July is the month of Collaboration here in the creative expression program. This month we have focused on the theme of collaborative communities. The key questions being, What are examples of communities? How do those communities collaborate with each other? Some of the responses we received were:
“Music and bands, to write songs!”
“The forest, its a community of animals and plants!”
¨The street, and all of our neighbors!¨
¨Camino Seguro, with its community of students and teachers!¨
Students were then put into artist teams and began the preliminary drawing of their chosen community on large scale wooden canvases. Once drawn out, students cut from scrap construction paper and recycled magazines, filling their communities with color. A cityscape created by our 5th graders features rainbow buildings stretching on into a bright sky. Some 4th graders chose to create a community of wild animals that live together peacefully inside the Guatemala City Zoo.
The experience of working in defined groups, sharing ideas, decision making, and, aiming at a common goal is a valuable lesson for elementary students. Children who may normally shy away from social circumstances are forced to become active participants. Those more extroverted learn the importance of listening to the ideas of others. After two weeks of diligent glueing and pasting, each group of students set their works of art in front of the classroom to be admired and applauded by the rest of their peers.