Fran’s Arts Education Philosophy at a Glance

Over the past two decades, Fran Sillau has worked as a teaching artist reaching over two million students in twenty-five states and Washington, D.C. He has been the recipient of The Access Grant from The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Sillau served as a Teaching Artist Fellow for VSA, an affiliate of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Currently, he conducts arts theater residencies in self-contained special education classrooms as well as  professional development for educators. Within his teaching practice, he utilizes Universal Design For Learning (UDL), an educational framework that enables students with different abilities to play and learn together.

From Fran…

“As someone who lives everyday with a physical disability, I know the feeling of being different. My number one goal as a teacher is to cultivate where every child can see that they can showcase their talents, achieve anything they wish, and find belonging within the classroom community.

I create this environment by developing lesson plans that have multiple entry points for student interaction and engagement. Every lesson creates multiple opportunities for students to express what they have learned, represent what they know, and engage in their learning. If these principals are utilized, I find a student is more actively engaged.“

Examples of his lesson plans are below

Below are examples of programs for specific groups of students:

 Lesson Plan 1 – Exploring Your Abilities (5 Day)

 Lesson Plan 2 – Exploring Your Abilities (1 Day)

 Lesson Plan 3 – Anansi the Spider

 Lesson Plan 4 – Staff Development: Theatre in the Classroom

Handouts from past Teacher Professional Development

 Tico and the Golden Wings

 TICO in Spanish

 UDL With Tico Activities

 Loesl Communication Art Board

 Bibliography