Visit our Facebook page to see inside the classroom of Goff Art Teacher Nicole Weber. Students in her 8th grade art classes have been creating Identity Maps as a form of visual storytelling.

Students began by making landforms by pouring uncooked rice onto paper and then tracing around the rice. They added illustrations of 10 man-made structures or natural landmarks, each representing a part of their identity.

To bring their maps to life, students used used watercolors and watercolor pencils.

The last step of the project is to give each landmark a name with a nod to whatever part of their identity it represents.

“Students are able to explore and articulate their life experiences and personal identities through visual symbols,” said Ms. Weber. “Students do a lot of self-reflection in order to identify the things that make them them.”