SOCIAL/EMOTIONAL: Same & Different

Building a sense of community where children learn to respect  each other and honor our similarities and differences is  one of our most important goals that we set for the year . We decided to begin our discussion by posing questions that would help our children focus on looking at themselves and each other and taking notice of how we are all the same and different. 

We introduced the Cardinals to a variety of age-appropriate diversity literature. Two of the many books we read helped us explore the many different shades of human skin color. The Colors of Us by Karen Katz presented a colorful and creative way that describes the many beautiful shades of skin tone in our society. Shelley Rotner’s  book Shades of People, was filled with wonderful photographs of children, all with varying skin tones, hair colors and textures, and facial features. 

 

After our conversations on the incredible range of skin color shades, we created an activity for the Cardinals to help further understand these ideas and make them more concrete. We began by posing the question, “If you could name a color to describe your skin tone, what color would you call it?” 

Kaya – “golden”

Kate – “tan”

Wyatt – “golden”

Trace – “golden”

Young – “golden”

Noel – “white”

Katy – “whitish”

Audrey – “white”

Evan – “peachish and brownish”

Samuel – “golden”

Violet – “peach”

Lilly – “peach”

Radha – “brownish”

Jayden – “very, very, very golden”

Stella – “peachish gold”

Tori – “little brown”

To add more fun to the mix of shades within our Cardinal family, paint swatches were brought in. We matched our skin shades to paint swatches and had fun pronouncing the funny names that went along with them.

Kaya – “Peach Smoothie”

Kate – “Mojave Sunset”

Wyatt – “Messa Sans”

Trace – “Spring of Pearls”

Young – “Sandstone”

Noel – “Woodbrow Wilsom Blush”

Katy – “Tailored Linen”

Audrey – “Tailored Linen”

Evan – “Terra Cotta Trail”

Samuel – “Dark Walnut”

Violet – “Peppermint Brige”

Lilly – “Sonoran”

Radha – “Filoli Majestic Oak”

Jayden – “Muddy Mississippi”

Stella – “Peach Biege”

Tori – “Peach Smoothie”

Inspired by our many conversations and hands-on experiments, we felt that having each child create a self- portrait would be a natural extension to our learning. A self-portrait project is a wonderful way for young learners to discover art and self-concept as well as an introduction to the various cultures within the classroom community.

Using a mirror, Noel looked closely at his facial features and selected materials that best resembled his image. As Noel focused on his specific attributes or features such as hair color and texture, shapes, and eye color he was exploring with the concept of self. This visual art helped Noel learn about what people look like, how similar and yet different people are, and built on additional skills such as shape and color recognition.  

Creating a self-portrait is a community-building activity that helps Noel, and all Cardinals, to get to know each other and feel comfortable in their classroom space.