House 46 Creates "New People" - Based on a Creation Fable
The benefits of developing social-emotional skills are many. House 46ers engaged in a team-based activity, The New People Project. Sheila Lamb, the First Program’s former Artist in Residence and art teacher, visited House 46 to tell the children a Native American fable about the creation of people. She asked them to consider how they might redesign the human form. The children, using cray-pas, designed their own “new person.”
The children worked in small groups to plan a "New Person," drawing upon and melding their individual ideas, as well as coming up with new ones. They needed to have a rationale for each design choice. The groups also chose a name for their person and used their plan to make a sketch of their ideas. Finally, they worked together to execute the design, bringing their New Person to life by drawing and painting their creation on a 5-foot piece of paper. We covered the room with drop cloths; we covered the tables and counter with paper; we rolled up the rug and stacked the chairs in preparation. Once the painting began, the room buzzed with excitement as the New People came to life! Parents had a chance to meet them at House 46’s Winter Celebration.
The students experienced: teamwork, respect and cooperation.