Creativity Through Nonfiction Texts

I have worked hard to learn everything I can about the Common Core Standards.  While I am excited about their implementation, there are teachers who don't feel the same way.  Many are worried about additional work on their part.  Some are concerned about the new assessments that will accompany the new standards.  Something I had not considered or heard until reading this article is that the CCSS will further slow down students' creativity.  In elementary school, the texts students are required to work with are an even 50/50 split between fiction and nonfiction.  However, by the end of high school, students will work with 70% nonfiction text and only 30% fiction.  For this reason, teachers are concerned about the stifling of creativity because of reading so much dry informational text.

David Coleman, President of the College Board and an architect of the new standards, is quoted in this article as saying during an NPR interview: "The idea is that things like Lincoln's second inaugural address and Martin Luther King's letter from the Birmingham jail ... are worthy of close attention.  ...  Not just in a historical context, but also for the interweaving of thought and language."  The remainder of the article contains explanations by the author (Nathan Sun-Kleinberger) of how he uses nonfiction text while teaching his students creativity.  He teaches AP Language and Composition.  Sun-Kleinberger follows with specific examples of how he does this.  He proves that when a writer makes purposebul choices in his words, he can be creative in writing nonfiction.  In his examples, he uses the Declaration of Independence, inaugural addresses, and Amy Chua's Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother.  These are all wonderful examples of how an effective teacher can use almost any material to inspire students and relate the text to real-world situations.

Education is in (another) state of change and change is usually frightening for the majority of people.  If we embrace the change as a step forward, we can make the most of it.  I like the way the last line of this article sums it up: "If we have the courage to embrace nonfiction writing as an art form, perhaps we will inspire our students to freely speak their minds like King, Lincoln, and Roosevelt."


http://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2013/04/03/tln_sunkleinberger_literacystandards.html?tkn=WMCC7Mil54GV0%2BqU%2Bmb9JARWgLDMMHQoVFed&cmp=clp-sb-teacher