Lego Self Portraits

I decided to do something a little different this year. Instead of asking students to draw a self portrait of themselves in pencil (that they usually hate because one facial feature is always way out of whack) I told them they were creating a Lego character that embodied who they are inside and out. They had to design this Lego character's clothing, facial expression and background to fit who they viewed themselves as.

There are tons of great examples of this art on Pinterest that I showed my class before we began to provide inspiration and motivation. What I love most about this art, is that it looks so vibrant on the wall and no one feels like they failed at a self portrait. My students are extremely proud of their efforts. The Art is going to be paired with a 30 word poem they wrote about themselves on the first day of school.

I can't wait to get it all up on the wall - Once I track down a ladder for my insanely high ceilings!

Survival Island (Critical Thinking)

I started the first day of the school year assessing my student's ability to think critically. It was a full day activity that I found hugely successful and the students had fun!

I had the desks arranged in groups of four before the students entered the class. As the students filtered in I told them to think carefully about where they sat because there was an exciting challenge ahead. They needed to sit with people they thought they could work well with and who they thought were good problem solvers and finders.

Through this activity I was able to see who was creative, who had leadership qualities, who thought outside the box, what their work ethic, their questioning skills and was like and who was confident in sharing their ideas.






Examples of Student Work: