Showing posts with label creativity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label creativity. Show all posts

Creative Whack Pack Review

Creative Whack Pack
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The Creative Wack Pack consists of 64 cards each focusing on a different creativity principle. The 64 cards are divided into four sixteen card suits: Explorer, Artist, Judge, and Warrior. These represent the four roles or types of thinking of the creative process.

The Explorer is your role for discovering the resources you'll use to create new ideas. The cards in the Explorer suit highlight places and ways to find new information.

The Artist is your role for transforming your resources into new ideas. The cards in the Artist suit provide you with idea-generating techniques.

The Judge is your role for evaluating an idea and deciding what to do with it. The cards in the Judge suit lend decision making advice.

The Warrior is your role for implementing your idea. The cards in the Warrior suit give you the "kick" you need to get your ideas into action.

There are several ways the cards can be used. One of the best is the "Creative Licencing at Meetings". At the beginning of a meeting, deal out five cards to each participant. The cards give each person permission to make a point related to that card as you work though the meeting agenda. A participant may play a card at any time if he or she feels thtat its message will help the meeting.

Some examples of cards:

Card #27 - CHANGE ITS NAME - If a architect looks at an opening between two rooms and thinks "door" that's what she will design. But if she thinks "passageway", she may design something much different like a "hallway", "air curtain", "tunnel", or perhaps a "courtyard". Different words bring in different assumptions and lead your thinking in different directions. What else can you call your idea?

Card #9 - USE A RANDOM IDEA - Open your mind up to things that have nothing to do with the idea you're developing. Pick out the third word on p.134 of your dictionary - "broom". How does it relate to what you are doing? What similiarities does it have with your idea? Can you use it as a metaphor? Look out your window and find the first thing that has blue in it - "mailbox". How does it shed light on your idea? What random idea can you use to stimulate your thinking?


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An illustrated deck of 64 creative thinking strategies that will whack you out of habitual thought patterns and enable you to look at your life and actions in a fresh way. Use the cards alone or with others to seek innovative solutions to issues. Created by best-selling author von Oech, the cards have been used by many organizations, including NASA, in strategy development and problem solving. Complete with detailed instructions.

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Math Skills Made Fun: Dazzling Math Line Designs Gr.4-5 (Grades 4-5) Review

Math Skills Made Fun: Dazzling Math Line Designs Gr.4-5 (Grades 4-5)
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My class enjoyed the activities in the book. Some students identified the pattern without completing the math problems, but most did the calculations first. Make sure that each student has and uses a ruler and pencil. A few tried freehand, but the wiggles made the designs a mess.

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Fraction fireworks . . . decimal flowers . . . division twirling tops . . . Kids will dive into math problems to create dazzling and colorful line designs and 3-D constructions. Fun-filled reproducible worksheets let kids add, subtract, multiply, and divide 1-. 2-. and 3-digit numbers, fractions, and decimals. Leveled for different abilities. For use with Grades 4-5.

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Hold That Thought For Kids: Capturing Precious Memories through Fun Questions, Images, & Conversations (Hold That Thought Keepsake Coversation Journals) Review

Hold That Thought For Kids: Capturing Precious Memories through Fun Questions, Images, and Conversations (Hold That Thought Keepsake Coversation Journals)
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I received this book as a gift from a teacher girlfriend. At first I was overwhelmed-it's a big book. My friend told me to trust her, pick a page (any page), gather my kids and start. I am glad I did.
I started with an interview titled "All the Senses". As an introduction, my 5 and 7 year olds and I talked about what our senses were. Then I interviewed them, writing down both of their answers to questions about their favorites smells, sounds, sensations, sights...in the same book. The kids liked having this "talking time" with me. After a few minutes, my husband, overhearing us, stopped doing the dishes and joined us so he could listen too.
In our family, the temptation is to just get things done in the evening. This book helps my husband and me spend just 10 or 20 precious minutes really talking and communicating with the kids. It's easy. It's fun and together we're creating a keepsake treasure. I recommend it to parents everywhere.


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Filled with conversation-starting questions and dialogues, this colorful keepsake brings the family together by providing a handy place to record and save the funny, wise, and precious words of childhood. Fifty diverse sets of seven thematically related interview questions and games are included. Sections encourage kids to find the words to describe the whole of their interests, personal connections with relatives and peers, perceptions of their world, and expectations for the future.

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Hand-Shaped Art: Start with the Shape of a Young Child's Hand Review

Hand-Shaped Art: Start with the Shape of a Young Child's Hand
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Hand-shaped Art inspires, and, that is its incredible attribute. Looking at one idea, I was pleasantly bombarded with possibilities, especially, creative, interactive bulletin board ideas and writing assignments. Too many teachers fill bulletin boards with glossy posters. This book lets the children participate.
Layout and art are superb, simple, ready to use, and that, my friend, saves time. You will be glad you spent the money on this book for it is full of ideas you can't see until your imagination takes over.
Take, for example, one hand makes a ship's sail, but what a journey it will be when you include travel plans in creative writing, science of the stars and the ocean, attendance count, lunch count, classroom managment, and scary creatures bordering the bulletin board. I saw a sail made from one hand and then...See what I mean? Keep a pen handy for all the ideas that will flood your landscape. You'll never go back to glossy, boring posters again.

