passionately curious

Self-Portraits

Here are the wonderful self-portraits my students completed in time for Open House.  We spent several days working on this project and for the first time, I gave each child a portrait mirror.  We talked a lot about looking, paying attention to detail, the shape of faces, eyes, etc.  Although there are always a few kids who aren't confident about their drawing abilitites and worry about getting the eyes or the nose just right, the mirrors seemed to make everyone more comfortable. 

We displayed these portraits in the classroom and deliberately had the children leave their names off.  It became a terrific "Guess Who" game for the parents who often needed several tries before gettting it right.  At the end of the year, the kids will draw portraits again and once laminated, these will be the front and back covers of our Second Grade Memory Book.

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Celebrating Adoption

I am very fortunate to teach at a school that truly embodies diversity.  Our students come from families rich in cultural, ethnic and religious backgrounds that represent 65 countries!  Diversity comes in other forms as well, and last year an Adoptive Parents Discussion Group was created.  According to one of our school counselors, Linda Wax, this group had a goal this year to create a "display that fulfilled several purposes: to create a sense of pride in the children from adoptive families, to educate children and adults about some of the "sameness" but also "differences" in families who are formed through adoption, and as a way of celebrating and highlighting yet another form of diversity in our school."  After much brainstorming and collaboration, this is the result that now brightens our school lobby:

To give the children an active role this project, they were asked to think of something they'd like other people to know about being adopted.  They illustrated thier ideas through drawings, collage and poems. These are some of their images that surround the tree:

An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet, regardless of time, place or cicumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle, but will never break.
                                                -Chinese Legend

Me, my mom, and my dad at the beach.

 

This is the house I lived in when I was adopted.

We all share the same sun.

Name That Picture Book

Several years ago I purchased a wonderful wall calendar from Peaceable Kingdom Press entitled Celebrating Children's Books: A Tribute to 12 Outstanding Children's Book Illustrators.  I thought this was the perfect calendar for the classroom and looked for one each new year.   Not wanting to part with the whimsical and charming illustrations from some of the best children's literature, I cut apart each old calendar and laminated the pages.  Instead of using them for mere decorations, I wanted to engage my students.  I wanted them to wonder about new books or be reminded of old favorites.  Now, I display these illustrations on the back of my classroom door.  I change them periodically and always challenge the kids to "guess the picture book." 

 

Update: Unfortunately, Peaceable Kindom Press no longer publishes these calendars.  I'm always looking for other alternatives so leave a comment if you know of one!