Today we began class by customizing the cowbooks (composition notebooks) that we will be using as interactive notebooks for every social studies and arts methods class throughout this semester. To be honest, at first I thought...OMG...please don't make me do this! I am in college, already!
But then, as we began to look over the available materials (fabric scraps, wall paper, buttons, ribbon, etc.) I began to think that maybe this was actually something I might enjoy creating - and - more importantly USING! After all, anything has to be better than the standard, boring, impersonal black and white cow print book I have been staring at for the last seven semesters of my college experience!
It was a lot of fun, doing this alongside my peers - seeing what they created - and thinking through what I might do...
This is what I learned from this social studies learning experience: it is healthy (for adults and children) to do things outside of one's comfort zone; engaging in an open ended art project can prove quite therapeutic - it allows time for one to reflect, relax, and let go; it is rewarding to stand back and view the finished product of one's own making; it is interesting to see the diversity of what others have created. This would be a great arts integration in any elementary classroom.
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