Identity Part Two

Hopefully you checked out my previous post on the topic of "Identity", where I talked about two projects all based around the topic of identity and how artist use their identity to make meaningful artwork. In the three years I've been teaching, I've done a lesson on identity with my 6th grade students. It's a great way to start the year and fun way to get to know my students.

I wanted to share with you all the conversation I have with my students before I begin my identity projects. I start by having student close their eyes and visualize a word (I typically use the word "cat"). When they open their eyes I have them share what they thought of. We see really quickly that although we all have a similar image of a cat (small, hairy, four-legged animal) we all have different experiences with cats. These experiences allow us to have an individual idea of what a cat is. Are you thinking of your childhood cat? Are you thinking of a cat that scratched you once? Are you thinking of a recent cartoon cat you've seen? What's fun is that no two people will ever answer the question same. We all have different experiences and this is what helps shape our identity.

We also look at a few pieces of artwork and discuss how although we can't experience what the artist experienced when creating the piece, we can use our own experiences to interpret the work for ourselves. Isn't art the greatest!!!!

Here is our most recent exploration into identity. Students created identity handprints. We talked about dynamic composition, contrast and using analogous colors to layer colored pencils!

Hope you enjoyed! Thanks for stopping in!