PHOTOCOPYING & MAKING ENLARGED COPIES

By: Carmen Willings
teachingvisuallyimpaired.com
revised September 4, 2018

It is common for teachers out of good intention to automatically enlarge all printed materials presented to the student with a visual impairment  and in the process, they may over-enlarged materials. Keep in mind that the goal is to provide the least amount of magnification for the student to access information. For accessing reading materials, it is ideal for the student to use low vision devices to view printed materials. This empowers the student to make their own adaptations and allows the student to access ALL printed materials, and not just those that have been enlarged. Math worksheets and maps that need labeling can present more challenges for students and these worksheets frequently need to be enlarged to provide the student with enough space to write and allow the student to see the details. 

It can be a challenge to make quality copies and enlargements on the copier. Copying print, maps and charts on a copy machine can frequently create fuzzy and hard to read/discriminate copies. Additionally, the information can't always fit on one page. The following tips can help you produce quality copies that are legible and also make enlarged copies that fit on one page.
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Tips for Making Quality Copies

When you need to copy maps, charts and diagrams, it is critical to have good contrast. If colored materials turn to shades of gray, it can be difficult if not impossible to distinguish the different areas and sections.  

Tips for Making Good Quality Photocopies or Scans

• Make sure the copier’s glass surface is clean
• If possible, use a copier with fresh toner (This may be a challenge in some schools!)
• Apply pressure to the book’s spine to reduce center margin problem.
• If possible, select the copier’s photo setting for best detail.
• If the item to be copied is small, place a white sheet of paper behind the item to avoid using excess ink or getting gray or black shadows on copies.
• When copying pages from a book, insert a piece of blank white paper between the pages. Make sure it is placed straight up and down, parallel to the edge of the book’s cover.
• Adjust the paper so it lines up with the 8 ½ x 11” mark to ensure the paper is at the edge of where the copier will copy. The goal is for the copier to see the blank paper instead of the open space below the book cover’s edge. This will prevent the black border from showing up ont the edges. 

Tips for Making Enlarged Copies

​It is ideal to obtain a copy of the worksheets and handouts in a word document as you can easily adjust the font size, but in many cases, these sheets are not available on the computer. When you must enlarge using a copier, be sure the copier provides sharp, clean copies. I have found the following steps to be helpful when creating enlarged copies. Your copier may be different, so modify accordingly.

1. Obtain 11x17 paper. (This will allow the enlarged copy to fit on one page.)
2. Open the side of the copier to manually load the paper.
3. Place paper on the tray.
4. Place the original paper horizontally and face down on the copy bed.
5. Select "Reduce/Enlarge"
6. Select "bypass" for paper size
7. Enter 135% (you can select "number keys" to manually enter or use up/down arrows
8. Press "OK"
9. Check to ensure the page copied correctly.
10. Be kind and reset the copier for the next user! 

How to Make Enlarged Copies Picture Tutorial

Visit the Printables page to download and print this free step by step pictorial directions for creating enlarged copies on a copier. Post a copy by copiers for quick reference to making quality enlargements.

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    Photocopy enlarging should depend on the abilities, ages, and preferences of students. Large print should be the last choice when enlargement is effective, since it restricts the reader to only enlarged texts and takes time and money to produce. 
-Low Vision: A Resource Guide with Adaptations for Students with Visual Impairments. TSBVI.p.91

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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

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Visual Efficiency & Magnifier Fluency Grab & Go ECC Supplements

$20.00

This workbook is a pdf download that can be printed on demand for use with students. It contains five different types of worksheets for developing visual motor skills and near magnifier fluency skills particularly with the use of a video magnifier. As a supplement to the TVI’s Guide to the ECC, the worksheets correspond to each of the 32 ECC Thematic units. The worksheets, along with a list of environmental print for each thematic unit, are designed to help students refine their visual motor skills while reinforcing ECC concepts presented in the thematic units.  

Visual Efficiency & Near Magnifier Fluency Worksheet Details:

Digital pdf download: 210 pages

Publisher: Teaching Students with Visual Impairments

Author: Carmen Willings

Language: English

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