Thursday, August 25, 2011

identity grids

I love having the kids do personalized work at the beginning of each school year-- and typically I start out with some sort of self-portrait. Well, 10 years of doing that for seven classes each day for a week is really mundane, so I decided to switch it up this year. With my third graders I am doing these "identity grids" and they love them!

We start out with a 12"x12" sheet of paper and fold it into 16 squares. We talk about identities. The most obvious part of your identity is your name--so we write our names in "bubble letters" jumbled about through the paper. One letter per square. We then talk about other things that make us unique, that make us individuals--and brainstorm those ideas on the board (favorite holidays, foods, artists, hobbies, etc). They then draw a different symbol in each of the remaining squares.

The above example is mine, but I can't wait for the kids to finish their so I can show you! They are all so colorful and unique...and I'm learning a little something new about each child! So fun!


11 comments:

  1. I think this is great....I have been searching for some good starter projects.

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  2. Love this idea - might "steal" it!

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  3. These "identity" grids are beautiful.

    This is such a great idea for the first week back at school.

    Thanks for sharing.

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  4. Wonderful project and you get to know something about each student when viewing!

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  5. Love these, trying them with my 2/3 classes!

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  6. I did something similar with my Kindergarteners, using name quilts that some people have in their nurseries for inspiration. Many turned out well, but- having seen these- I might have to try it again with older students.

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  7. I love this idea! i will use it with my kids next school year

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  8. I love this idea! i will use it with my kids next school year

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  9. hi I like this idea it seems fun and if u have a lot of traits you could do multiple of these

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