Educational Excellence Since 1912
Hamden Hall Country Day School
Educating students in PreSchool through Grade 12

Students Explore Self-Identity Perception in Classroom Project

What does the word identity mean? What’s important to your identity? Lower School students reflected on these questions they created and designed self-portraits during a classroom project as part of the ongoing No Place for Hate campaign.

The project was inspired by a national video news story and the eventual enhancement of the educational app, Freckle. In viewing the video, students learned about a first-grade student named Maya who noticed that the Freckle app didn’t include an avatar representative of her own features including hair type. As such, she wanted the app to be more inclusive and worked toward that end.

From there, Lower School classes began the creative process of exploring their own identities. Students started with paper, color pencils, crayons, and markers to craft their portraits. Each drawing began with an outline of a circle that was divided into four sections. Using a crayon and other writing utensils, students labeled their pictures with their names and wrote their identity markers in each of the spaces. These markers included words such as brother/sister, son/daughter, student, athlete, and many more. To finish the portraits, students drew colorful images that indicate how they see themselves.

“Self-portrait projects allow students to express their own identities through visual art,” commented Grade 3 teacher Emily Anderson. “They are learning and understanding who they are and who their classmates are through pictures that represent individual identities, different features, interests, family life, and hobbies.”

Kindergarten students took a different route with the project by making yarn faces for their portraits. To begin, students looked at themselves in a hand-held mirror to reflect on how they see themselves. On a blank sheet of paper, students drew an outline of their face and neck area. Next, they placed colored strings of yarn around the face to depict their hair color and hairstyles. The portraits were completed with drawings of eyes, nose, and smiles. All the finished pictures were placed on display around the classroom.

“Identity work in a classroom is very important because it builds a level of understanding between students,” said Lower School Director Lorri Carroll. “It becomes a growth point for students and allows for open conversations about how we all see each other.”
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Hamden Hall Country Day School is a nurturing and inclusive community with a dynamic learning environment that promotes academic excellence by understanding each child and fostering their individual growth.