Student Community Group

Suzan Avilia, Emilia Escobar, Kristin Sherwin & Ahniya Butler

Grade Level: 5th (going into 6th)

Teacher Name(s): Emilia Escobar & Suzan Avila

Artist Name(s): Kristin Sherwin & Ahniya Butler


Big Idea: Bringing community together

Inquiry question: What is community?


  1. How did your team conceive your project? How was inquiry introduced to students and how did you integrate the inquiry process into your project? We always want to take an inventory of the students and see "where they are." The kids themselves had the idea of making a collaborative drawing. We asked them questions about their community--what did it mean, what they like about it and what they would like to change about it. They made leaves for the community tree that represented different things and individuals in their community. Everyone had a hand in making it. Then we made a large "community tree" and literally took it out to the community at Reed-Keppler Park. Then the others in the community could also decorate the leaves our students made and add to the community tree.


  1. How did you integrate SEL into your projects? We began each day with "circle time" where we took turns answering open-ended questions, which sometimes led to more in-depth discussions. Each student was free to talk as much or as little as they desired. Also, the students would often speak of their emotions while they were creating art. This time was very valuable as the students learned social etiquette, such as taking turns, not interrupting, being patient, and thinking of clarifying questions. As time went on, the students became more and more comfortable with what and how much they shared. These discussions often led to expressive art projects.


  1. What did you learn about your students and how they learned? What did you learn about the way you teach?

We learned that they all like to share--they want to be heard and they had a lot to say. We learned that although we always had a plan, sometimes we had to change it at the last minute based on the needs and wants of the students. We definitely took their opinions into consideration. It was a wonderful combination of taking the interests of the students with the knowledge and skills of the teachers so they could create works of art that were truly original and inspirational.