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