I’m way behind on posting some of my library class units and hanging my student galleries. Last month I read Skin Again (illustrated by Chris Raschka) and Homemade Love (illustrated by Shane W. Evans) by bell hooks to all the first grade classes. I would have read all of bell hooks’ children’s books, but I had a lot of trouble finding them. So I read those two, and we talked a lot about all the different things that make us unique and fun.

When we read Homemade Love we went around the room telling the nicknames our families have for us. With Skin Again we discussed how our skin is “just a covering” that only tells part of our stories, and we held our hands up to look at how nice they are.

Then we spent a few weeks making collage self-portraits using old magazines, crayons, and construction paper. We talked about different ways to depict ourselves, like including things that are important to us rather than just straight pictures of ourselves. I had a lot of fun with it, and most of the kids did a great job.