How ‘I Love Lucy’ is helping 4th graders learn math, language and empathy skills

"Oh no!" Daisi Cordova's fourth-grade class at Cathedral City Elementary School cries in disbelief.

Lucille Ball has just misplaced her bonus buck for a second time!

Cordova's class is piloting "Lucy Lessons," an education program intended to address learning loss and equity by using lesson plans baked into episodes of the iconic 1950s television series "I Love Lucy."

A curriculum based on “I Love Lucy” is a blast from the past at a time when Palm Springs Unified also is investing in the likes of e-sports and 4K digital media production.

Despite its age, the show provides novel opportunities for fourth graders to learn math, history and culture all at once.

The final episode of “I Love Lucy” aired decades before Cordova was born, and parts of the show seem alien to her 10-year-old students.

When Lucy and Ricky Ricardo hop in a taxi, Cordova pauses the video to explain what exactly is that mysterious vehicle with a checkerboard stripe on its side is and a strange little sign on its roof.

“A taxi — it’s like an Uber before there was Uber,” Cordova says.

The kids immediately understand. They don’t seem to mind that the show itself was shot on black and white film and set in a bygone era in New York City.

Although "I Love Lucy" is set in an analog generation, Cordova runs the lesson using state-of-the-art technology. She pauses video from her Bluetooth keyboard as she roams around the classroom to work one-on-one with students. Then, she calls the entire class together to solve basic algebraic equations on her classroom's large format LCD display — like a giant TV screen that she can write on.

Lucie Arnaz, daughter of "I Love Lucy" co-stars Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, says the show is relatable because its message is universal.

“It’s about wanting to be loved anyway in spite of our mistakes," she said.

Arnaz spoke to Cordova’s class ahead of their first “I Love Lucy” lesson.

Currently, the district is piloting 12 modules of “Lucy Lessons” for fourth graders at eight elementary schools. Each module takes about 45 minutes to one hour to complete.

This spring, students will complete three modules. Next year, they will complete all 12.

Before the show began, one student asked Arnaz, “What would you do if your parents were still alive?”

“I’d hug them so hard I’d pop them in half,” Arnaz said. “And I’d thank them.”

In a way, her parents live on through the show. Their chemistry exudes from the projector and fills the classroom with joy.

But who knew their silly on-screen antics would also fill the room with a palpable excitement to learn?

"There's definitely higher engagement than normal" Cordova said. "Lucy did that for me."

Cordova and "Lucy Lessons" coordinator Bonnie Kole pause the episode at predetermined scenes to ask questions to students about the plot, the characters and their dilemmas.

For every bit of physical humor that has the kids busting up laughing — Lucy runs into a wall, she rolls around in a laundry stuff sack, she pouts at Ricky over the silliest thing — “I Love Lucy” provides a teachable moment about algebra, time management and interpersonal skills.

Students who are normally disinterested in math are frantically scribbling numbers on dry erase whiteboards.

If the bonus buck is worth $300, but Lucy had to spend $29 on a taxi and $50 on cleaning services to retrieve her prize, how much money will she end up with?

In small groups, they even ponder ethics.

If Lucy found the bonus buck and mistakenly gave it to Ethel, who should the bill belong to?

The students reconvene as a class to discuss their answers before the show resumes.

Kole, an educator from New Jersey, said she first used “I Love Lucy” in front of her fifth-grade classroom in the mid-1990s.

“The show engages children who are hard to reach by getting them with the humor,” she said.

For years, Kole sporadically taught lessons based on “I Love Lucy” episodes. Now an educational consultant, she’s in the process of formalizing a robust curriculum woven around the show.

Currently, Kole is piloting the program at schools in Ball's hometown of Jamestown, New York, and at Palm Springs Unified. Arnaz is a Coachella Valley resident.

At Palm Springs Unified, 27 teachers were trained to use "Lucy Lessons” this spring.

If the pilot program is successful, more complex lessons could be developed for fifth graders starting next year. The district still is developing metrics to measure the success of "Lucy Lessons." However, Trustee Sergio Espericueta, who attended Cordova's first lesson, is impressed with what he has seen so far.

"It was wonderful to see students learn in a new way and collaborate with each other," he said.

Kole began to intensely develop her revamped "Lucy Lessons" curriculum during the pandemic, which happened to be a time when Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz recaptured the American imagination.

A documentary about them, "Lucy and Desi," was released earlier this year, and a feature film, "Being the Ricardos," is up for three Academy Awards nominations on Sunday.

Arnaz said her parents’ resurgence in the public eye coincided with the pandemic because their show continues to make viewers feel good — even young viewers who maybe have never seen a taxi or been to New York.

Unconsciously, she said, the show helps us build social bonds— through laughter and through what she calls "rich teachable moments and friendship."

Consciously, she said, it makes students laugh, and the situational comedy is a guise to get youngsters interested in math and language.

Next year, Cordova might train other teachers on the curriculum. She hopes her future "Lucy Lessons" will introduce students to more advanced concepts of multiculturalism, language learning and social-emotional learning.

Whatever the academic message, Arnaz said the show is healthy because it is funny and kind.

"It's about understanding love."

Jonathan Horwitz covers education for The Desert Sun. Reach him at jonathan.horwitz@desertsun.com or @Writes_Jonathan.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: I Love Lucy TV show curriculum helps 4th graders learn math, language