Nysec Conference

Improving literaCY
through Creativity

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Notes about this blog entry! This mind map was created by an attendee at the NYSEC Conference.

Linda Rief created this mind map at the 2017 conference of the Connecticut Writing Project.

I Create a Creative Culture. I begin setting a creative culture the moment I meet my students in September. I achieve this with the following steps:

1. Covering the walls of my classroom in their work.
2. Maintaining shelves full of reading choices.
3. Mandating pupils bring magic markers and other art supplies daily.
4. Setting creative goals for them quarterly, culminating in a portfolio.
5. Including student-samples in every lesson. Tons of them. 

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II. Teach Mind Mapping & Create ID Cards.

1. To learn mind mapping, students need direct instruction and plenty of examples. Mini-lesson #3: Mind Mapping.
2. The first assignment: ID cards. Students mind map their passions and interests.
3. Key points: study models but always innovate; art "skill" doesn't matter; create layers and drafts of your work; experiment with color; aesthetics count.
4. Grading creativity? No. Evaluate "teacher-edit" or "final". "T-E" = Make a revision based on the teacher's comments and corrections.

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III Inspire a Love for Reading. Attending NCTE Conferences has shown me that effective English teachers can inspire a love for reading. This happens by encouraging students to read material they choose. Dragging whole classes through canon literature ... often reinforces a hatred of reading.

Once I caught the Book Love passion, I re-designed our department's summer reading assignment: Students are asked to keep a chart of what they read. Period. No mandatory reading - except in honors or AP. The question is: What should a teacher do with the chart in September?

1. Invite students to create mind maps based on summer reading, which I define as everything they read -- books, newspapers, magazines, websites, blogs, etc. I want to know what they read.
2. These mind maps are stand-alone art, but they also become useful on the first essay of the year.
3. "Real readers set goals," says Penny Kittle. My kids just turn them into mind maps.
4. "Reading Goals" mind maps are often revisited throughout the year and reflected upon in the portfolio.

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IV Mind Maps for Whole-Class Literature

1. ​Teacher-centric: Create mind maps designed for student-notes atop your starter web. Then re-inforce note-taking strategies as you go through the lesson. Click here to see my student-teacher's entire Frederick Douglass unit!
2. Student-centered: Use the signposts from Notice & Note to give the students more flexibility and autonomy.

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V Notations and Innovations. Once you get this far with creativity, mind mapping, and reading love ... there's no telling what your students might accomplish. Here are some pleasant surprises I've received...