Using white sheets of paper and colored pencils, this classic exercise in examining the students' own facial features is a good way to see their own facial structure and attributes, paying attention to symmetry in nature, having a keepsake at the end of the activity. This exercise is intended to draw a literal representation of what the artist sees in him or herself. The perspective is their own, but they should approach the exercise as an attempt to reflect their actual characteristics.
With the advent and accessibility of digital cameras, it is easier than ever to make a self portrait with a personal camera. As the teacher, you can ask your students to create a mood journal by taking self portrait photos when they find themselves in certain moods. Assign the students to create a book or journal containing prints of their self portraits to share with the class. This activity can help the students become more in tune with the way they appear in certain moods, and let their classmates get to know their fellow students' personalities better.
Asking your students to create a clay-sculpted likeness of themselves is a challenging art activity, but worthwhile to help the students try to understand what it is to create a structure, albeit a familiar structure. Sculpting their own face can help students to appreciate what they may consider their odder characteristics, such as an oddly shaped nose or smaller chin.
For this type of project, you and your students will use more than one media to create a self-portrait. First, focus on the basic medium, which can be painting, drawing or sculpture. For this scenario, ask the students to paint a self-portrait, paying attention to symmetry and proportion. Then ask them to either take a self-portrait photograph so you can print it out and attach it to the painting. The students may cut the photograph into a mold and create a "frame" within the self-portrait painting so they can see themselves in the actual photograph set against their artistic rendering to easily see the differences and similarities between the two.