Week 1: "Sparked," by Cirque du Soleil
What do you think is happening in the video clip?
Who is on screen?
What's the story?
When and where does it take place?
Why is this happening?
How is it done?
Each person watching the video will likely have a different reaction from other watchers, or similar reactions in different measures.
Some may have immediately turned to a classmate or friend, looking at their reaction and enjoying the shared experience.
Some may have immediately started whispering questions, observations, narration, inferences, and hypotheses about how the video was put together.
Those who enjoy literature and fiction may have wondered about the story, and possibly imagined different events or a different ending.
Those who enjoy news about modern filmmaking and technology may have wondered about how the action was recorded, and have several ideas about special effects, green screens, and computer animation.
Did you respond with joy and wonder, or were there times when the music and lighting evoked suspense or tension?
Who is on screen?
What's the story?
When and where does it take place?
Why is this happening?
How is it done?
Each person watching the video will likely have a different reaction from other watchers, or similar reactions in different measures.
Some may have immediately turned to a classmate or friend, looking at their reaction and enjoying the shared experience.
Some may have immediately started whispering questions, observations, narration, inferences, and hypotheses about how the video was put together.
Those who enjoy literature and fiction may have wondered about the story, and possibly imagined different events or a different ending.
Those who enjoy news about modern filmmaking and technology may have wondered about how the action was recorded, and have several ideas about special effects, green screens, and computer animation.
Did you respond with joy and wonder, or were there times when the music and lighting evoked suspense or tension?
"Sparked," is a collaboration between the artistic performers of Cirque du Soleil, the mechanical engineering company ETH Zurich, and technology and design experts at Verity Studios. The "behind the technology" short documentary and interview answer some of the questions you may have been curious about.
The performance, the behind-the-scenes video clip, and your own private or shared questions help illustrate the ideas behind the 6Cs, or 21st-century skills, formulated by cognitive science professors Dr. Roberta Michnick Golinkoff and Dr. Kathy Hirsh-Pasek:
The performance, the behind-the-scenes video clip, and your own private or shared questions help illustrate the ideas behind the 6Cs, or 21st-century skills, formulated by cognitive science professors Dr. Roberta Michnick Golinkoff and Dr. Kathy Hirsh-Pasek:
SPARK PROGRAM GOALS: 21st CENTURY SKILLS
- Collaboration: working with others, self-regulating social-emotional reactions, and forming communities.
- Communication: developing strong language skills, excellent listening skills, and fluency in reading, writing, visual arts, graphing and charting, music, and motion.
- Content: collecting knowledge in traditional subject areas, as well as learning to learn about anything, anyplace, anywhere.
- Critical thinking: sifting through information intelligently and weighing evidence to solve concrete and abstract problems.
- Creative Innovation: expressing information in new ways by engaging in constant trial and error, discovery, and mistakes.
- Confidence: taking risks, learning from failure, and persisting in effort in an environment where teachers mitigate and soften the consequences of failure.
6 Cs Reflections on "Sparked"
Think back for a moment on your actions during and after the video:
How did you collaborate . . . during the first video; after the first video; during the second video; and after the second video? How did you communicate . . . internal monologue; with a chosen, trusted friend; with the teacher; with the group; possibly even talking to the screen? How would you feel if I asked you to set down your thoughts in writing so you can look back later? What content did you absorb? Metacognition, or thinking about your thinking, is a new ability to many students your age, and you're mature enough to begin tackling it. There was some knowledge you already knew, about storytelling, about filmmaking, maybe you've seen a Cirque du Soleil performance or even already seen this video before (and hopefully didn't spoil it for everyone else). Oftentimes, when asked, "What did you learn today?" students your age will reply, "Nothing." This is not because they did not take in new information, but because they are not used to reflecting a moment about the day's experience using metacognition. What was new about this event, this time, this place, with these people? Where did your critical thinking engage? Chances are, there was something that puzzled you about the video. Was part of your mind trying to identify the language or song on the radio? Were you thinking about the electrical circuit? Were you trying to evaluate whether this was comedy, drama, suspense, science fiction, fantasy? Were you looking for wires, people in black bodysuits, glitches from digital animation? Creative innovation: What could you do, given the same tools as the video creators? What task can you think of for the flying machines? What would be a test of skill for an independent, automated, flying machine? Based on previous experience, could you think of a different way to create the same or a similar effect? (If you go home and hit your big sister in the forehead flying your drone in the darkened hallway, I had nothing to do with this . . .) Confidence: What we have just been through is an example of a 6 Cs reflection. Each week we will share puzzles, dilemmas, mysteries, issues, short stories and ask you to direct your active mind to focus on the object or experience at hand to get the most out of it--collaboration, communication, content, critical thinking, creative innovation, and confidence. What did you enjoy about "Sparked?" What was difficult about today? What would you like to get better at by winter? By spring? |
Based on the "behind-the-scenes" interview with members of the Cirque du Soleil, ETH Zurich, and Verity Studios:
How did different people with different skills collaborate as a team? How did the members of the "Sparked" team communicate? What evidence of different forms of communication were documented in the video? What new concepts did the different members of the "Sparked" team take in and make use of? Did the people interviewed name new content, concepts, or ideas they encountered on this project? Did the human character in "Sparked" demonstrate critical thinking? It is difficult to portray the act of thinking in a live action film (in cartoons, you can always draw a thought bulb or "light bulb moment"). Did he convey through acting that he had a hypothesis, that he wanted to test cause and effect? How about the lampshades? Where did critical thinking and problem solving come in for the project creators? Can you think of examples of creative innovation from the "behind-the-scenes" interviews? Would it stand out more and be easier to find times they used the same old ways of thinking? Confidence: How would it feel to have a job like one of those in Cirque du Soleil, ETH Zurich, or Verity Studios? What would give you joy? What would give you worries? Could you solve the worrying elements? |
In the course of the year, you will have the opportunity to reflect on the individual 21st century skills and to self-assess about all of the 6 Cs. In place of grades, the goal of the SPARK program is to show the growth in your dispositions and efforts toward higher level skills.