it looks you ish

Kindergarten self-portraits are rich with learning opportunities.

social/emotional

We cultivate community by celebrating ourselves within a group of peers. We recognize and reflect on how we are different, similar and unique. We read books about names, celebrating that our names are important words. We connected this work to developing a self-portrait; a visual representation and reflection of one's unique self. 

This year we read Peter Reynold's Ish, a story of overcoming challenges as an artist. Together we recognized that our portraits can look you ish. This concept supports all of the developing artists in our classroom, especially the children wanting to draw a certain way. The children that flip papers over and can get stuck in the cycle of crumbling their progress. 

The Kindergarteners were able to bravely draw their portraits with the understanding that each portrait would look you ish. We also discussed how our portraits will change as our skills change, as we change.

shapes/lines

The children's self-portraits are an authentic opportunity to transfer their knowledge about shapes and lines. Our faces are made of different lines; a curved line for your chin, a straight line for the bridge of your nose. Our backgrounds were inspired by our line portraits from earlier in the year. 

literacy

Our line work supports children in the printing of letters; straight, curvy, wavy lines.

The children were expected to use a new word; by. This is a word we use when reading the author of a book, by ________. Each child wrote by and their name with their self-portraits. 

The children engaged in conversation about what they know about self-portraits. They listened to their peers share about their work and offered noticings.

They used mirrors to closely examine their faces and developed a plan for their portrait. They practiced their portraits with pencil first. When they were ready, they drew their portraits with black pens. Their process was similar to the planning process during our writing workshop; writers think, plan, and write. The developing of their portraits supported their growing representational skills.

1. Examine, think, and plan

What shapes and lines do you see? 

How would you show your hair? 

What details can you add?

 

 

 

2. Draw/create using what you know and planned