“Express yourself and you’ll impress yourself,” says Bruce Blitz, cartoonist/illustrator/author and creator & host of the 4x Emmy-Nominated PBS Television Series “Cartooning with Blitz.” “Cartooning strikes a universal chord in children and adults,” says Blitz. Your students will love seeing a fun and easy way of changing a blank piece of paper into a wacky lion, action pose, and expressive faces that laugh, cry, look suspicious, and other zany expressions that bring your characters to life!

Most people assume that great artists are lucky because they were born with talent. Blitz says, “don’t believe it.” While it’s true that some people may have been born with a little more ability than others, anyone with a pencil, piece of paper, and a desire can learn to draw. It all adds up to the fact that art is a terrific way to express yourself! Once you see that you, too, can draw, it becomes a great way to build self esteem.

During this interactive videoconference event, Blitz will talk about his experiences as a cartoonist, lead students through drawing exercises and do interactive cartooning demonstrations. This is sure to be a highly engaging and entertaining hour and fifteen minutes!

Program Outline:

• Welcome and Site Introductions (10 Minutes)
  Each site will have 30 seconds to introduce their school. Introductions should be creative and should include: the school’s name, where the school is located, class information and interesting fact about your school or community.
• Presentation by Bruce Blitz (35 Minutes)
  Cartoonist Bruce Blitz will guide students through  interactive cartooning demonstrations and drawing exercises

• Question and Answer Session (15 Minutes)
  During this time, we will call on sites in alphabetical order to ask a question. Each site will have an opportunity to ask one question, and then we will move onto the next site. If time permits, we will repeat the cycle. Students should prepare questions ahead of time and should be at the microphone, ready to ask their question, prior to the moderator calling on your site.

• Closing Remarks

Pre-Videoconference Activities:

• Gather Materials: Each participating student in this videoconference event must have a pencil and a piece of paper. Blitz will lead students through a few drawing exercises along with his interactive demonstrations.

• Brainstorm Questions: Have students come up with questions for Blitz about his background, education, career, etc. As a class, choose the top 5 questions. Make sure students are prepared to ask these questions as part of the videoconference event. Each school will have a chance to ask at least 1 question - - but by preparing 5, we can make sure that questions aren't repeated.

Post-Videoconference Activities:

Reflect: Have students write a written reflection about the program or conduct a classroom dialogue with students. Some questions to consider: Did they learn anything that surprised them? Which activity did they like best and why? How can they apply what they learned today?

National Educational Standards:

Participation in this program satisfies the following content standards, as outlined by the National Standards for Arts Education:

• Understanding and applying media, techniques, and processes
• Reflecting upon and assessing the characteristics and merits of their work and the work of others