Readers Theatre

Marianne Wood

Readers Theatre 

10/30/2011

Egyptian Gods and Goddesses 

Characters- 

Narrator 1-8

Nun: the dark waters

Ben-Ben:  the hills

Atum:  the first god

Shu: god of the air

Tefnut: god of moisture 

Nut: god of the sky

Geb: god of earth

Four Children:  Osiris(king of earth), Isis(queen of earth), Seth, and Nephthys(not a part)

Horus: Oriris and Isis son

Setting:  Ancient Egypt 

Narrator 1:  This is a story about the creation of the Egyptian gods and goddesses.

Nun:  I am the god of the dark waters and I have created a chaotic world.

Narrator 2:  One day, a hill rose up of a the waters.

Ben-Ben:  I should be called Ben-Ben.  I will be the home of the first god, Atum.  

Narrator 3:  On the hill of Ben-Ben, the first god named Atum arose.  

Atum:  I am the god of Atum and will control the earth.  First, I will create a god of air.  Then, I will create a god of moisture.  This will gives us the atmosphere in which we live.  

Narrator 4:  Shu and Tefnut were created to be the god of air and god of moisture.  The two had two children:  Geb, the god of earth and Nut, the goddess of the sky.  

Geb:  I am the god of earth.  I will create a place for all to live.

Nut:  I am the god of the sky.  Together Geb and I will make a peaceful world.  I will be the canopy of Geb and the earth.

Narrator 5:  Net and Geb had four children named Osiris, Isis, Seth and Nephthys.

Osiris:  I have been named the king of the earth.  My wife Isis will help me rule the earth for many years.  

Isis:  My husband Osiris and I will protect the earth.  

Narrator 6:  Seth was jealous of Osiris because he wanted to be the ruler of the earth.  He grew angrier and angrier and killed Osiris.  

Seth:  I wish my brother was not the king.  I shall kill him and make him go to the underworld and I will be king of the earth.  

Narrator 7:  Osiris and Isis had one son named Horus.  

Horus:  I will battle Seth and take over the earth and become king.  

Narrator 8:  Horus regained the throne and Osiris remained the king of the underworld.  Seth was defeated.  

Equalizing Standards and Creativity

Equalizing Standards and Creativity:  How can we balance the two??

Today, the majority of our curriculum includes high-stakes standards and tests that are required by all students to follow.  With the focus geared on meeting the needs of high-stakes standards and tests, many students are not experiencing creative learning styles and environments.  Teachers are pressured to teach certain skills in order to achieve testing goals mandated by individual states. 

Research has been conducted to determine the effectiveness of high-stakes standards and creativity used in the classroom.  The research demonstrates that both concepts support student learning in different ways and offer variety to their education (Burke-Adams, 2007).   Gifted students often require unique learning needs that are not being met in the regular education setting. 

How can we insure that we are teaching these required standards while being creative at the same time?  Prescribed curriculum does not support teaching basic skills in a creative form.  What are we doing for our academically gifted students?  These students need opportunities where they can thrive in a creative manner. 

Teachers can still teach high-stakes standards while still teaching creatively.  Three components support this idea.  They are teacher behavior, learning environment and instructional strategies.  Teachers should provide opportunities that allow students to explore their own creativity while still focusing on the set skills in place. 

Hard Work vs Sudden Insights

I would like to acknowledge that my products of creativity (such as writing papers) is due to sudden insights.  However, I must admit that the majority of my assignments come from hard work and dedication.  When writing papers, I limit my focus to getting it done.  I know that is not what our readings suggest however my anticipation and nervousness causes me to only focus on the end result.  

When creating lessons for my students, however, I would like to believe that I am creating these units with “sudden insights.”  The majority of the time I have one goal in mine while designing units but end with a totally different product.  I personally believe this can be attributed to my want to give my students something they can excel with while find interest.  

My Personality and Creativity

Where do I stand with creativity?

After looking at the tables describing personality traits of creative people, I did find myself obtaining many of the characteristics listed in my personality.  The majority of the personality traits that I share with creative people are not new to me.  However, I must admit that I do fall into the category of a few of the negative traits.  

I do see myself as a very independent person however I often doubt what I am doing and worry if it is worthy.  I am a people pleaser which often causes much discomfort for me.  I usually find myself committing to way more than I can handle.  I am a very sensitive person.  I take others feelings and concerns into perspective everyday.  Most likely this is why I am a teacher as I only want the best for others and understand that we are not all perfect.  I have a very big sense of humor and am often told that I am a cut up.  Yes, I must admit that I am also very immature at times.  I am not sure if this plays into the fact that I am the youngest of three children and still very babied by my family. Out of the three children in my family, I probably am the most creative (which says a lot about my brother and sister :0 ).  

I find myself getting extremely excited over the smallest of things but I am not a risk taker.  I wish I was more willing to act on the spur of the moment however I am too cautious and concerned about my well being.  Therefore my results of the “Thrill Seeking Test” were not surprising to me.  I fell into the below average category.  

I must say that I am extremely hard working and generally organized.  Others may not agree with my organization skills, however, I always know where things are located.  Since I was a young child, I have asked many questions.  Often my family and friends will respond “Just deal with the answer.”  This really discourages me because I always want to know “why” something occurred the way it did.  

I enjoyed Davis’s Chapter 5 and making connections with my own personality traits.  I find it extremely encouraging that I do have a large majority of traits that fall into creative category.  This gives me hope that one day I too, can be creative.  

