Part 1
So here is a mini portrait unit that can tie into identity and getting to know the individuals in your class. 

The portraits are completed using pencil only. We looked at the composition of a portrait and talked about the shapes we can see within our faces. 

All children discussed what face shape they have (heart, round, square, oval etc) and while I had plenty of mirrors, my little 'hack' was to also provide each child with an old, reflective cd to look into to view thier face. A great money saver and easy to lay your hands on. 

We drew our face shapes first and neck and shoulders. 

Then we divided the face in half length ways and then into thirds horizontally. 

We thought about eyes in terms of their shape - like lemons, or leaves or almonds. 
Then we drew then onto the top third line. 

We then added the nose and mouth. 

And finally the hair. 

For further depth in the portrait, the darkest parts could be done wih a black clour pencil or charcoal. 

Part 2
On the clothing of the body, divide the t shirt or top into squares. In each square students are asked to include symbols or images that represent them. 

Part 3  
In the back ground use a ruler to divide into geometric segments. 

Use a round object to draw around to add a different shape to the mix. 

Selecting cool colours or warm colours, use oil pastels to colour each segment a different colour. 
(alternatively this could be done with pastels and dye or bleeding tissue paper - see example which includes half in oil pastel and half with bleeding tissue paper - available from Creative Classrooms). 

If you are interested in buying the editable New Zealand curriculum based lesson plan to go with the mini unit, please visit teachers pay teachers to purchase your copy. This includes full step by step images and diagrams to support the teaching of self portraits. 

​https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Geometric-Identity-Portrait-4362311

Hi. Welcome to my first blog entry!!

This lesson best suits Year 6 - 8. 

You will need:

* photocopied images
* large black paper or card
* oil pastels
* chalk or chalk pastels
* dye

There have been several requests to see lesson progressions for this lesson, so I'm going to try and break it down into steps. 

I can't take the credit for creating this lesson, as I found it on the Primary Art Ideas Page. Thank you to Michelle Hayden for your original share and for links to the plans. 

1, So, the first step was to find a range of images that depicted important people or symbols from our heritage. In these pictures here we have Ranginui, Tupa-a-nuku and Hone Heke, Maori chief. 

These were enlarged to A2 and then cut into quarters. Students worked in pairs with 2 diagonally opposite segments. These were glued onto black card. 

2. The students were given a short story about the person to read.  They were then asked to select a colour they felt helped to tell the story of the person. They used dye over the top of the photo copied image with that colour. 

3. On the opposite side they used a chalk pastel to draw the mirror image. They were only allowed to use white, black and the colour they had chosen to tell their story. They had a selection of oil and chalk pastels. 

4. Once the dye is dry on the photocopied side, they could work further into the image using oil and chalk pastels to highlight particular lines or important features. The black and white oil pastel came in quite handy at this point! 

Extension:
Older students did some research into Kowhaiwhai patterns and their meanings and used these to help further tell the story. These could be woven through the image or added as a border or edge strip. 

Now click the link to find resources, images and lesson plan!!!

(eek - I hope my technical disabilities allow this!!!)

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ZijCawekSNjpHs9TyVa5mXGFTV-b3KYq

I hope this first blog entry is helpful. 

In the future I am hoping to include step by step photos too for those who prefer a visual and there may be a small fee to download the plan, but seeing as this is not all my own material, it is totally FREE!!!!

Happy creating :)

Don't forget to also like the Creative Sparks facebook page so you can follow and see everything we create each week. 

​https://www.facebook.com/artandmusiceducation/






​