Learning Through the Art of Eric Carle and Dr. Seuss

My Students

"For me, all my life I try to simplify things. As a child in school, things were very hard for me to understand." ~Eric Carle My students with special needs deserve to have concepts not only simplified, but learned through engaging project-based learning!

My students range in ages from 3 to 9 years old (Pre-K to 3rd) grade with a variety of speech and language needs.

My caseload includes students with autism spectrum disorders, visual impairments, intellectual disabilities, articulation impairments, and specific language impairments. My students learn about these topics in their classrooms, but I would like to extend their understanding of these concepts during our sessions.

My Project

Over the course of the year, my students will read a series of Eric Carle and Dr. Seuss books relating to the topics they are studying in class. The collage boxes and boards will allow for my students to try out the style of Eric Carle's art for themselves. They would be able to layer colors and textures when creating their characters for The Hungry Caterpillar. The shaving cream, glass jars and food coloring would give my students the chance to learn about rain clouds after reading Little Cloud. The students that read Bartholomew and the Oobleck will make "Oobleck" to reinforce the concept of different states of matter they learn in their classroom while dripping it over their Lego villages. Using The Lonely Firefly book, they would be able to create their own kinetic art, using clothespins and string to make fireflies. Finally, my students would be able to videotape themselves on the iPad using the puppets or Lego creations and describe what they have learned.

These materials will help my students continue to be engaged in learning through the reading of some of their favorite books, art projects that reinforce science concepts, and science experiments to capture their interest.

In the related service room students are asked to do extra work to catch up to the rest of the class in terms of their skills. This can be done in a variety of ways, and I'd like to give my students the opportunity to learn more through the art of Eric Carle and Dr. Seuss.