Students add finishing touches to a Wayne Thiebaud–inspired gumball machine.

Linda Schober

As educators, we teach skills that are valuable in the classroom as well as skills that can be carried into students’ everyday lives. Kindness and collaboration are crucial skills in all aspects of life. Throughout the year, my first-grade classes have practiced these skills while “coolaborating” on a variety of projects. The term “coolaboration” represents the synthesis of respect, problem-solving, and creating in the classroom.

In addition to creating individual pieces of art, students work together in various partnerships, helping one another while using respectful words and sharing ideas, workspaces, and supplies. This coolaboration has enhanced their classroom environment and their work. Conversations range from ideas about what to draw to compliments on one anotherʼs work.

Starting with Dinosaurs
Inspired by If the Dinosaurs Came Back by Bernard Most (Clarion Books, 1984), students drew dinosaurs and created imaginative environments with a partner on a large sheet of butcher paper. Practice improved their final drawings, and the collaborative brainstorming enhanced the unique environments they created.

Moving to Cityscapes
Introducing Pop artist James Rizziʼs cityscapes is a fun way to teach the concept of constructed environments and introduce watercolor-resist painting techniques. The collaborative aspect allowed me to discuss how city planners and architects work together when designing downtown areas.

The goal of coolaboration is to get students to work together to create a quality piece of art, regardless of skill level or personality differences.

When students were almost finished with their individual projects, I taped a clean sheet of paper between two paintings. I continued this until everyone had a partner. The pairing was based on how well the paintings looked together and how far along they were. Coolaborating with their partner, students created a cityscape design by combining their pieces of art. As a bonus, the noise level in the classroom was noticeably lower—a welcome respite in any art room!

Abstract Collaboration
The abstract, colorful nature of paper manipulation is always a crowd pleaser, especially following the tightness of the James Rizzi paintings. Students learned and practiced making tabs, accordion chains, pleats, curls, loops, fringes, and arches before applying them to one giant piece of black butcher paper that they later enhanced with white oil pastel.

Nora F., Nora W., Owen, and Justin pose for a picture with Dale Chihuly–inspired coffee filters.

Some students initially had a difficult time understanding that another artist could add to their paper creation, but as the project progressed, they began to see firsthand how someone else can have a different perspective and create something wonderful from their original idea.

It was interesting to see some students take a conceptual approach, enjoying the pure abstraction of the paper, while others were more intentional, tailoring their paper techniques to create something more specific. Coolaboration allowed all students to notice these differences throughout the process rather than at completion.

Thiebaud-Inspired Gumball Machines
Gumball machines inspired by Wayne Thiebaud provided a great opportunity to use circle templates, enhance tracing and painting skills, and introduce color-mixing with tempera paint. Groups of four or five students worked on one large gumball machine throughout the various stages.

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