Plans for Special Education Students
Special Education & the Arts
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Art Lesson Plans for Students with Disabilities
Learning Disability - Submitted by Pam Whisenhunt
Pam has specialized in teaching students with learning disabilities for 25 years. Here are some basic descriptions and guidelines. They are:
Normal to above average intelligence
All have a different array of strengths and weaknesses (mostly language-based), which is why they need small classes/ or extra help
Many are very creative ( Chuck Close is reportedly dyslexic) "right brained"
The issues that drive teachers crazy are generally:
Accompanying attention-deficit hyper-active disorder (ADHD), which means they often have great difficulty staying on task
Not following directions - often because they don't understand (auditory difficulties)
Often very disorganized and forget things
Oppositional behavior (probably the toughest, usually emotionally based)
Lessons for LD students:
In general, keep instructions simple, no more than 3 steps at a time (memory issues)
Any lesson with a clear sequence is generally a good lesson -
Strong visuals, quick demos
Don't talk too much! (ADHD and auditory issues) They are actually very hands on and like to get on with it!
Don't insult their intelligence; many are very bright, some are in the gifted range
Some lessons that have been popular:
Simple, realistic drawing (they tend to be very concrete) - how to draw a face, using the half face photograph and drawing the mirror image; basic 1-point perspective. basic landscape showing how aerial perspective works
Papier Mache - great medium for these guys as long as they understand the structure - Masks, dragons and animals are very popular (you can make small animals using pipe cleaner armatures that are wrapped in paper towels/newsprint + tape)
Cartooning - many are aspiring cartoonists
Stenciled designs - any kind of stenciling with instructions for creating repeated designs are generally successful - especially for students with poor motor skills
They love clay! Competition for the tallest coil pot, slabs with images incised or carved low relief... (note from Judy - my LD, DH and SBH students all loved working in clay. I never had any problems)
They love paint! Color mixing designs are great warm-ups for a painting project
What you may have to do:
Simply instructions - use graphics/images with instructions - revise your written assessments- give oral exams - use big fonts, Reading is a problem for many LD students. Focus assessments on the "big ideas"
Also see IAD's Special Education page.
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