Creativity in Children’s Writing
Abstract
In this master thesis the author tests three different story writing approaches to determine which best prompts students’ creativity. The three approaches include: tall tales, actual experiences, and suggested topics. Twenty 6th grade students wrote creative stories in one of the three approaches. The researcher made it clear that students’ stories not be graded, and would not impact their grade report in any way. Three different teachers independently scored each story for its creativity. The researcher found that writing about actual experiences seemed to stimulate the most creativity from students. Tall tales yielded the same level of creativity as suggested topics, however both yielded less than actual experiences. The study also suggests that lower-performing students tended to write the most creative stories, while high-performing students tended to write the least creative stories.Description
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A Comparison of the Perception which Third-Grade Students and Sixth-Grade Students have of Themselves as WritersChildren learn to write at an early age, however, many children do not enjoy writing as an activity. This masters’ thesis investigates students’ opinions about writing, and compares the opinions of elementary students to those of middle school students. The author surveyed seventy-nine students from two 3rd grade classrooms and two 6th grade classrooms in western New York. The survey consisted of seventeen questions about how students felt about writing in the classroom. These surveys were then collected and sorted into three categories: positive, ambivalent, and negative. The researcher found that about 64% of 3rd grade students had a positive writing attitude, with 0% displaying a negative attitude. Sixth graders, however, had less positive feelings. Only about 40% of the 6th grade students had a positive writing attitude, while 9% had negative attitudes. The author concludes that teachers should not only strive to improve each student’s writing ability, but also their self-concepts as writers.
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Unleashing the Storyteller Within: Using an Integrated Learning Theory and Multimedia Approach to Designing a Digital Online Genre Fiction Writing WorkshopThe purpose of this creative, professional capstone project is to design the first module of a digital online genre fiction writing workshop using an integrated learning theory and multimedia approach. The module will eventually be expanded to a four module creative writing workshop geared toward people who’ve always wanted to write a genre fiction novel, but didn’t know where to start. The digital age has changed the way information is exchanged, researched, and learned. Our busy lives have made learning at a distance especially appealing, and with the advent of free, low-cost, and subscription based online learning sites such as Coursera, Udemy, and Lynda.com, online learning has grown in popularity. This creative, professional capstone project is the first step in creating an online genre fiction writing workshop that is intuitive and easy to navigate for learners of all digital literacy levels.
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Exploring the Middle School Student’s Writing Experience: Traditional Pen-and-Paper vs. Computer-Based WritingThis action research study investigates whether typing or handwriting impacts student performance on writing assignments in the middle school setting within the context of English Language Arts (ELA) classrooms. Writing is a high-level skill that students perpetually work on and refine as they go through their secondary education. As technology becomes more prevalent, not only in society but in the education field, students are being required to type their writing assignments for standardized computer-based tests (CBT) while still having handwritten assignments. This dichotomy raises the question of how each format, digital or traditional, should be used in the classroom to be most efficient and comfortable for students at the secondary level to perform their writing abilities. This mixed method, action research study employed quantitative data in student writing samples and rubric-based writing assignments with qualitative data from student surveys and classroom observations. This study's participants include one section of 8th-grade students from a district in Long Island, New York. In this district, students are equipped with 1:1 Chromebooks which sparked the discussion, along with the rise of CBT, amongst the department’s ELA teachers if writing assignments should be created online or if they should be facilitated with pen and paper. This study provides a clearer understanding of how the format of writing tasks impacts student outcomes; analysis of the data gathered offers practical recommendations for educators approaching the nuance of writing engagement design in the 21st Century. Overall, this study contributes to the persisting conversation around technology in pedagogical practices. The results yield a basis for educators to make informed, evidence-based decisions in the ELA classroom to optimize student learning outcomes with a purposeful integration of technology to uplift student writing.
