Creative+Thinking+in+the+Literacy+Block

"...writing literature is an exercise of the imagination. **//And so is reading it.//** We have to bring our imaginations to bear on a story if we are to see all its possibilities; otherwise it's just about somebody who did something. Whatever we take away from stories in the way of significance, symbolism, theme, meaning, pretty much anything except character and plot, we discover because our imagination engages with that of the author." Thomas C. Foster ~ [|How to Read Literature Like a Professor]


 * === The processes of creative thinking are remarkably similar to the process of making meaning during reading. ===
 * How many inferences can you draw in the following passage?
 * He put down $10.00 at the window. The woman behind the window gave $4.00. The person next to him gave him $3.00, but he gave it back to her. So, when they went inside, she bought him a large bag of popcorn. (Example from: __[|When Kids Can't Read: What Teachers Can Do]__ by Kylene Beers)
 * ===Consider what you think is happening in this text. How did you arrive at your interpretation?===
 * Did you brainstorm all of the places windows could be? (//fluency//)
 * What connections between ideas did you //elaborate// upon to arrive at your interpretation? (window and popcorn)
 * How many different alternatives did you consider before drawing your final conclusion? (//flexibility//)
 * When did you decide that the action most likely takes place at a movie theater instead of a spaceship? (//originality//)
 * **Inferential Reading and Creative Thinking both involve similar processes to create new meaning.**
 * Let's look at marked up version of the Beers's text above outlining all of the thinking processes that occur during reading.



Identifying Types of Inferences in a Reading Passage (Graphic from:__[| When Kids Can't Read: What Teachers Can Do]__ by Kylene Beers)