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Subject: Understanding Expressions |
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1. Topic-
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| Helping children with Asperger's syndrome understand facial expressions. |
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2. Content-
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This lesson introduces children with autism spectrum disorders to
the importance of facial expressions and recognizing their impact
on other people. The feelings behind different facial expressions
are discussed and the benefits of smiling at each other are emphasized.
Students prepare to fill an unmet need for friendship by learning
valuable social skills.
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3. Goals: Aims/Outcomes-
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1. create awareness of different feelings.
2. how to react to different facial expressions.
3. child will engage more in social interaction |
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4. Objectives-
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1. identify and describe emotions behind certain facial expressions.
2. tell how people feel when others smile at them.
3. speak with a smile and good eye contact.
4. identify and demonstrate the characteristics of "active listening." |
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5. Materials and Aids-
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1. Visual aids for stimulating discussion, such as photographs of
faces from magazines or picture books.
2. Chart of lyrics for a teacher-created School Smiles Song or Chant
3. One piece of medium-grit sandpaper per student, approximately 4"x5"
4. Wax-based crayons
5. One piece of pre-washed muslin, approximately 26"x46" upon which
"Understanding Expressions" should be written before the lesson. The
lettering may be done with fabric markers, printed with alphabet sponges,
or iron-on letters or any other available teacher method.
6. Teacher produced sample of artwork transferred to scrap muslin
7. Hot, dry iron
8. Newspapers
9. Clean paper to protect the iron while transferring the drawings
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6. Procedures/Methods-
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A. Introduction-
If the teacher has written a song or chant about smiling, begin
the lesson by teaching or reviewing the song or chant. Discuss facial
expressions and the emotions that are behind them. Visual aids or
acting out emotions may be used. After you discuss several facial
expressions and emotions, focus the discussion on smiling. Some questions
to help facilitate discussion could include:
"When do you smile? How do you feel when you smile?
How do you feel when other people smile?
Do you ever worry when other people smile?
Whose smiles do you like the most? Why?" |
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B. Development-
1. Pair students up. They are to take turns smiling at their partners
and completing the sentence stem, "I smile when"�" Direct students
to be aware of maintaining good eye contact. Allow about three minutes
for this activity.
2. You could also do this part of the lesson by arranging the students
in two concentric circles. The circles should each have the same number
of students. The students in the inner circle stand facing out. The
students in the outer circle each stand facing one of the students
in the inner circle. Have the students smile and share their sentences
with the person they are facing. After enough time has elapsed, tell
the students in the outer circle to move one person to their left.
The students in the center do not move. Repeat the sharing process
with the new partner. Continue as long as you desire. This activity
has the added benefit of reinforcing the mathematical concepts of
shapes, even and odd numbers, direction, clockwise/counterclockwise
and ordinal numbers.
3. At the end of the practice period, seat the class in a circle where
all can see and be seen. Have the students choose one of their ideas
to share with the class. While speaking to the rest of the class,
they are to smile and maintain good eye contact. Students are to practice
good "active listening." They are to sit still, refrain from talking,
look at the person who is sharing and refrain from negative remarks. |
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C. Practice-
1. If the class is sufficiently mature, you may add a layer of complexity
to the lesson. Have some people smile at the speakers, others maintain
a neutral expression and others look bored. Students are to observe
what happens during the sharing time. Students should focus on remembering
the things that make their classmates smile and on noticing those
students who practice good "active listening."
Periodically during the sharing time, ask students who finished sharing
to identify others who practiced good "active listening," and what
that person was doing that let you know that he or she was practicing
good "active listening." When all have had a chance to share, ask
for a few volunteers to identify a classmate and tell what made that
person smile.
2. Ask students how they felt when they were sharing and when they
were listening.
Did the listener's facial expression make any difference to the student
who was speaking? Did listeners notice anything concerning how they
affected the speakers? Can the class reach any conclusions? Does smiling
make a difference?
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D. Independent Practice-
1. Demonstrate technique of drawing on sandpaper with wax crayons
and instruct students to draw pictures of themselves smiling. Be sure
to show a sample. Students need to be aware that their drawings will
be mirror images when they are transferred to the banner. For this
reason, they should not write their names in crayon on the sandpaper.
Names need to be written in pencil or marker on the back of the sandpaper.
Do not write in crayon on the back, as it will melt during the transfer
process. If crayon is used on the back, you can still transfer the
drawing. However, you need to be sure to protect the iron with enough
paper to avoid getting melted crayon on the iron's sole plate.
2. You may require students to produce a sketch on a piece of plain
paper before beginning work on the sandpaper. This will help conserve
resources and can be a logical stopping point if you are going to
work on this lesson for several sessions. You can also work on developing
the concepts of planning and editing.
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E. Accommodations (Differentiated Instruction)-
Adequate safety measures and additional adult supervision are required
to complete the following step in class.
If help is available and time allows, pictures may be transferred
to the banner during class. To do this, cover the work surface with
a pad of newspapers topped with paper that does not have ink on it
before placing the unfinished banner on it. Students' artwork is then
placed face down on the banner one piece at a time and covered with
a clean sheet of paper that is large enough to keep the iron from
touching the banner. Place a hot, dry iron on top of the white paper
until the image is transferred. Take care when moving the iron not
to shift the artwork until transfer is completed. Allow it to cool
slightly before lifting paper. Change paper if it becomes soiled.
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F. Checking for understanding-
1. Teacher observation of student behaviors is the primary means
of assessment. Students are also assessed on completion of the art
project.
2. If developmentally appropriate, a writing activity may be created
to assess students' understanding of "active listening" skills and
why they are important. A cooperative activity where students have
to recall what each person said may also be done. Students are given
a class list with blanks on it and they work with others to fill in
something for each student.
3. Assessment and reinforcement of speaking and listening skills needs
to be done on a continuing basis throughout the year.
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G. Closure-
1. After students have finished their artwork, you may have students
share their pictures with the class before turning them in to be transferred
to the banner. If the banner has already been finished, students may
compare their sandpaper picture to its image on the banner.
2. Ask students to recall the beginning of the lesson when they were
sharing the things that made them smile with the rest of the class.
Select students or ask for volunteers to share what they remember.
Also, have students share the names of people they observed practicing
good "active listening" and why they selected that person. What did
that person do that showed good "active listening?"
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7. Evaluation-
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1.Watch students social interactions
2.Evaluate students facial expression recognition |
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