Stained Glass Window Project for Special Needs

I teach a few classes with multiple complex students, who are all blind or visually paired but have other disabilities as well. We work on similar concepts on a level that matches their cognitive level. Some times I'm working with high schoolers who are on toddler or a pre-school level curriculum.

We started the year learning about media. I shake up a box and ask what kind of drawing medium they think I have. They guess and run their fingers through the crayons, markers or colored pencils to get a second clue or see if their guess was right. We experiment with each one, drawing shapes mostly.

Circles were a focus one week. We exercised to songs about circles by making big arm circles or spinning around. I had a scavenger hunt with circle objects and they drew chalk circles on the side walk, They uded all the drawing media in the class to trace circles. They stamped with dot makers. We sang "The Wheels on the Truck go round and round" before reading  a book about trucks (with push buttons that made sounds). 

The next week we did similar activities to learn about squaresAnd finally we incorporated what we had learned about mixed media, circles, and squares to create stain glass windows. I taught them the basic history of stain glass windows and let them touch a real one. Then they drew with window crayons on our classroom window, make crayon rubbings of a (circle) rose window image  that I outlined with hot glue to make it tactile. 

Finally we moved onto our square shape window mixed media style.

Students chose colors of tissue paper to tear into strips and shapes.

Then they painted their CD case with watered down Elmers that I mixed in the Mod Podge container. (The actual Mod Podge had dried into a solid so the glue mixture just sat on top.) 

Students layered tissue and more glue to complete the decoupage on both sides of the case. Once the jewel cases were closed, students drew with black paint pens or sharpie markers on the outside to create shapes to go with the colors. (Mostly circles and colors). Repetition of concepts is crucial when working with students who have special needs. They need a variety of activities that build on the last ones.