How I See Myself - 6th grade self portraits

Giuliana, gr. 6

This year I decided to change up the way we approach self portraits. Normally we do a Van Gogh inspired portrait using color too express emotion, but this year I felt the assignment needed an update that was a better reflection of the times. This year the students seemed to need more freedom to express themselves.

Pomai, gr. 6

With the isolation due to being online so much because of Covid, our social skills and friendships seemed a little more complicated to navigate. The extra time at home seemed to inspire a lot of extra drawing practice, watching anime, and with all the social changes happening they really needed an outlet to express their unique voice. It's important to be flexible as a teacher and be willing to adjust your lessons to meet the needs of students.

Katie, gr. 6

So, instead of choosing an emotion, I asked them to draw one side more realistically using the drawing techniques we learned in class (looking in the mirror and using a pencil to measure their face). And on the other side, they could draw themselves however they wanted... as an anime character, as someone who lived in another time period, as a different gender, or as a futuristic hybrid human.

Emilynn, gr. 6

These are a few examples of pieces that turned out really well because they worked hard and took the assignment seriously.

Natalia, gr. 6