Mirah J. Dow

Cultivating Creativity and Imagination in Children and Youth:
Librarians’ Effective Use of First Principles of Instruction
A conversation while looking through a with wit
with polished edges. . . . . .

useful to your job
We will talk about cultivating creativity.
What do we know about children and youth in today’s schools?
Creativity?
Cultivating creativity through first principles of instruction and
authentic engagement: EXAMPLE QUESTIONS BY YOUTH
Look out for “blind” spots
Upcoming annual event at Emporia State University - You’re Invited!

t o d a y ‘ s s t u d e n t s
• Many students have electronic devices. All students need sophisticated skills for using devices in
academic work (problem-solving).
• Communication styles and skills have changed. There are huge gaps to fill.
• When teaching and learning is meaningful to students, students have more motivation and
positive energy for doing assignments and projects. Students want to ask and answer their own
questions.
• Students needs skills for learning in a group (ideally small groups). Teachers and librarians cannot
teach one student at a time
• Students have no time to waste. There are many challenges facing them - - in their personal lives
and world.

major challenges facing society
prevention and treatment of illness and disease
maintaining clean food and water
sufficient energy
global environmental change
need for civil discourse and ethical decision-making
~~~~~~~
Today’s children and youth are likely to face these problems throughout their lifetime.
Creativity is relevant to making moral and ethical decisions.

creativity imagination
What does research tell us?
America needs information and technology literate and involved citizens.

imag·i·na·tion is related to images
First imagination, then comes creativity . . . . .
Images are related to what psychologists and brain scientists refer to as
the brain’s “mental workspace,” a neutral network that coordinates
activity across several regions in the brain and consciously manipulates
symbols, images, ideas, and theories.
Tse, Peter U., et al. 2005.

cre·a·tiv·i·ty is imagination applied
Imagination, creativity, and innovation exist along a continuum (Liu and
Noppe-Brandon, 2009).
“If imagination is the capacity to conceive of what is not, then
creativity, in turn is imagination applied: doing something, or making
something with the initial conception” (p. 21).

for children and youth to be successful . . . .
“Librarians must lead the way to improving school environments using
effective, theory-based design of problem-based instruction that
includes acquisition of knowledge and information literacy skills” (p. 8).
We must participate in inquiry to
answer students’ questions.
Dow, M. J. (Ed.). (2013). School libraries matter: Views
from the research. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited, p.8.
Kansas Summer Institute for School Librarians

theory base:
First Principles of Instruction (Merrill, 2007, p. 63)
Learning is promoted when
• learners are engaged in solving real-world problems.
• existing knowledge is activated as a new foundation of knowledge.
• new knowledge is demonstrated to the learner.
• knowledge is applied by the learner.
• new knowledge is integrated into the learner’s world.

Four-phase Cycle of Instruction (Merrill, 2007, p. 63)
Activation of relevant prior knowledge
Demonstration of new knowledge to be learned
Application of the new knowledge to specific situations
Integration of new knowledge and skills into students’ daily activities

INFOGRAM
First Principles of
Instruction used by
teachers and school
library media
specialists
Dow, M. J., (2013).
Effective use of first
principles of instruction.
School Library Monthly,
29(8), 8-10.
Please feel free to share
and use this model.
Who should
work together?
Librarian
AND
Music Teacher
Art Teacher
Reading Teacher
Math Teacher
Science Teacher
Social Science Teachers
Others

theory base:
authentic engagement leads to creativity
• Student motivation – the degree to which a student wants to learn - - is an important
consideration for educators (Pascarella and Terenzini, 1991; Barkley, 2010; Deci et al.,
2010).
• The best way to motivate people is to support their autonomy (Deci and Flaste, 1995).
• Autonomous motivation is “the inner endorsement of one’s actions, and it reflects the
desire to have one’s interest and preferences determine one’s actions” (Reeve, 2006).
• An effective way to increase student motivation is to allow students to be self-
determining in the classroom. Educators can facilitate authenticity by allowing students
to develop research questions that interest them (Kilipfel, 2014).

When students identify real-world problems,
what are they likely to say? EXAMPLE QUESTIONS- 1
Early Education – Lower Elementary
What does “frozen” mean in real life?
Are all families like mine?
Upper Elementary
When I try to fly a paper plane, it crashes. Why?
When I play outside in the cold, my body heats up and causes me to sweat. My
clothes stick to me. Wet clothes keep me cold.

When students identify real-world problems,
what are they likely to say? EXAMPLE QUESTIONS - 2
Middle School
My brother has a disability. He does not like to eat. He is unhappy and
cries a lot. I wonder if he cries because he is hungry?
Grass does not grow well under tree limbs. This hurts my summer
lawn-mowing job.

When students identify real-world problems,
what are they likely to say? EXAMPLE QUESTIONS - 4
Middle School
About 120 amphibian species, including frogs, have disappeared since
1980 (the year my parents were born). What could happen without
frogs in the food chain?
Sometimes I see raw meat on the grocery store shelves that is past the
sell-by date and offered for a reduced price. Is this safe to eat?

When students identify real-world problems,
what are they likely to say? EXAMPLE QUESTIONS - 3
Middle School
My grandmother served us cookies made with colored cereal. I broke
out in a red rash. She gave me Benadryl®. Is that safe?
My family does lots of laundry. It is expensive to wash clothes. I
wonder if cold water detergent would clean the clothes and reduce the
cost of soap and use of gas to heat the water?

When students identify real-world problems,
what are they likely to say? EXAMPLE QUESTIONS - 5
High School
We have a car, but gasoline is too expensive to purchase. What are best and
