Autorretratos en primer (1º) grado / Self-portraits in First (1st) Grade

In Primer (1º) Grado the students have been learning the Spanish vocabulary that describes the components that go into an aurorretrato, a self-portrait.

Key vocabulary:

autorretrato – self-portrait

piel – skin

cabeza – head

cara- face

pelo – hair

ojos – eyes

cejas – eyebrows

pestañas – eyelashes

orejas – ears

nariz – nose

boca – mouth

labios – lips

dientes - teeth

cuello – neck

hombros - shoulders

One of the many ways in which positive sense of self is nurtured during Spanish class is by providing all LS students with the opportunity to create her or his autorretrato. By focusing on the study of self-portraiture, our aim is to emphasize the unique and individual characteristics and features of each brilliant child. It is also a community-building activity that helps children to get to know each other. And, it is an effective resource that enhances oral and written communication in the target language, español.

To commence our study, we began a dialogue on our similarities and differences. We read many books that helped guide our discussions to some of the ways in which we are all igual y diferente (same and different) such as physical similarities and cultural differences. To extend the conversations, we read Katie Kissinger’s, All the Colors We Are / Todos los colores de nuestra piel. The students were introduced to this beautiful book in which the author used magnificent color photographs and simple engaging language to capture the essence of one way we are igual y diferente from one another; our color de piel (color of our skin)! In her book, Ms. Kissinger offers children three simple, scientifically accurate explanations for how we get the tone of nuestra piel (our skin); nuestra familia (our family), el sol (the sun) and melanina (melanin).

After many reads and talk on the incredible range of shades of piel, a fun activity was provided for the first graders. The question was posed, “If you could name a color to describe your piel shade, what color would you call it?” Some responded with “chocolate”, “brown”, “vanilla ice cream”, “peach” and “white.”

To add more fun to the mix of shades, paint swatches were brought in. We matched our piel shades to paint swatches and had much fun pronouncing the funny names that went along with them. Some examples were:

nuez oscura - Dark Walnut

tostada bronceada -  Toasting Tan

batido de melocotón - Peach Smoothie

rosado mantecoso - Buttery Pink

granola crujido - Crunch Granola

beso de chocolate - Chocolate Kiss

primavera de perlas - Spring of Pearls

arenisca - Sandstone

Indeed, there are a whole lot of shades between white and brown in our first grade community. Stay tune, as soon the students will be creating their very own autorretrato. In collaboration with our amazing and talented Art teacher, Amanda, the students will be mixing their very own tone of piel and then adding their ojos, orejas, nariz, boca, pelo and much more!