Culver City Summer School is in session. Each year the school district offers an extended school year program to qualified students with special needs. The goal is to provide remediation and support the retention of skills acquired during the year.
This year I have had the honor of teaching middle school. I set out to build a program that is fun, inspiring, and educational.
My first step was to develop a simple and flexible structure for the day. Once I had this simple structure in place I could fill in the blanks with creative lessons that might turn out to be shorter than planned, or might expand, depending upon the students’ needs and how they responded to activities.
My next objective has been to create lessons that extend across various subjects and areas, stretching the imagination. Enter local cartoonist, Darrell Fusaro, whose cartoons are featured in the Culver City News. He is one of my favorite people to invite in for a guest lesson.
This year Darrell has been teaching the students how to draw figures. Thus far we have covered humans and four legged animals. The students light up when they hear that a cartoonist is going to come in and teach them how to draw.
Inspired by the drawing, they enthusiastically engage in discussions that range from math to history, as well as useful social skills like conflict resolution and empathizing with others.
This particular class, Darrell reminded the children that we should learn the rules before we break them. He taught them simple building blocks that make up a cartoon person and animal before turning them lose to add their unique flair to their creations.
One student was smiling broadly when Mr. Fusaro told him how much he appreciated the mouse he added to his picture of a cat. Honoring and appreciating students for their ability to think outside the box creates an atmosphere of trust and receptivity.
When we told one of the district occupational therapists what we had been up to, she was enthusiastic that Darrell was able to teach the students using art. She noted that her kids were benefiting from the ability to draw a body, which would help in recognizing where their own bodies are in space.
This does not always develop naturally in some students with special needs. She noted that learning the different ways eyebrows, mouths, and eyes appear when they are experiencing different emotions, such as happiness or fear, supports students in recognizing social cues and reading the emotions that other people are feeling.
All of these expected, and unexpected, educational benefits came simply from the idea to have fun drawing with the students. Starting with a fun activity and building in content standards and IEP (Individualized Education Program) related skills, has created a foundation for success in the classroom. Getting big results while having big fun is another name for tapping into genius!
Edward Biagiotti is the Inclusion Specialist for CCUSD. More of his writing about connecting with children can be found at: www.tappingingintogenius.com. For more cartoons and inspired writings from Darrell Fusaro, visit: www.darrellfusaro.com.