Join The 4th Grade Fusion Movement
an initiative powered by Ohio Invention Convention
As fourth grade educators we have an opportunity to fuse the creativity and inquiry of primary years with the STEM application skills learned in 5th grade+.
Why Creativity?
Why 4th grade?
Join the movement
Contact info@inventionleague.org for information about upcoming Professional Development opportunities
Why Fusion
Fusion is the process of combining two or more things together into one. The noun fusion comes from the Latin word fundere, meaning “melt,” so fusion is the act of melting things together. In science, fusion is the process of merging atoms together to create energy.
FUSION (definition):
The process or result of joining two or more things together to form a single entity.
Why Creativity?
We have a creativity crisis on our hands when it comes to educating our youth. At Invention League Ohio, we are committed to being your partner in changing that paradigm to empower young minds to make changes not only in themselves but in their communities and the world at large.
With creativity, there is never one right answer. To be creative requires divergent thinking (generating many unique ideas) and then convergent thinking (combining those ideas into the best result). Studies show why we need to empower students to be creative thinkers and doers: The correlation to lifetime creative accomplishment was more than three times stronger for childhood creativity than childhood IQ. The Creativity Crisis (newsweek.com)
Creativity scores had been steadily rising, just like IQ scores, until 1990. Since then, creativity scores have consistently inched downward…. It is the scores of younger children in America—from kindergarten through sixth grade—for whom the decline is “most serious.” NASA Creativity Study
Why 4th Grade?
Educators and parents often express concern when their 5th grade student suddenly “self-selects” whether they are good (or in many cases…not good) at science. Research shows this is because students lose their confidence and creativity in the transition from primary to intermediate grades.
The fourth-grade creativity slump is real:
Creativity scores increase from grade one to grade three, then decrease with a sharp slope between the third and fourth grade and increase again in fifth grade. “Fourth Grade Slump in Creativity”: Development of Creativity in Primary School Children.
There is a general recovery trend in the fifth grade but from 16 to 29 percent show decreases of five or more standard score points between the third and fifth grades. Many children end up with lower scores in the fifth grade than they attained in the third grade. A Longitudinal Examination of the Fourth Grade Slump in Creativity
Join The Movement
Design Thinking, Creative Problem-Solving, Inquiry, Creativity…these are not buzz words of course, they are learning methods that can be woven into your classroom and into the minds of your students through each lesson, activity, and opportunity you have as an educator. As a change agent, you know the importance of this type of pedagogy in your classroom and you have taken the time to visit #4thGradeFusion. We are asking Ohio educators to join us in this movement and lead the way.
If you are:
Committed to fostering natural creativity and inquiry.
Introducing or growing design thinking in your classroom.
Encouraging students to be innovative and inventive.
Join the movement
By joining the 4thGradeFusion, Educators receive:
- An invitation to participate in design thinking and creative problem-solving professional development with other 4th grade educators from around the state.
- Access to an online community to connect 4th grade educators and administrators to share successes and challenges.
- Free online teaching resources and mentorship opportunities to assist you in your classroom.
- Comradery with other educators committed to transformational change in education by supporting their students as they FUSE together their creativity with knowledge and skill development.
Join the 4th Grade Fusion!
Professional Development
Foundations of Creative Problem Solving and Design Thinking in the Classroom
Contact the Invention League team for information about upcoming professional development opportunities