom. Find ways to extend learning opportunities at home or even the community.

12. Use a cultural artifact. Research from experimental social psychology finds that artifacts can enhance insight problem solving. Consider using an ordinary object, such as a light bulb used in the study or a historical artifact to have students think about living in a particular time period.

13. Establish expressive freedom. The classroom environment must be a place where students feel safe to share novel ideas. Allow for flexibility and create norms that promote creativity.

14. Be familiar with standards. Knowing the standards inside and out helps find creative solutions in approaching a lesson. Teachers can adapt them and work within the current framework. Some topics allow for flexibility and use of creative approaches.

15. Gather outside resources. There are some great resources to read related to creativity. The University of Georgia, provides an array of amazing resources related to how to promote creativity in practical ways. It also gives a list of programs and organizations that can help with the process.

16. Allow room for mistakes. Sir Ken Robinson said it best when he said, "If you're not prepared to be wrong, you'll never come up with anything original."

17. Allow space for creativity. Design some classroom space for exploration, such as a thinking table, a drama stage, a drawing table, or a space for groups to discuss ideas.

18. Give students time to ask questions. Organizations such as CCE (Creativity, Culture, Education) suggest teachers incorporate opportunities for students to ask questions. Intentionally design lessons that allow for wondering and exploration.

19. Creativity builds confidence. Students take ownership of their own learning. Think of ways where students might design a project. For instance, for the history requirement, I suggested students of both fifth grade classes create an exhibition of their final projects. The students were so proud of their final work and learned from others presentations. Parents and community members were happy to see students take ownership of their learning.

20. Encourage curiosity.Consider what is important to students. Student interest is a great place to start on what drives their own thinking tank. Find inspiration from their world. Creativity is intrinsic in nature. Try to promote creativity by stepping into their viewpoint to find what motivates them.

Student interest are a great place to start on what drives their own thinking tank. Find inspiration from their world.

21. Structure is essential. Studies, such as a meta-analysis by Torrance suggest that creativity instruction is best with clear structure. For instance, consider the guidelines of the standard curriculum objectives and add these to the design. For example, reading considers communication, comprehension, listening, writing and reading.

22. Observe a working model of creativity. To get a better idea of how others promote creativity, visit a creative classroom or watch a video about how a creative classroom works. The "Case for Creativity in School" is an excellent video that educators can watch to see how creativity might play out in a classroom. This school adopted a school-wide approach to recognize students.

23. Consider the work of current experts in the field. Sir Ken Robinson is an internationally renowed creativity and innovation expert. His work is used to meet global challenges, renovating education, business, and government organizations to implement his strategies. His books and TED talks are great places to promote creativity in your own teaching.

24. Explore different cultures. Culture is an excellent vehicle for inspiring creative thinking. In Thinking Hats & Coloured Turbans Dr. Kirpal Singh discusses how cultural contexts are central to creative endeavors. You can discuss how collaboration between cultures, such as in the space program, produces unique, novel ideas.

25. Find ways to incorporate and integrate art, music and culture. A recent report prepared for the European commission considered that creativity is a central force that shapes our culture. With the changing times we live in, the report suggested that society is enriched by cultural-based creativity.

26. Use a collaborative creative thinking model to solve classroom problems. For instance, read a paragraph and then have groups discuss a list of questions. Collaborative problem solving is catching on quickly. In fact, many business schools have implemented creative thinking models into their curriculum.

27. Design multidisciplinary lessons when possible. When teaching geometry, I designed a lesson called, "Geometry through Art". It included works of Art to show fifth graders their application to everyday geometric concepts. The result was astounding. I never thought that the subject matter would be so successful. I designed an entire unit that focused on how different concepts rely on geometry. I even asked the Art teacher to help reinforce those concepts in class.

28. Tapping into multiple intelligences is key. Creativity requires us to use different parts of our brain. We often bridge connections between seemingly unrelated areas to make new concepts emerge. Allow students to use their strengths to find new ways of approaching a topic or solving a problem. You might be surprised with what they come up with.

29. Understand that creativity is important to students' future in the job market. Paul Collard for Creative Partnerships, discusses how 60% of English students will work in jobs that are not yet created. In today's market, students must largely be innovative and create their own jobs. Collard suggests teachers focus on teaching particular skills or set of behaviors, rather than preparing students for specific careers.

30. Teach creative skills explicitly. According to Collard, "Creative skills aren't just about good ideas, they are about having the skills to make good ideas happen." He suggests creative skills should include 5 major areas:

Imagination

Being disciplined or self-motivated.

Resiliency

Collaboration

Giving responsibility to students. Have them develop their own projects.

In a recent article, What Would Dr. E. Paul Torrance Do?: A Legacy for Creative Education, the author considers what lies in the future of creativity in our schools?

Retired professor Berenice Bleedorn says we should continue his legacy of sharing information and practice "the art of creative thinking". We must continue to advocate for its use and move against the current or as Torrance himself called them, "the powers that be". After all, teachers are the real driving force behind the creative thinking in our schools.

If our schools are lagging behind, we must be the creative minds that urge our students to be curious and seek new answers.

Miriam Clifford holds a Masters in Teaching from City University and a Bachelor in Science from Cornell. She loves research and is passionate about education. She is a foodie and on her time off enjoys cooking and gardening. You can find her @miriamoclifford or Google+.

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30 Things You Can Do To Promote Creativity - InformED

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The concept of teaching creativity has been around for quite some time. Academics such as E. Paul Torrance, dedicated an entire lifetime to the advancement of creativity in education. Torrance faced much opposition in his day about the nature of creativity. Creativity was considered to be an immeasurable, natural ability.

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Boats and boating--Equipment and supplies

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English Language Learning Materials Tomlinson

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The analysis of language teaching materials by Andrew Littlejohn

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Materials & Methods in ELT: McDonough & Shaw

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ESL reading textbook evaluation checklist

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Evaluating ELT textbooks and materials by Leslie Sheldon