The Nueva School's Innovative Learning Conference

English courses often rely upon analytical writing assignments to engage students in deep thinking about literature, but how can we devise projects that develop imaginative problem-solving skills beyond the analysis of language? In this session, we will focus on a project in our ninth-grade English class, where students engage tenets of the Design Thinking process to respond to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. With the eventual goal of creating their own monsters, students interview designers and artists within the world of monstrosity while they explore their interpretations of the text and consider the larger implications of Shelley’s work. Through exploring this project and several student exemplars, participants will consider how the Design Thinking process can shift some of the work of literature-based projects and the English classroom toward a wider scope of skill development.