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bored and brilliant

why is it important to step away from the screens?

April 30 - May 6 is Screen-Free Week! (see www.screenfree.org for details) So we're going to embrace screen-free activities by getting bored - and learning about how boredom leads to creativity!

Each day this week will be a stand-alone workshop inspired by exercises in How to Become an Explorer of the World on developing ideas through simplicity, boredom, and paying attention to the details we so often miss when staring at our screens.

Module summary:
  • Monday: 50 Things
  • Tuesday: Magical Found Objects
  • Wednesday: Thought Experiments
  • Thursday: World of Color
  • Friday: wrap it all up

essential questions

  • How can we improve our writing through non-traditional prompts?
  • How do we engage effectively in intentional discussions?

goals

  • Students will understand that writing prompts focus our thinking in new ways, helping us access creativity to develop fresh ideas.
  • Students will understand that effective discussions require intention, focus, and a willingness to learn from others' ideas.

activities

Monday 
  • Collect phones
  • Warm-up: read "Kids and Screens" article
    • annotate whatever you feel is worth remembering
    • prioritize top three annotations
    • discuss [doing this independently? write a 3.8 instead]
  • Expose: Discuss Screen-Free Week; read exploration notes on 50 Things from How to Be and Explorer of the World (53)
  • Practice: Sit for 30 minutes on Main Street, documenting 50 things you observe
  • Create: Gather and compare lists and observations - what does this say about our town? About ourselves?
  • Reflect: Freewrite for 5 minutes on takeaways from activity and discussion
Tuesday
  • Collect phones
  • Expose: Read exploration notes on Magical Found Objects
  • Practice: Go on a silent walk. Collect an object and think up a story about its magical qualities
  • Create: Write a short short story based on your thought draft
  • Reflect: Share your draft with the group
Wednesday
  • Collect phones
  • Expose: Read exploration notes on Thought Experiments
  • Practice: Sit and look at the clouds for 30 minutes. Then list as many questions as you can
  • Create: Storyboard a response to one of your questions - short story, narrative, commercial, anything
  • Reflect:  Share storyboard with the group and your process of creation
Thursday
  • Collect phones
  • Expose: Read exploration notes on World of Color
  • Practice: Walk around town for an hour. Connect paint chips to your observations (places, things, etc)
  • Create: Using the poster board Christine gives you, chart your connections between color and your walk (as seen in challenge notes). Be intentional about your placement and captions.
  • Reflect: Conduct gallery walk of charts - explain your choices to the group
Friday​​
  • Collect phones
  • Discuss "bored and brilliant" explorations and what it was like to experience life screen-free
  • Collect and submit pieces (list and freewrite, short story, storyboard, color chart)

c-tachs

Writing
  • Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience
Speaking and Listening
  • Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions
  • Present information, findings, and supporting evidence, conveying a clear and distinct perspective 
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documents

Bored and Brilliant Syllabus
File Size: 43 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Kids and Screens article
File Size: 172 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File


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The Mission of Chaffee County High School

“We engage and empower our society through innovative education to make a more positive and peaceful world." 

Contact Us

  • Home
    • About
  • Caper with the Classics
  • State of the Union
  • Reading & Writing
    • All-American Boys
  • Recent Modules
    • Connect >
      • Board Games & Blogging
      • CCHS Powtoon
      • Coco!
      • Creative Writing Seminar
      • Dragon Post
      • Editorializing
      • E-mail Etiquette (Star Wars)
      • English Skills
      • HONY and Narrative Essays
      • Personal Essay & Resume
      • Persons, Places, Things
      • Photo Essays
      • Teach Me Something
      • Virtual Reality-ing
    • Construct >
      • 2018 in Review
      • Book Censorship
      • Live Anywhere
      • Picture Book Inquiry
      • PSA Powtoon
      • Rant to Reason
      • Who Cares?
    • Be Curious >
      • CCHS Librarians
      • Emma: Friend or Foe?
      • Fahrenheit 451
      • Found Poetry
      • Google Expeditions
      • Hero's Journey
      • Irreverence
      • Macbeth
      • Poetry
      • The Lottery
    • Senior English >
      • Research
      • Senior Analysis
      • Senior Composition