Who I Am Collage

 

Karen Krause                                                              Jennifer Hemmesch

Professional School Counselor                                   MSUM Intern 2001-2002

Waterville Elementary School                         Waterville Elementary School

Waterville Minnesota                                                 Waterville Minnesota

 

Description of Lesson:

Who I Am Collage is a lesson developed by Linda Bauck at Wallowa Elementary School in Oregon.  It is intended for grades K Ð 6.  It is surprising what range of knowledge and interests our students have when we take time to find out.  This activity gives students a chance to reflect on who they are and then to share that information in fun way with the rest of the class. 

 

Purpose:

In order for students to build self-esteem they need to know who they are and what is important and unique to themselves personally.  Students also need to have a concrete way in which to express this.  Students can become resident ÔexpertsÕ in the classroom and this is one way of finding out what the range of knowledge is among a group of students.

 

Objectives:

  1. Students will use an appropriate way to share facts about themselves.
  2. Students will become aware of the uniqueness of themselves and of others.
  3. Students will describe orally to a group of peers who they are.
  4. Students will find pictures or phrases to symbolize concepts of their personalities.

 

Resources:

  1. Magazines Ð 2 or 3 per student; include many areas of interest.
  2. Construction paper of assorted colors.
  3. Glue
  4. Scissors

 

Activities:

  1. Individually students will cut pictures or word phrases out of magazines that represent their personal interests and abilities.
  2. The pictures and words will be glued onto an 8 X 11 sheet of construction paper to form a collage.
  3. The completed collages will be displayed and numbered.
  4. Without discussion students will be given time to write down who they think each collage belongs to.

 

Tying it all together:

Each collage will be identified by its owner and s/he will be allowed to explain what they symbols stand for.  Students love this activity.  They also like for the collages to be displayed for a couple of weeks and from time to time they will make comments about things they should have included on their own or should have been on fellow students.  Students love to find out about each other.  They also love to have the teacher do one!

 

Connections to Related Standards, Competencies, and Domains:

            Who I am Collage relates to the Educational and Personal/Social developmental domains of the Minnesota School CounselorsÕ Model of Developmental Guidance and Counseling.  The students learn how to present their collage in front of the class, which is an important skill for elementary students to learn.  The lesson relates to the Personal/Social domain by allowing the students to build their self-esteem.  The students can learn what makes them special and unique.

            The lesson relates to the National Occupational Information Coordinating Committee Standards for elementary self-knowledge.  The students learn about themselves but they also learn how to present in front of others and interact with them. 

            Who I am Collage relates to Minnesota Graduation Standard number 10 Decision-Making Skills.  In a very basic sense the students make the decision about what they want to put on their collages and how they want to present their collage to the other members of the class.

 

References and Resources:

 

http://www.col-ed.org/cur/misc/misc52.txt