ERIC ED378084: Central Park: A Humanities Curriculum for Children with Learning Disabilities.

77 Pages·1994·3.1 MB·English

by  ERIC

DOCUMENT RESUME
SO 024 311
ED 378 084
AUTHOR
Wurtzel, Claire
TITLE
Central Park: A Humanities Curriculum for Children
with Learning Disabilities.
Churchill Center for Learning Disabilities, Inc., New
INSTITUTION
York, NY.
PUB DATE
[94]
NOTE
77p.
AVAILABLE FROM
Churchill School and Center for Learning
Disabilities, 22 East 95th Street, New York, NY
10128.
PUB TYPE
Teaching Guides (For
Classroom Use
Guides
Teacher) (052)
EDRS PRICE
MF01/PC04 Plus Postage.
DESCRIPTORS
*Curriculum Development; Elementary Education;
*Elementary School Students; Field Trips; *Humanities
Instruction; *Learning Activities; Learning
Disabilities; Maps; Park Design; *Parks
IDENTIFIERS
*Central Park NY; New York (New York)
ABSTRACT
This manual reflects the highlights of an urban park
study devtoped and tested over a 6-year period at the Churchill
School, an elementary school tor children with learning disabilities.
This book makes possible an integrated study that develops
understandings in natural science and the social studies along with
reading, writing, and language skills. It can be used as a core
curriculum for a time, or for supplemental activities throughout a
school year. Because it is based on experience, the park study makes
possible extensive and sophisticated learning without dependence on
written texts. The plan draws on the widest possible variety of modes
of learning and expression. In this study, learning can be a social
as well as an intellectual experience. Reliance on observation and
joint experience rather than print materials helps to develop group
cooperation and interdependence. The statement of main ideas for each
section provides a simple, usable intellectual organization. Building
on experience, children will gradually develop important
generalizations about change, adaptation, social patterns, and human
needs.
the book contains 7 chapters: (1) adopt a park;
(2) mapping
and orienting;
(3) parkworks or design;
(4) nature study;
(5) park
study or history;
(6) design; and (7) parks for people. A teacher
summary sums up some general principles of the park study and
suggests activities that can be used in any part of a study. It lists
academic skills, thinking skills, attitudes, and values. A
bibliography includes entries on biographies, ecology and
conservation, animals, birds, insects, plants, trees, water, and
winter.
(DK)
***********************************************************************
Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made
from the original document.
***********************************************************************
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onginating
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INSIMAltae.
PPM, of view or opinions stated in this docu-
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ment do not necessarily represent official
INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)
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This manual reflects the highlights of an Urban Park Study
developed and tested over a 6 year period at The Churchill School,
disabilities.
an elementary school for children with learning
\
I wish to thank all those who worked to develop this program.
_1 Thanks to the Central Park Task Force (Robert Finkelstein, Marie
Ruby, Rhoda Waller, and especially Geraldine Weinstein) who were my inspira-
tion and helped me to appreciate the limitless learning opportunities an urban
park has to offer. Also thanks to Sally Austin and Laurie Weisman from the
Central Park Conservancy, who continue to breathe life into our Park Study.
I am grateful to Mary Newmann, Churchill School Director;
Mary Reid, the writer; and to my assistant Debra Geller, for their hard work,
creative assistance and enthusiastic support.
Finally, this manual would not have been possible without the
help of the dedicated Churchill School students and teachers who brought
The Park Study into their classrooms. Thanks to Merilee Eckert, Debra Geller,
Marjorie Hoffman, Susan Jackson, Mardi Morrow, Elizabeth Sheehan, and
Buffy Smith for bringing their own unique styles and approaches to the program
meaningful education.
as well as their strong commitments to creative and
Claire Wurtzel
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Research has shown that effective learning occurs in a context
)
rather than in isolated skills exercises or textbook readings.
The urban park provides such a context, with some outstanding
advantages for study.
Parks provide a multitude of sensory experiences and the
opportunity for extended observation of the natural world.
The delight children take in the park provides a powerful
motivation for study. Identification with the park, a particular walk or section
of it, a tree or flower bed, makes a park study a personal undertaking.
This book makes possible an integrated study that develops
understandings in natural science and the social studies along with reading,
writing, and language skills. It can be used ag a core curriculum for a time,
or for supplemental activities throughout a school year.
Because it is based on experience, the park study makes possible
extensive and sophisticated learning without dependence on written texts.
The plan draws on the widest possible variety of modes of learn-
ing and expression.
In this study, learning can be a social as well as an intellectual
experience. Reliance on observation and joint experience rather than print
materials helps to develop group cooperation and interdependence.
The book helps teachers make a coherent, expanded study possible
while still allowing them to tailor it to the needs and interests of their students.
The statement of "main ideas" for each section provides a simple,
usable intellectual organization. Building on experience, children will gradually
develop important generalizations about change, adaptation, social patterns,
and human needs.
Becoming "experts" on a part of their world that most adults
know little about will boost children's self-esteem while it develops skills.
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Children learn through their
senses: by seeing things in
reality or in photographs; by
touching and feeling; by tasting
and smelling. Children learn by
)
doing. They organize their
/
/ I experiences into
a personal knowledge of the world by
actively recreating what they
have seen, heard, and felt;
by constructing things; by
painting and drawing; by telling
stories.
Children learn by asking their
own questions. Their sensory
experience and their manipulation
of materials provoke questions
and
confusions that lead to clarification
and an extension of knowledge.
Finding
the answers to their questions
is an intrinsically satisfying
process. It is
worthwhile to record and
use children's own questions as
a base for study.
All of this is true for children
with learning disabilities. They
need to observe and think
about the world around them
and they need
real-life experiences to strengthen
and clarify their thinking
processes.
Using absorbing, real-life subject
matter, children more
quickly develop
new vocabulary, concepts, and skills. As they
read about
familiar experiences, their
reading comprehension expands.
gelling and
writing stories about their
own trips builds expressive skills, and having
special knowledge of "their"
topic can be
a source of pride.
Yet most curriculum materials
for children with learning
disabilities are strictly skills-oriented.
One learning disabilities
specialist
says, "The expectation is that the child is 'on
hold' with regard to gathering
lmowledge while teachers
use remedial techniques to 'fix him up".'
The Churchill School's Central
Park Book is a unique effort
to create a curriculum for learning
disabled students that allows
for
specific skill development
by concentrating
on experience, observation,
and thinking. The park study
enables students to become
true "experts"
in a chosen subject; to become
more knowledgeable, to make general-
izations, and to practice
much-needed skills.
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