Stars Jars: Story Squares ( Thinking Tool Activity)
Rising Stars! Stars Jars are interactive mini kits, which provide a fun and creative way for participants to learn about the process of creativity. Story Squares is an interactive hands- on activity which supports the Rising Stars! Thinking Tool Model. A thinking tool is a method for generating options and multiple solutions. Story Squares does just that, as participants explore different ways to narrate orginal stories using a variety of words randomly selected from the Story Squares.
Participants are given 3 color-coded blocks.
The object of the activity is for each participant to toss the three blocks and create a story using the words found on top of each block.
Stars Jars: Jumble Jar (Thinking Tool Activity)
Jumble Jar is also a hands-on interactive thinking tool, which includes over thirty different materials and provides three different activities from which participants may choose.
Activity 1: Somebody’s Sorting requires participants to toss the entire contents of the Jumble Jar onto a table, and sort the items into three different categories.
Activity 2: What Else Could it Be? is an activity where students place objects on the table and generate creative ways of how the object could be used differently.
Activity 3: Use More Than One requires participants to choose two or three objects from the Jumble Jar and explain a way to use them both by utilizing the Force Fitting Thinking Tool method.
All three activities encourage young learners to analyze and synthesize. These activities can be used by an individual child or by small groups of children.
Stars Jars Kit 3: Moving Out ( STARt-Up Activity)
Moving Out is a hands-on interactive STARt-Up kit, for Rising Stars! participants. It contains three different STARt-Up activities for students to select and complete. Students are instructed to gather the necessary materials from the jar and work together to complete the task.
All STARt-Up activities present a challenge and encourage children to quickly assess, discuss and analyze possible solutions. They are usually presented in 2 forms: Performance Based using gestures, props, and stage presence or Task Based which requires participants to build, move or change something. This is an excellent mental training for standard testing which demand students to analyze and respond quickly.
Activity 1: Marching Ants (Task Based) requires participants to make three different things (devices) that will get ants across the water.
Activity 2: Moving Day- (Task Based) instructs participants to make three different things (devices) that will help a family move 3 pieces of furniture from one house to the other.
Activity 3: Traveling Circus- (Performance Based) requires participants to present a performance in which they show three different ways that could be used to move the circus from one town to the next town.
All three activities require participants to problem solve, using their creative and critical thinking skills. These STARt-up activities are fun and exciting, encouraging young learners to design ways to move. All three activities can be used by an individual but work best with a small group of children.
