CROSS-CURRICULAR POETRY INTERVENTIONS FOR ENHANCING CREATIVE THINKING: A COMPARATIVE STUDY IN PRIMARY EDUCATION

This study investigates the impact of a cross-curricular poetry intervention on the creative thinking development of Grade 3 students in Uzbekistan. Two winter-themed poems—Qish tashbehlari by Dilshod Rajab and Qish qori bilan by Po‘lat Mo‘min—from the national O‘qish savodxonligi (Reading Literacy) textbook were used as the core instructional material. A quasi-experimental design compared one experimental class, which received integrated poetry lessons across literacy, art, science, physical education, and socio-emotional learning, with a control class that experienced traditional textbook-based instruction. Data were collected through pre- and post-intervention figural and verbal creativity tasks, complemented by teacher observation logs and qualitative analyses of student work. The findings demonstrate that the cross-curricular poetry intervention significantly enhanced students’ creative thinking—particularly fluency, originality, elaboration, and flexibility—relative to the control group. Students in the experimental group produced richer figurative language, more imaginative drawings, and more spontaneous interdisciplinary connections. Additionally, the intervention improved student engagement, emotional expression, and motivation toward the poetry lessons. The results highlight the pedagogical value of using textbook poems not merely for reading comprehension, but as central texts for multidisciplinary learning experiences. The study concludes that poetry-based cross-curricular units offer a promising, resource-efficient approach to nurturing creativity in primary education.