Development of ECC Resources

by Carmen Willings
February 20, 2020
www.teachingvisuallyimpaired.com

I entered the field of visual impairments in 1999, and although I started out teaching in an inclusive preschool classroom on the campus of the Governor Morehead School for the Blind in Raleigh, North Carolina, the majority of my time in the vision field has been spent serving students (infants and toddlers through high school) as an itinerant teacher. Over the years, I (like many other TVI's) have worked with students who have had a wide range of unique visual and learning needs.

My caseload has included:

students who are blind and autistic
students with low vision who need instruction in low vision devices
students with CVI
students in advanced placement classes but needed support with fragmented concepts, independent living skills, and self determination
print readers learning braille and touch typing
students with severe and profound disabilities

The wide diversity of needs on a typical itinerant caseload can make planning for instruction particularly complex. Additionally, working with so many different teams can present challenges, but can also make the job rewarding as I have ongoing opportunities to learn from experts in other areas (e.g. classroom teachers, speech and language pathologists, occupational therapists, physical therapists, deaf and hard of hearing teachers, etc.). It is for these reasons that I say these resources were developed specifically for itinerant teachers who are on the go and teach students with a wide variety of needs. With that said, these are the activities that I used in a classroom setting as well and are entirely appropriate for classroom instruction.

My goal in creating these resources was to organize these activities I had used over the years for easy reference, both for my own use and to share them with fellow TVI's. It is for that reason that I created the TVI's Guide to Teaching the ECC along with companion workbooks to support activities outlined in the activities. I compiled and adapted many activities from VI resource books as well as books and resources from whole language and phonics & phonemic instruction courses. Additionally I adapted activities that I've picked up from general education resource books, preschool education resource, and activities used by therapists I have worked with.

TVI's Guide to Teaching the ECC: An Activities Based Curriculum for Teaching Students who are Blind or Visually Impaired

$50.00

Written specifically for fellow itinerant Teachers of Students with Visual Impairments (TVI’s), this book consists of over 400 activities and topic areas of discussion for instructing students in the Expanded Core Curriculum. The activities are age-neutral and multi-sensory and therefore can meet the needs of the broad range of students served on an itinerant caseload serving. The activities can be individualized to the students various learning modalities and scaffold in order to challenge students but ensure success. Select those activities that align with the student’s learning objects based on the student’s unique visual needs and academic and developmental level.

The core activities listed in the Activity section can be adapted to each thematic unit. These include:

Object Characteristic Activities
Quantity & Number Concepts
Time Concept Activities
Environment & Job Awareness Activities
Listening Skills Activities
Reading Foundation Activities
Reading Fluency Activities
Braille Basics Activities
Writing Activities
Tactual Efficiency Activities
Developing Skillful Hands Activities
Visual Efficiency Activities
Optical Device Instruction Activities
Recipe Activities

In addition to the core activity areas, each of the 32 Thematic Units incorporates additional unique ECC concepts and skills providing you with a years’ worth of activities. These units are cyclical and can be used repeatedly to help students build on prior knowledge and develop a deeper understanding of concepts. Each unit includes suggestions for activity adaptation associated with the unit. These include lists of objects, possible community based experiences, environmental print, poems, children & young reader books, children's songs, pop culture songs, movies, and websites.

Unique Concepts within the Units include:

Self Advocacy Activities (e.g. advocating for safe classroom, presenting to class on visual impairment, requesting help and more)
Social Skills Activities (e.g. Being bullied or teased, giving and receiving compliments, body language, "I" messages when upset and more)
Recreation & Leisure Activities (e.g. exploring interest areas, getting involved in clubs and sports, playing games, and more)
O&M Support Activities (e.g. Suggestions for community based experiences, dog guide information, locations in the school, bioptics, ride sharing, traffic signs, and more)
Independent Living Skill Activities (e.g. chores, being responsible, using tools, recipe suggestions, hygiene, staying healthy, labeling foods and products, and more)
Sensory Efficiency Activities (e.g. unique sensory experiences related to the unit, unique optical device activities, and more)
Compensatory Activities (e.g. organizing materials, study habits, and many unique concepts related to the unit)
Career & Vocational Activities (e.g. job awareness, completing applications, job task suggestions, and more)

Although the intended audience of this resource is fellow Teachers of Students with Visual Impairments, special education teachers may find these activities beneficial to the students in their classrooms as the activities are multisensory and include life skills and concepts needed by all students. This resource, however, is not intended to take the place of a Teacher of Students with Visual Impairments (TVI). Readers are advised to consult their own TVI’s regarding instruction in the ECC and the unique visual needs of the student’s served in their programs.

Note: This curriculum is a digital pdf download. Once you make your purchase you will be directed to an order confirmation page where you will find the download link. This download will also be included on the receipt sent to the email address you provide. The pdf download can be found directly under the order number.

Each download is intended for single instructor use per copyright. Thank you for helping me preserve the content and not distributing copies to third parties.

Product details

Digital pdf download: 364 pages (11 pt font)

Publisher: Teaching Students with Visual Impairments

Author: Carmen Willings

Language: English

*Please contact me if you need to purchase using a purchase order. I am happy to help guide you in the process of adding Teaching Students with Visual Impairments as an approved vendor for your school or program or you can visit the product support page for information on using a PO.

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The mission of Teaching Students with Visual Impairments is to provide all persons involved in education students who are blind or visually impaired with the necessary resources to help each student become successful members of their communities and to equip those in the visual impairment field with resources to meet the wide range of needs of the students they serve.

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