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Over 50 creative projects! Ideas for games, books, science, language, and quick field trips. A project for every season, many holidays, and special occasions.

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The Mudpies Activity Book: Recipes for Invention Review

The Mudpies Activity Book: Recipes for Invention
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I love this book. Many of the ideas are fresh & new and they are all lots of fun. Plus you don't have to spend a fortune - in fact most of the things can be found around your house, making it an ideal book for those "I'm bored" rainy days.

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New Pop-Up Paper Projects: Step-by-step paper engineering for all ages Review

New Pop-Up Paper Projects: Step-by-step paper engineering for all ages
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This is an excellent book for elementary teachers who want to add pop up to their projects. it creates ties to all parts of the curriculum and has easy projects for even the smallest student.

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The techniques of creating pop-up forms are demonstrated in a series of practical lessons. The book also suggests ways in which pop-up forms can be used to enrich the study of English and art, and contains illustrations of childrens work.

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The Creative Family: How to Encourage Imagination and Nurture Family Connections Review

The Creative Family: How to Encourage Imagination and Nurture Family Connections
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I thought this was a sweet book, and a pleasant read. Amanda Soule is a wonderful writer. I was a little disappointed that there were no new ideas presented here though. I felt like I was reading the same Waldorf family book I've read several times before. People say "everything has been done before", but I feel that authors can still incorporate new ideas or put their own twist on things. I did not see this here.
I was also disappointed with the craft projects. Aside from the fact that many were the same projects found all over the internet and in many other craft books, I found that most of them were projects geared towards adults with small touches added by children. I was expecting more projects actually for children, or where children played a much bigger role.
I think this would be a perfect book for someone who is new to Waldorf and Montessori philosophy and was looking for ways to incorporate these philosophies into their family life, or for someone who is looking for a simple, pleasant read paired with beautiful pictures. If you've been involved in simple family living for quite some time and are looking for something new, I would look elsewhere.

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When you learn to awaken your family's creativity, wonderful things will happen: you'll make meaningful connections with your children in large and small ways; your children will more often engage in their own creative discoveries; and your family will embrace new ways to relax, play, and grow together. With just the simple tools around you—your imagination, basic art supplies, household objects, and natural materials—you can transform your family life, and have so much more fun!Amanda Soule has charmed many with her tales of creativity and parenting on her blog, SouleMama. Here she shares ideas and projects with the same warm tone and down-to-earth voice. Perfect for all families, the wide range of projects presented here offers ideas for imaginative play, art and crafts, nature explorations, and family celebrations.This book embraces a whole new way of living that will engage your children's imagination, celebrate their achievements, and help you to express love and gratitude for each other as a family.

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Teaching the 3 Cs: Creativity, Curiosity, and Courtesy: Activities That Build a Foundation for Success Review

Teaching the 3 Cs: Creativity, Curiosity, and Courtesy: Activities That Build a Foundation for Success
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Patricia A. Dischler's TEACHING THE 3 CS: CREATIVITY, CURIOSITY AND COURTESY provides a powerful reference showing how to promote a child's inner desire to learn. From tools for nurturing empathy and emotional intelligence to activities fun to use and developmentally appropriate for different ages, this tells how to integrate 'the 3 Cs' into any curriculum.

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Nurture enthusiastic learners, promote school readiness, and meet state standards by integrating creativity, curiosity, and courtesy into the curriculum through developmentally appropriate, fun activities.


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Outsmart The Unexpected: Grow Your Creativity The Edge-Of-Your-Seat Way Review

Outsmart The Unexpected: Grow Your Creativity The Edge-Of-Your-Seat Way
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It is an interesting concept for a book and it encourages readers to use their imaginations. The situations the characters find themselves in can sometimes seem very dire and in some cases I found myself thinking, "Oh no! This cannot end well", but the beauty of the book is that if you like happy endings, it is up to you to use your creativity to find one.
The book encourages you to ask questions and analyze the various scenarios from different angles. What are the issues? What significant information is omitted? What reasonable solutions (or unreasonable solutions) are possible? This book is a fun activity for an evening home with friends (game night for critical thinkers). You can read the book out loud and discuss the possible outcomes. It is interesting to see what conclusion other people draw and their reasoning. The discussions can lead to some very stimulating conversations and your friends may even surprise you with the conclusions they draw. You may even gain some new insights into your own creativity and critical thinking skills.


