Project Idea #1

OBJECTIVE:
To bring personal responsibility to light in terms of interacting with our environment and its inhabitants.

SOLUTION (1):

To hold an awareness session with a group of 4th graders where art (poster making), will be the medium to then ‘spread’ the word through their school.

Initially, we would talk as a whole group in a circle. This can be somewhat chaotic due to their age range, but have found that narrowing down the topic to a one or two word phrase and passing around an object for them to hold, lends itself very well to focusing.

For example: Passing around a found piece of trash (not found in a receptacle) and have them say the first two or three words that come to their mind (a sentence if needed) and passing it to either the left or right of them. This is a nice way to start ideas and conversations flowing. They tend to be amazingly insightful.

The idea is to then have the 4th graders break into five or six separate groups, where by the end of the session, they will have produced a poster to display in a part of their school that is frequented by students and staff alike. We adults are always in need of reminders of personal responsibility!

Each group would be assigned an area of the school: Their own classroom, the music room, the library, the gymnasium and the cafeteria.

Discussions will be geared towards what it means for them to be responsible in their homes, school, relationships with family/friends/teachers and the world in general: Focusing on awareness of morals, values and actions and their consequences. Ten or Fifteen minutes is sufficient time to gather enough ideas for a poster. (A volunteer in the group would be writing the ideas down.)

The poster materials will be supplied: Glue, poster board, magazines (for clippings/photos), markers, paint, etc. A half hour or 45 minutes will be ample time to create a stellar poster to be displayed in their assigned area.

Each group would have the chance to show the rest of their peers what they have created and further establish a finer-tuned level of awareness of personal responsibility.

Afterwards, we would gather in a group circle again, this time giving a sentence or two about something we knew, what we wanted to know and what we’ve learned, nicely wrapping up the poster making extravaganza!
Throughout the above process, I would be filming the 4th graders/taking photos to document the process for them where I would create a video/album for the class and the school.