Teaching Transitions through Directed Drawings

When students transition from 6th grade to 7th they often struggle. They come from a comfortable, nurturing homeroom environment that is based on the norms and values of one teacher. With that sense of homeroom understanding and security comes flexibility when it comes to the Teacher holding individuals accountable.

In 7th grade students have to "code-switch" between 7 different teachers and adapt to those 7 sets of norms and values. Teachers in the 7/8 grade work with over 160 students and can't always accommodate for individuals in the same manner as the 6th grade team simply due to ratios.Therefore, our first unit- the Anime unit, is designed to "hook" students while teaching them the very basic norm in Expressive Arts; time management. We lead students through 6 quick directed drawings of cool Manga characters and assign a specific color theme for students to illustrate and understand color theory. Each drawing and coloring has to be completed in the 45 minute class period.