The Colors of Us

Yesterday morning, Room 221 listened to "The Colors of Us" by, Karen Katz. It's a story of a young girl's walk through her neighborhood as she notices the beautiful and unique shades of each person's skin. She returns home to mix white, black, red and yellow paint to recreate each skin tone and paint portraits of her friends.

The young girl connects the shades of skin to many familiar foods. "My mom's the color of french toast... Sonia is a light yellow brown, just like creamy peanut butter..." I challenged children to find foods in the kitchen that remind them of their own skin. We noticed that my oatmeal cookies might match someone's skin! Let us know what you find!

In the afternoon, 221 artists mixed paints to find their own, unique skin color. They painted the shade onto a plain piece of paper which they will use to cut out their face and create their self portrait in collage. They are amazingly realistic! We will notice and celebrate the difference of each one. Thanks so much to the mom's of: Laura, Tom, Jasmin, and Kristina for all their help. I couldn't have done it without them!