Get to know students with this All About Me in 6 Pictures activity during back-to-school time.
The first several weeks of school are probably the most important for building community, setting expectations, and helping students establish their roles in the classroom.
During those first couple weeks, teachers spend time getting to know their students both academically and personally. We also want to give the student time to create their own persona for who they want to be this school year.
For some students, they want a fresh start. They don’t want to be the same kind of student they were in the year prior. For others, they want to reestablish themselves in this new space.
It is a difficult time for kids as they navigate this new environment and their place in it.
In larger school districts, students may not know many of the kids in their new class. However, in smaller school districts, kids may know every person in their grade.
It is important to give students a chance to tell you about themselves before others get the chance to, and that is why “Get to Know You” activities like “All About Me in 6 Pictures” is so important.
All About Me in 6 Pictures Activity Instructions
Students will use the six frames in the All About Me in 6 Pictures activity to tell/draw about themselves. You can use the blank one if you want them to come up with topics themselves, or you can use the template with the categories already listed.
Students will then label the picture and draw something in the frame that relates. (i.e., My Family – they could name the people in their family and then draw the picture and color it.)
If your students are younger, the categories provided will work well, but if your students are older, they may prefer to have a selection of categories to choose from, so they have a little more opportunity to be creative and independent.
Here are some categories to consider.
- Me
- Place of birth
- Where I live now
- My family
- My favorite thing
- My friends
- My favorite person
- My favorite foods
- My favorite places to visit
- My favorite thing about myself
- My biggest goal
- What I want to be
- Who I admire
- My favorite subject/class
- My pets
- My favorite stuffy
- My favorite vacation
- My expectations for myself
- My best quality
Students can mix and match the categories to create a project that is unique to them and how they want to introduce themselves this year.
Displaying Student Projects
Each student’s All About Me in 6 Pictures project can be displayed as one whole project, or their individual images can be displayed over time in the hallway. Simply adhere a clothespin to the wall with the student’s name, and then place a new frame in it each week for the first six weeks of school.
Another way to display these projects would be on the front of the student’s desks. Then students can do a gallery walk around the classroom to meet and learn about the other students.
Spending time on projects like this, All About Me in 6 Pictures, is a great way to get to know students and give them an opportunity to decide how they want to be introduced to their classmates this year!
All About Me…But Older
If you like the information you learn from this activity, consider revisiting the activity and doing it again later in the year to see how your students’ interests and focuses have changed. Change up the categories for this later activity, or give students a chance to choose new categories.
When you revisit the activity with students, you are giving them a chance to update you on any life events or personal changes that they want to share.
For even more ways to get to know your students during back-to-school time, try some of the ideas in this post. It includes back-to-school resources for both the physical and digital classrooms!
