The children read a story It's Ok To Be Different by Todd Parr. It's a book packed with wit and delivered with sensitivity. We discussed artists' self-portrait from Georgette Chen, Vincent Van Gogh, Pablo Piccaso and Frida Kahlo. These paintings offer varying styles, composition and personal stories. I usually choose other artwork from another class when doing class critique for the first time so that the children will not be self-conscious. Then I would explain that if their work was chosen for class critique in the future, they should listen to everyone but not necessarily follow their friends' suggestions. I numbered the artworks on the whiteboard to allow pupils to participate in the class critiques.