Midterm Checkpoint

Midterm Checkpoint

Wow!  I can’t believe we are already half way through the semester.  I must admit that I never thought that I would get to this point with work and the two graduate courses I am taking.  Now, only if I can make it the last half! J

What I have I learned this far?  This course has been extremely beneficial to me over the past few weeks.  I personally have never thought of myself as a creative person and still do not.  However, from our many readings and activities, I now realize the importance of creativity in schools and being creative does not necessarily mean being able to “create” something.  I have learned that a student’s creative ability can be demonstrated in numerous ways such as their ability to think critically, to actually create or design something, as well as the way they handle certain situations or problems. 

In order for our student’s to be able to compete in today’s job market, teachers, including myself, must think of more ways to bring creativity into our classrooms.  Students need to be challenged constantly to think outside the norm and formulate their own ideas.  I fear that too many educators believe that we should teach students that every problem has one single answer.  However, from our readings, I now understand that children should not learn this way.  They must be given the opportunity to see multiple outcomes in one problem. 

Surprises  Unfortunately, I have not had any surprises while examining my creativity.  I still understand that I am not the most creative person, but I do now understand the importance of helping my student’s understand that we ALL can be creative (yes, even me).  In our readings, I read that teachers and older adults must not give in to their lack of creativeness rather they should demonstrate that they as well have potential. 

How views changed?  I now believe that we are all capable of possessing some sort of creative skill.  Also, I have learned that no matter the material being presented, there is a way to bring creativity into everything.  Students should be encouraged daily to think outside the norm.  Curriculum should be designed to incorporate creativity into all units and lessons. 

Articles I enjoyed the article discussing “mental happenings.”  I found it extremely interesting that many famous writers, scientists, etc made discoveries and inventions through mysterious mental happenings.  I immediately told my students about a view of these different people.  I have also found the three Roeper Review journal articles to be extremely beneficial.  Many ideas and strategies were explained in the three articles that I have put to use in my classroom. 

Changes As I have previously stated, I am working on designing more and more lessons for my students that involve an aspect of creativity.  From my readings, I now understand there are multiple ways a students can demonstrate their creativity in all lessons.  Products do not necessarily have to be your traditional “poster” rather they can me the way a child answered a critical thinking question.  Also, I will now stop declaring to my students that I am not creative and give my students opportunities to see that they ALL can possess some sort of creative skills. 

Definitions and Theories

There is not one single definition or theory to explain creativity.  The following definitions, person’s and ideas demonstrate different perspectives on creativity.  

Otto Rank described the creative type as one who is well adjusted and self-actualized.  

“We are all born with a will to be ourselves, to be free of domination.  In early childhood, we exercise our will in our efforts to do things independently of our parents.” 

(http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/rank.html)

Example:  The Lion King

In the movie the Lion King, young Simba is warned not to go beyond outside the kingdom’s land.  However, young Simba and his companion Nala do not listen and find themselves in danger.  They are exploring their own freedom in a world of domination.  This mocks Rank’s idea that children want to be independent to find domination.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=fvwp&v=KXs8OS6EdAE

Jung’s Psychological Type- human consciousness

Jung’s psychological type of creativity involves individuals experiencing creativity through life’s lessons, emotional shocks, and experiences of passion and human crises.  

Example:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MO5oDScu4ps

The hit show Full House opening theme song discusses the unpredictabilities of the world and how one can lean on others for support.  The writers of Full House presented each episode with some sort of problem and demonstrated how a family can work together to overcome struggles.  

Jung’s Visionary Type- collective unconscious 

Dreams and thoughts lead to an individuals creative processes.  

Torrance Creative Type- creative person, creative product, and creative press

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLO5SJ2uxEE&feature=relmfu

This video clip demonstrates the steps taken in creative thinking through a science experiment by creating a crystal bubble.  

The Creative Press-  social and psychological environment of creativity

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpu50t97U0M

The environment of the magic school bus creates an environment for exploration and creativity to occur during each episode.  

Mental Happenings:

In Art:  My grandfather was an avid painter who never had a preconceived idea before painting.  His art work came from current thoughts and ideas.

In Music:  Mental happenings in music remind me of someone who can play by music by ear.  My grandmother can sit down on the piano and play anything you wish for her to play as well as put music notes together making melodies.  

In Science:  Albert Einstein’s unique way’s of thinking led to his finding’s of general relativity.  

In Literature: Writer’s who “happen” to run across their idea’s in unique environments.  

Coke Can Transformation

Coke Can Transformed into a Decorative Vase

How do you turn a Coke can into an object?  When I got this assignment, I immediately asked my friends, family and colleagues for any ideas and suggestions.  I received an array of responses from the North Carolina State Wolf (due to my family going to the game this weekend) to a container to be used for pencils, pens and scissors to a lady bug.  However, I did not chose any of these options.  

Today when I went to my sisters house to use her three year old’s craft box, my niece helped me come up with the idea to make a vase.  First, we went outside and picked the prettiest flowers we could see (her words exactly).  Then we went inside and began decorating.  We found a bag of fury balls that I knew we could use.  Therefore, we glued them to a green felt background.  Once we assembled the background we finished the vase by adding flowers.  

After assembling the vase with my three year old niece, being a teacher I knew I needed to make a connection to this assignment and the environment.  I explained the importance of recycling and how the vase we made was made from a recycled Coke can.  I hope this project was beneficial to her and taught her a lesson about recycling.