First Grade Self Portraits

Last week, the first grade classes explored feelings and how they show up on a person's face.  We talked about how each part of the face will change to show a feeling.  For instance, when a person is scared, the eyes will pop open, the mouth (with two lips!) will open wide, and the eyebrows will go up higher on the forehead.

We also went over all the parts on a head (two eyes with pupils, a nose with two nostrils, a mouth with two lips, eyebrows, ears, hair) and where they should be placed on the picture.  For instance, the eyes go much further down than most children tend to draw them.  This leaves room for a forehead and hair ON the head, not above it.

After practicing this, the students were given a paper with a blank head shape already drawn on it.  While looking into a mirror, each student chose a feeling (happy, sad, scared, or angry) to put on their face, and then drew a self portrait, making sure to include all the features of their head/face.  Before coloring, however, I asked the students to include one more thing, a BACKGROUND (drawings of stuff behind them in the self portrait) that explains WHY they are feeling the way they do in the picture. 

Here are some examples of what the students made...