Creativity starts with me

As a teacher it is easy to set tasks expecting creativity from learning and asking them to 'think outside the box'.  But just like in reading, writing, maths and the setting up of classroom routines I believed that  creativity must be modelled.

In term four of 2017 our school had a school wide focus on music and in room 14 we set out to create song about important messages we had learnt throughout the year. I love singing myself but that does not mean that I am particularly good at it. As I planned a creative group task to write songs using well known tunes I had to think carefully about what I was asking and say "Can I do that?". As a result of these thought I  made a model song and video for the kids to watch and use as a starting point.


It took a lot of time to create this model, I recorded, the re-recorder just a few times. I think it was about 20 by the time I got the words, the pitch and the timing right. It was not easy but I had done it and I was proud of it. Knowing that I have completed the task I asked of the learner allowed me to confidently ask them to be creative and create a song because I knew it was possible and they had a model to use.

Here is the model I created:




It was wonderful to see the excitement of the kids when they heard me singing and even better to see the wonderful songs they created. Check them out below. This Term has been filled with the making of music. In room 14 we have been busy working with each other and thinking carefully about what we wanted to say to our friends and how we could use our song lyrics to express actions, feelings and ideas to others in a meaningful way.

Here are some of the songs we created this term we hope you enjoy them.

I have a hat


We are always kind to our friends


 Respect


Be respectful and kind


 Use your WITS