{"id":613,"date":"2014-08-17T11:16:00","date_gmt":"2014-08-17T15:16:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theeducatorsspinonit.com\/2014\/08\/beginning-of-the-year-self-portrait.html"},"modified":"2023-08-07T07:36:09","modified_gmt":"2023-08-07T11:36:09","slug":"beginning-of-year-self-portrait","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theeducatorsspinonit.com\/beginning-of-year-self-portrait\/","title":{"rendered":"Beginning of the Year Self Portrait"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The beginning of the school year is a great time to start your child’s educational portfolio or time capsule. The beginning of the school year self portrait <\/a>is a MUST DO for all parents and teachers.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Reasons Why Teachers and Parents Should Use a Self Portrait for Student Assessment<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Reason #1 Time to Value Ratio<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This activity takes little to no preparation time, but provides a strong assessment<\/b> of where the child is at in many areas of learning and social development.  Sure you can print a cute page like this one<\/a>, but you can also hand your child a blank piece of paper. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In totality, this assessment takes no more than 20 minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Print Your Beginning of the Year Printables Here<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Reason #2 Self Portraits are Child Led<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ask them to draw a picture of themselves.  DO NOT tell them WHAT to draw or how to draw it. This activity is not for instruction time, it is a chance for your child to demonstrate what they know and can do.  It is a child led activity, you just provide the materials. I do not give any prompting such as, does your picture have a nose or make sure to have a neck and body.  At the end, I ask, “Is there anything else you would like to add?” Then I take the portrait, smile at them, and ask them to tell me about it.  DON’T FORGET TO DATE IT!<\/p>\n\n\n

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Reason #3 With Self Portrait Assessments Everyone is Right<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Using the self portrait is an everyone wins assessment.  There is absolutely NO wrong way to draw who you are.  You will not get a “wrong” answer for this test. If your child draws something you cannot recognize, just ask them to tell you about it with their words (write those words on the bottom, because you will not remember exactly what they said.)<\/p>\n\n\n

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Reason #4 Self Portraits Work for ALL Ages<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

As you can see by the pictures, this assessment works for a preschooler and a 3rd grader. I have tried to have my children draw a picture of them each year, starting at age 2. We file these in our educational portfolio. It was a TON of fun going back with my 3rd grader this year and looking at how she used to draw herself as a preschooler and how her drawing and writing has changed over the years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reason #5 Kids Want to Share About Themselves<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Self Portraits are a great springboard to starting a conference with your child about their hopes and dreams for the year.  Most children LOVE and WANT to talk about what is important to them.  Using a self-portrait to see where children are academically also giving you a glimpse into who they are as individuals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reason #6 Time for Observation<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

While they are drawing, parents and teachers have a good 10 minutes to make observations on how they are working.<\/p>\n\n\n\n