Nuestros autorretratos / Our self-portraits

And they are finally done!!! One of the many ways in which a positive sense of self is nurtured in Spanish class is by providing all students with the opportunity to create his or her autorretrato (self-portrait).

To commence the autorretrato project, the students were taught some of the Spanish terminology and concepts associated with portrait painting. Students learned in español some of the body parts with an emphasis on facial characteristics as well as colors and shapes. Many books were read, plenty of songs were sung, some activity sheets were completed and numerous games were played that helped the learners practice the Spanish vocabulary for these themes, orally and in writing.

To culminate the self-portrait project, we read Katie Kissinger’s book that provided positive exploration and celebration of skin color differences, "All the Colors We Are – Todos los Colores de Nuestra Piel." Afterwards, mirrors and multicultural colored tissue paper, markers, crayons, pencils, buttons and yarn were provided. As the students observed themselves in the mirror to look at their facial features and small details, the students were encouraged to discuss qué color (what color) comes closest to their piel (skin), ojos (eyes), cejas (eyebrows), pestañas (eyelashes), labios (lips) and pelo (hair).

Along with the self-portrait, a short autobiography of each student has been added. This layer of the project provided an additional opportunity for more learning in español. In the younger grades, students were introduced to Lynn Reiser’s book, Margaret and Margarita. This is a cute story about two little girls that meet at the park, one speaks English and the other speaks Spanish. When the two children meet, they find a way to communicate. The story helped introduce students to phrases such as me llamo (my name is) and me gusta (I like). We also read Audrey Wood’s book, Veloz como el grillo (Quick as a Cricket). This book reinforces the concept of individuality and feeling good about one’s self. The tale provided the students with the opportunity to learn the term yo soy (I am). Afterwards, when the students were "interviewed" for their autobiografía, they were able to respond to the following:

¿Cómo te llamas? (How are you called?)

¿Qué te gusta? (What do you like?)

Yo soy______ (I am _____)

The students in the 3^rd and 4^th grade were encouraged to write their autobiography in English and Spanish. The dictionaries and iPads were used as resources to help with translation as they completed the following;

Me llamo… (I am called…)

Mi cumpleaños…. (My birthday…)

Yo soy… (I am...)

Yo tengo… (I have…)

Me gusta... (I like…)

Please stop by! I encourage you to come to our Spanish classroom and marvel at all “the colors of us!”