Westford Kindergarten Blog: end of the year self-portraits

A community of builders and artists, collectors of treasures and tiny things.

For their end of the year self-portraits the Kindergarteners revisited their beginning and middle of the year portraits - we talked about how their drawing and illustration has become more "powerful".

I shared with them the end of the year portraits from last year's class - portraits built and constructed. They too were a community of builders. It's important to offer children a variety of opportunities and materials for representation - to draw, sketch, paint, color, bend, mold, and build.

With an assortment of beautiful stuff presented on trays and in bowls, the children gathered their materials. They manipulated the materials on their canvases, before gluing stones and buttons down. It was a wonderful way to end one of our last afternoons together. The children were engaged in a reflective and constructive experience - they planned their work, counted materials, practiced their fine motor skills, and represented themselves using an assortment of materials.

Following their work, the children thought deeply about words to describe themselves.

First using mirrors and black pens to plan.

Then collecting, manipulating, and attaching materials.

A fun, engaging, and academic experience - planning and representation are an important aspect of early literacy.