Did you know that last week was both Teacher and Nurse Appreciation week? My 4th grade students had the opportunity in art class to honor the nurses who work so hard to keep us safe and healthy. I was able to coordinate a collaborative mural project with the hospital in the same town where I teach that allowed my 4th graders to give thanks and learn about collaborative public installation art.
First, I created four 4 X 6 foot murals using Photoshop. I chose four images that exemplified the concepts Nurses Care, Nurses Know, Nurses Share, and Thank You.Each mural was composed of 24 pieces which is roughly the number of students I have in each class. I turned all of the pieces of the mural upside down and numbered them on the back. The students had no idea which piece of the picture they were working on until the end. Each student was responsible for composing a sentence of thanks that supported the theme of each mural. A few examples of these sentences are below.
After each sentence, students used a spring colored palette to paint their portion of the mural. The students really got excited at the end when all of the pieces were coming together to see what they had created. The finished mural were displayed last week in various wings in the local hospital. Thank you, nurses, for all the wonderful things that you do!
