The Creative "I": Variations on a Theme
In the spirit of Halloween, I chose to alter the lyrics to the song "Monster Mash" by Brian Pickett.
Video credit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxcM3nCsglA
Video credit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxcM3nCsglA
Well those Greco-Romans way back when,
Thought creativity was a gift, a gift divine.
For those lucky ones, who were thought so fine,
But suddenly to their surprise,
They changed the world. Those creative ones.
The ones who saw. Saw outside the box.
They changed the world. Their ideas caught on in a flash.
They spread the word, “We all have the skill.”
But by the Renaissance times, they came to see,
That it was not merely a magic gift divine.
It was a way of seeing, a cognitive skill,
A way of rethinking the various knobs.
They changed the world. Those creative ones.
The ones who saw. Saw outside the box.
They changed the world. Their ideas caught on in a flash.
They spread the word, “We all have the skill.”
Now Darwin was having fun,
Doing what he loved.
Inspired by the ideas that he read,
to help decipher evolution.
The ideas were flowing, all were discovering new things.
Playing off the ideas the once held dear.
Looking for the new, the unique, so fine.
With new found visions, we all can find.
They changed the world. Those creative ones.
The ones who saw. Saw outside the box.
They changed the world. Their ideas caught on in a flash.
They spread the word, “We all have the skill.”
Upon his canvas, Flemming working on his painting,
Seems he was troubled by just one thing,
As he examined the dish and said,
"My what do we have here, penicillin? "
They changed the world. Those creative ones.
The ones who saw. Saw outside the box.
They changed the world. Their ideas caught on in a flash.
They spread the word, “We all have the skill.”
Now everything's cool, Steve Jobs helped start Apple.
And he credits the diverse experiences he had.
And for you the same, your future will hold.
When you explore the variations found around you.
They changed the world. Those creative ones.
The ones who saw. Saw outside the box.
They changed the world. Their ideas caught on in a flash.
They spread the word, “We all have the skill.”
Thought creativity was a gift, a gift divine.
For those lucky ones, who were thought so fine,
But suddenly to their surprise,
They changed the world. Those creative ones.
The ones who saw. Saw outside the box.
They changed the world. Their ideas caught on in a flash.
They spread the word, “We all have the skill.”
But by the Renaissance times, they came to see,
That it was not merely a magic gift divine.
It was a way of seeing, a cognitive skill,
A way of rethinking the various knobs.
They changed the world. Those creative ones.
The ones who saw. Saw outside the box.
They changed the world. Their ideas caught on in a flash.
They spread the word, “We all have the skill.”
Now Darwin was having fun,
Doing what he loved.
Inspired by the ideas that he read,
to help decipher evolution.
The ideas were flowing, all were discovering new things.
Playing off the ideas the once held dear.
Looking for the new, the unique, so fine.
With new found visions, we all can find.
They changed the world. Those creative ones.
The ones who saw. Saw outside the box.
They changed the world. Their ideas caught on in a flash.
They spread the word, “We all have the skill.”
Upon his canvas, Flemming working on his painting,
Seems he was troubled by just one thing,
As he examined the dish and said,
"My what do we have here, penicillin? "
They changed the world. Those creative ones.
The ones who saw. Saw outside the box.
They changed the world. Their ideas caught on in a flash.
They spread the word, “We all have the skill.”
Now everything's cool, Steve Jobs helped start Apple.
And he credits the diverse experiences he had.
And for you the same, your future will hold.
When you explore the variations found around you.
They changed the world. Those creative ones.
The ones who saw. Saw outside the box.
They changed the world. Their ideas caught on in a flash.
They spread the word, “We all have the skill.”
Music has always been a huge part of my life, but rarely have I branched out to create my own lyrics to songs (well, outside of misinterpreted lyrics). Challenging myself to take a familiar song and integrate academic content to a tune revealed some practical applications. Incorporating music and academics can easily be intertwined into the content areas we study on a daily basis in our classroom. In my Kindergarten classroom, we are frequently singing songs about gathering into a circle on the carpet, what the weather is like, and the days of the week during our calendar routine. But music can extend so much farther than singing the same song each day. I am going to start challenging my students (along with myself) to begin looking for variations on themes and start integrating them in a musical sense (for example, we can sing the vowels of the alphabet to the tune of B-I-N-G-O). This assignment has allowed me to see that we can take what is already familiar to us and use it as a starting point for our creativity. Each new creative idea can build on what someone else has previously discovered. Inspiration literally is ALL around us.