Drawing is an oldie but a goody activity. Drawing a picture uses visualization. It interests those students with the visual learning style or those with the spatial multiple intelligence learning style.

Teachers can use drawing in all sections of a lesson . The following is an example of the type of lesson plan drawing can be incorporated into.

• Anticipatory Set: Draw a picture of something you learned in class yesterday.
• Vocabulary: Draw a picture that represents the vocabulary word according to its definition.
• Mini-Lesson: Draw a picture next to each section of notes before moving onto the next section. You could even call students up to the board to create a storyboard to go over when you conclude the lesson.
• Activity: Draw a tattoo someone might have created after living through (whatever event you wish) or a cartoon strip or a political cartoon.
• Concluding Set: Go over the storyboard left of the board from the mini-lesson.

Teachers can add to the spatial multiple intelligence learning style to make the assignment more appealing for students who have different multiple intelligence learning styles. Here is an example of this:

• Linguistic Multiple Intelligence Learning Style: Explain what the drawing is and how it relates to the content.
• Intrapersonal and Interpersonal Multiple Intelligence Learning Styles: Allow students the option of working individually or with a partner.

Differentiating Instruction for drawing is possible. The following are two different ways to differentiate instruction for drawing.

• Multiple Intelligence Learning Styles: Teachers can give their students options of activities that use different multiple intelligence learning styles and the same content.  http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Kasha-Mastrodomenico offers over 50 activity templates with rubrics to help teachers differentiate instruction quickly.
• Leveling/Tiering/Scaffolding: Lower ability levels can draw what they are learning. This is a lower level critical thinking exercise because they are simply translating text to pictures. Middle ability levels can draw a comic strip. This uses a higher level of critical thinking because it uses humor as well as chronology. This also brings in the logical multiple intelligence learning style to the activity session. Higher ability level students could create a political cartoon. This uses an extremely high critical thinking level because not only do they have to use the content and humor they also need to take a side by deciding how they feel about the content.

Teachers need to make sure that they follow these two tips of advice when they are planning for differentiated instruction:

• all students must use the same content
• all students need to be challenged

Bringing in art such as drawing allows teachers to differentiate instruction in multiple ways.

Written by,

Kasha Mastrodomenico (Connect with me on Linkedin.com)

http://www.socialstudiesdifferentiatedinstruction.com

kasha@socialstudiesdifferentiatedinstruction.com

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Kasha-Mastrodomenico