worst cars when it comes to fuel efficiency?
When I grow up, how will I be able to afford a place to live? What is
sustainable and affordable housing?
What impact do humans have on the earth’s climate?
Why the angry divide between Washington D. C. lawmakers?

student work examples (6)
Children and youth learn more when answering their own questions.
All Grade Levels │ All Ability Levels │ All Content Areas
School libraries are academic libraries. Public libraries are for all people.

Humanities, study of human culture
Music
Children Learn More When Learning
Answers Their Own Questions
• What is “blues”?
• What’s that sound I hear in the
song?
Guy Davis (musician, composer, actor,
director, and writer) helped children set their
song ideas to music and to write poetry
based on the style of blues music lyrics. Set children’s words to music.
Children write poetry. Research
and Inquiry.

Humanities, study of human culture
Language
Children Learn More When
Answering Their Own Questions
• Are all families like mine?
• What is a younger sister?
• What is "Do-Re-Mi“?
• What is “frozen”?
• What is “controlled”?
Using music and motions, children learn language skills
by assigning the notes of a scale to a particular syllable.
Children memorize faster using their fine and gross
motor in correlation to other tasks such as singing.
Organized use of fine and gross motor skills helps
children stay on task.Research and Inquiry.
Read and Discuss.

Humanities, study of human culture
Painting
Children Learn More When Answering
Their Own Questions
• Are you a real person or painted
from an artist's imagination?
• Was your dress made for you?
Teach using books, painting, and note taking
materials. Teach that artwork is more than a
picture.
Play a question game. Each child asks one question;
then, repeat until each child has asked three
questions.
Research and Inquiry.
What do you see?
Does this make you happy or sad?

Natural Science and Mathematics research and inquiry
CONSUMMER SCIENCE, experiment
Three coldwater detergents were selected for this investigation
because they were 1) referenced in existing studies; 2) three different
prices, and 3) available in the local region.
The research question for this study 6th grade experimental study is:
Does higher priced cold water detergent clean clothes better
than lower priced cold water detergents?

Research on the Go!
http://researchonthego.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2011-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&updated-max=2012-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&max-results=1
6th Grade
Question: How
much hot water does
it take to wash dirty
clothes for a family
each week?
Incorporated English Language
Arts, Science, Mathematics,
Research and Inquiry

Product
Scores
Time Spent
FIGURE 1.
Product Comparison

Is over-the-counter Benadryl® a dangerous
drug? I took it when I had hives after I ate
cookies made from colored cereal.
ZOOLOGY BIOLOGY MATHEMATICS RESEARCH & INQUIRY

blind spots
Allowing students to ask their own questions frightens me.
How can educators make time for this kind of instruction?
How will librarians and teachers work together to share responsibilities
for best use of first principles of instruction and authentic engagement?
How can we allow students to be creative when they must be preparing
for standardized tests?

Your invitation to the 20th annual Institute
2015 Kansas Summer Institute for School Librarians
Emporia State University
June 10-11 9:00 AM until 4:30 PM
Conference Theme: Transforming School Library Services to
Children and Youth
http://www.emporia.edu/slim/programs/schoollibrarymedialicensure.html
Registration form: http://www.emporia.edu/slim/documents/forms/2015-ksi-
registration-form.pdf
Questions? Contact Mirah Dow mdow@emporia.edu

Kansas http://www.imls.gov/news/2015_lb21_nlg_march_announcement.aspx
Emporia State University - Emporia, KS
Grant Program: Librarians for the 21st Century
Category: Research in Early Careers Development
Award Amount: $496,277; Matching Amount: $135,005
Contact: Dr. Mirah Dow
(620)341-5734; mdow@emporia.edu
The Emporia State University School of Library and Information Management is collaborating with
other ESU leadership departments including the Department of Physical Sciences, The Teachers
College, and Information Technology to broaden library and information science education through
formal integration of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) into the Master of
Library Science curriculum. The project involves co-teaching between school librarians and
classroom science teachers. ESU will create a new certificate, the Information, Technology, and
Scientific Literacy Certificate; new interdisciplinary curriculum; and new learning opportunities for a
total of 50 undergraduate and graduate college students.

references
Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSS), 2010.
Deci, E. L., & Flaste, R. (1995). Why we do what we do: Understanding self-motivation. New York, NY: Penguin.
Deci, E. L., Jang, H., & Reeves, J. Engaging students in learning activities: It is not autonomy support or structure but autonomy support and structure. Journal of
Educational Psychology, 102 (3), 588-600.
Dow, M. J. (2014). Creating a STEM-literate society. Knowledge Quest, 42(5), 14-18.
Dow, M. J. (Ed.). (2013). School libraries matter: Views from the research. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited.
Dow, M. J., (2013). Effective use of first principles of instruction. School Library Monthly, 29(8), 8-10.
Klipfel, K. M. (2014). Authentic engagement. Reference Services review, 42(2), 229-245.
Liu, E., & Noppe-Brandon, S. (2009). Imagination First: Unlocking the power of possibility. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Merrill, M. D. (2007). First principles of instruction: A synthesis. In Trends and Issues in Instructional Design and Technology. 2nd ed. by R. A. Reiser and J. V. Dempsey.
Person Education.
Reeve, J. Teachers as facilitators: What autonomy-supportive teachers do and why their students benefit, The Elementary School Journal, 106(3), 225-236.
Tse, Peter U., et al. 2005. Visibility, Visual Awareness, and Visual Masking of Simple Unattended Targets Are Confined to Areas in the Occipital Cortex Beyond Huma
V1/V2. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 102 (47): 17178–83.

2015 Oregon Library Conference
THE END