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ERIC Number: EJ988293
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2012-Mar
Pages: 2
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0036-6463
EISSN: N/A
Rock Thoughts
Valenti, Karla
SchoolArts: The Art Education Magazine for Teachers, v111 n7 p44-45 Mar 2012
Empowering children to make a difference is not only an important way of fostering positive interactions among people, but it promotes children's growth as bright, competent, and independent individuals. One of the most effective ways of empowering children is by teaching them how to engage their multiple intelligences and imaginations to better understand the world and create something new and meaningful within it. There are many ways to empower children through creativity. Perhaps one of most rewarding is storytelling. The stories that have the most potential to make a difference are the ones that effectively engage children's multiple intelligences and imagination, encourage collaboration, and make use of virtual technology. This article discusses one resource that attempts to offer such meaningful opportunities--Rock Thoughts, a global art and collaborative project designed to empower children through storytelling. The Rock Thoughts process is simple: Participants paint rocks to resemble monsters. Each rock receives a unique code allowing it to be tracked. The monsters are left in public spaces and finders use them as plot devices for stories they submit to the site. The monsters are then hidden again for someone else to find and continue the process. Participants also contribute to existing stories by offering additional content or providing feedback and commentary, adopting previously painted monsters, or crowd-sourcing stories for featured monsters. With Rock Thoughts, the primary storytelling platform is a website (www.rockthoughts.com). This virtual element gives participants broad exposure to different perspectives and ideas, it offers unique opportunities to learn and be inspired from others, and it encourages positive development within a community of creative peers supporting participant's efforts to make a difference. (Contains 1 online resource.)
Davis Publications. 50 Portland Street, Worcester, MA 01608. Tel: 800-533-2847; Tel: 508-754-7201; Fax: 508-753-3834; Web site: http://www.davis-art.com
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Elementary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A