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Get Better At Outsmarting the Unexpected by Sharpening Your Ability to Think on Your Feet.Outsmart the Unexpected is a thought-provoking collection of challenging and unusual dilemmas in story form that need solving. Each short, cliffhanger story will unfold a predicament and then challenge you to come up with a solution to help one of the characters out of the situation they suddenly find themselves in. How will things end - Happily? In a twist? In more of a muddle? Use them to sharpen your ability to find creative solutions to sudden predicaments. Use them to develop your creativity, strengthen your ability to think on your feet, and make decisions that will be successful.In some, you may need to suspend your disbelief to play along. Some will make your head spin. Others may make your heart pound. Still others will make you go hmmm. But all will challenge you to think outside your comfort zone, to look for solutions from different angles, and to not necessarily limit yourself to what you see and what the obvious solution could be. They will will stretch your mind and help you to develop your ability to formulate best possible solution in situations where you must react quickly and there's little available information to work with.In the course of life, problems may suddenly arise and they may sometimes be things you've never dealt with before. So your mental filing cabinet of experiences and skills can only partially assist in coming up with a solution. The predicaments presented in this collection are situations that most people have probably never encountered before and never will (hopefully). Besides it making them more fun, the rationale for this is that you'll need to work the problem and tap into your creativity in order to find a solution. You won't just being able to draw upon your expertise and remembered experiences.Try your hand at inventing different endings and discussing and debating the possible solutions or interesting outcomes that you came up with. Do You think that the best solutions come from asking the right questions? Get your brain buzzing thinking up what those questions would be. Do you enjoy making up your own endings? Let your imagination run wild. Dive into the unexpected and bring your creative side along with you!

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Window Seat: The Art of Digital Photography and Creative Thinking Review

Window Seat: The Art of Digital Photography and Creative Thinking
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I've always been a fan of Julieanne's work, and I had already seen some of her evocative images from 33,000 feet, but I must admit, when I saw Window Seat, I was absolutely blown away!
The author has created something very special here because although her amazing photography is definitely the star of the show, at the same time her insights into how she processed and edited these photos using Adobe Photoshop make the book have great crossover appeal.
The layout of the book is just beautifully done with a clean look throughout and nicely crafted typography. Together they do a great job of supporting her fascinating photography, while not getting in the way of her message. This beautiful layout gives the book a real fine art feel and it's the kind of book that's so engaging, you'll definitely want to share it with others.
I love books that make you want to run out and start shooting, and this is surely among them, but perhaps best of all, you'll never look out your window seat again without thinking of her work and smiling.
Highly recommended for anyone who loves great photography, who admires a very clever eye, who appreciates great design, and doesn't mind learning a little Photoshop along the way. Well done, Julieanne.


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Window Seat: The Art of Digital Photography and Creative Thinking is a complete view of a creative project from the artist's perspective. Julieanne Kost, a Photoshop and creative thinking expert, has taken her own experience shooting images out of commercial airplane windows to create a unique creative seminar.

The first section of the book, The Art of Creative Thinking: The Principles, outlines Julieanne's method for staying creative in an increasingly complicated world. In her personal stories, advice, and philosophies, you'll find inspiration if you're stuck or just can't get started. You may recognize some of your own less-than-productive thought processes as she describes her own struggle to let go of the everyday flotsam of life to find a quiet mental space in which she can think, dream, and create.

The second part of the book, Window Seat: The Portfolio, is a collection of images culled from over 3000 photographs Julieanne shot from commercial airplane windows over a period of five years. The photographs are accompanied by brief commentaries addressing various aspects of the process, from the original inspiration to issues of control, subject matter, image selection, and manipulation.

The Appendix contains technical information:a discussion of the equipment and media Julieanne used to shoot the photos; how she processed the photographs using Adobe Camera Raw; the Photoshop techniques she employed to correct, retouch, and manipulate the images; her personal file management system; and how she prepares her files for printing.

This book is essential reading for photographers and artists looking for ways to stay creatively awake, aware, and alive.


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Acting Class: Take a Seat Review

Acting Class: Take a Seat
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We lost a legendary teacher last week. Milton Katselas passed away on October 24th 2008 at the age of 75. This book (finally available to non-students) represents the wisdom he gathered and techniques he perfected over his many years of teaching. If you're serious about acting (or any other creative or artistic pursuit for that matter) you really must take the time to read, understand and apply this book.
In the time I studied in his classes I had the opportunity to see a great many actors and directors overcome obstacles that stood in the way of their talent. And after a while I was surprised to find that there were often similarities to the challenges they faced. This book could be called a compilation of the remedies that Milton discovered.
The core of Milton's technique is The Checklist. Tried and tested techniques for breaking down a scene and unlocking its secrets. He shares this along with many other common pitfalls to watch out for.
Much of Acting Class is written in the form of transcribed critiques from actual classes and because of this, the message may not be immediately clear to those who haven't sat in his class themselves. I studied at the Beverly Hills Playhouse for three years and I can tell you that over time I saw a great many students learn these exact lessons. For this reason I can assure you that, however oblique it may seem on first read, the lessons are in this text.
This is not a dry, dense, academic book. Milton gets right to it. Acting is not some vague, formless art in his view. It's a skill that can be learned, exercised and perfected.

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Previously only available to Katselas' students at the prestigious Beverly Hills Playhouse, Acting Class presents the concepts and methods that have helped lead a generation of actors to success on stage, in cinema, and on television. Now for the first time, this all-encompassing book is available to the general public, taking readers and sitting them in the legendary acting class of Milton Katselas, where he not only covers techniques and methods, but also includes valuable discussions on the attitude any artist needs to fulfill his or her dream.

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