EARLY CHILDHOOD Students' individual patterns were joined with patterns from their peers to create a complete concentric design. I Wendy Libby t’s important to remind our students to work together, to cooperate, to compromise, and to accept others’ viewpoints. We often suggest they are part of a classroom group—a team that works to achieve the best for each other as well as for ourselves. We dis-cuss how each one of us is an impor-tant part of our school body. This led me to the idea of creat-ing a collaborative mural that would include the artwork of every child in the school. Each student would be an active member and work together to achieve a common goal. The Challenge About 350 students in grades pre-K through grade three took part in this collaborative challenge. Each stu-dent designed a square artwork that, when combined with three additional squares from their peers, became a complete concentric design. Each stu-dent received a piece of white paper that had four black curved lines of C O Collaboration C ENTR C I N varying thickness. The papers were photocopied, so each student worked with the same template. The objectives were to create lines, shapes, and patterns with a fine-tipped black marker, using the curved lines as the edges of what would end up Each student designed a square artwork that, when combined with three additional squares from their peers, became a complete concentric design. being one-fourth of a circular design. Once the design was drawn in black, students used markers to fill in their designs with colors and patterns. Peer Review I explained to students that, although they would create their own piece of art, other students would contribute their work to the same display. Their artwork would be a small piece of a larger whole. My art room is set up with tables that hold four students each. Students could give and receive feedback from others at their table, but they were each responsible for creating their own design. Students could share ideas while acknowledging others’ experi-ences and creative abilities. Mural Assembly It was exciting to see and hear students’ comments when those sitting at the same table would line up their papers to see the developing designs. When finished, all the papers were glued to large mural paper. After four parts were combined to make a large circle, another section of four was added and then another, until all the individual drawings became one large design. The completed mural was hung on the bul-letin board in the lobby between the cafeteria and the gymnasium. 30 SEPTEMBER 2021 SchoolArts
School Arts Magazine September 2021: Page 30
