I teach at K.T. Murphy Elementary, a K–5 school in Stamford, Connecticut. Recently my students took part in creating a mural as a way to deepen their understanding of the key social skills our school is teaching: cooperation, empathy, responsibility, self-control, and assertiveness. Now, five colorful canvases, each six feet by six feet and each representing one of these skills, are proudly displayed in our main hallway, greeting all school members each day as they come and go through the school.

Although I led this project, all school adults and the community played important roles. The Stamford Chamber of Commerce gave us a grant for the art supplies. The classroom teachers took photos of students demonstrating positive social skills so we could use them in art class to spark discussions that would inspire the artwork. Our principal and assistant principal offered crucial encouragement and helped solve the rather tricky problem of where in the school to hang such a huge mural once it was done. The custodial team handled the actual installation. From the initial grant writing to the final hanging of the mural in May 2011, the project took two years.

Here's our artwork and our story:

One of the first tasks in this big project was to divide up the work among the children. The kindergartners and first graders created the canvas depicting cooperation, the second graders worked on responsibility, the third graders on empathy, the fourth graders on self-control, and the fifth graders on assertiveness. Each grade took about five art periods to complete the core work on its portion, and then small groups of students took several additional weeks to do finishing paint work on the canvases.

It was exciting to see the students' enthusiasm when they first learned that they would be creating a mural. And then the questions came: What's a mural? Can it have animals in it? What will it be about?

As the project got under way, the children poured energy into discussing the meaning of the skill they would be depicting. They discussed experiences from their lives in and outside of school that related to that skill, and we recorded these ideas on chart paper. The children then drew pictures of what they talked about as I guided them to think about the most important part of their drawing and how to make that part clearly visible. It was important to have students' input on how the mural would look. It gave them a sense of ownership and pride throughout the process.

Over the following art periods, the children completed their drawings, assembled them onto the canvases, and added paint.

← For "responsibility," some students talked about their classroom jobs. One second grader named doing his math homework as an example of being responsible. Another talked about taking care of his pet parakeet.

In discussing self-control, fourth grade students talked about times when they had lost their self-control and how they could better manage their feelings. One student wrote a poem that described how he would scream and slam the door in anger. Afterwards we determined we would show the yin-yang symbol for balance on the self-control canvas. →

The panel on assertiveness is made to look like a quilt and showcases the lives of civil rights leaders Martin Luther King, Jr., Abraham Lincoln, and Rosa Parks, whom the students selected to represent the importance of being assertive. →

Looking at their own lives, fifth grade students talked about the importance of telling kids to stop when they see them teasing or treating someone unfairly. One student wrote this powerful message about bullying, which was included in the assertiveness canvas:

Have you ever seen something that isn't fair?
Have you ever been bullied by someone else?
Have you ever been mean to someone, but
inside your stomach hurts or you feel guilty?
Well now it's time to stop!

Stand up for yourself. If you see someone
being bullied stand up for the person who is
being bullied or tell an adult who is nearby
Don't just stay there thinking about it. Stand
Up and believe what you think is fair or good.
Now It's Time to Change!

When the project was completed in May 2011, the first grade teachers planned a special all-school meeting. During the meeting, the mural was dedicated to all the students, parents, teachers, and staff in honor of our efforts in building a caring community at school and in other arenas of our lives.

For the students at K.T. Murphy, creating the mural was a chance to express the values that are integral to our school community and amplify their meaning through art. The mural has become a part of daily life for teachers and administrators. I use it at the beginning of the year when I introduce the expectations and routines of art class. I refer to it when teaching students to remember what skills such as empathy, self-control, and cooperation mean in every part of the school day. Teachers and administrators have ongoing conversations about using the mural in classroom teaching, and we've used the mural to help parents see how teaching social skills is part of everyday life at K.T. Murphy.

The mural is now both a beautiful work of art and a visual tool that the entire school can use for teaching and reinforcing important social skills.

Catie Ramsey is in her sixth year of teaching art at K.T. Murphy Elementary, which has been using the Responsive Classroom approach to support students' optimal learning for more than fifteen years.

Photos © Catie Ramsey. All rights reserved.