Summer Reading (Maintain Braille Reading Skills)
By: Carmen Willings
teachingvisuallyimpaired.com As another school year comes to an end and the summer quickly approaches, you may wonder how to help your child maintain their braille reading skills. There are ways you can help your child maintain and build on their existing skills even if you are not proficient in the braille code! Look at the summer as a great time to build a child's reading skills, love of reading, and love of books! |
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Environmental BrailleStudents who are blind don't have the same opportunities to observe environmental print. You will need to make sure to point out braille as you visit restaurants, hotels, museums, etc. Point out the common locations braille can be found and also be sure to request braille menus although not all restaurants will have them. If you haven't already provided braille labels throughout your home, now is a great time to encourage your child to read by placing labels in throughout your home. You can request assistance from your child's Teacher of Students with Visual Impairments (TVI), or you can purchase a braille labeler to create your own labels. Label your child's CD or DVD collections. Create a phone book of friends names and phone numbers to keep in touch with over the summer. Summer can also be a good time to go through your child's clothes to see which clothes they've outgrown and be sure to attach braille labels to the current clothes.
Make Time to Read DailyIt is important for all students to maintain their reading skills during the summer, but it is especially important for braille learners to keep up their reading skills during long breaks from school. Although you can't simply pop into the local bookstore or into the local library, with some planning, you can still ensure your student has books to read. Sign your child up to receive books from the National Library for the Blind. It is a free service and you can request specific books or you can request books of a particular genre. Although there may be books that you want to expose your child to, not all of the books you would choose will motivate your child to read. Tap into their particular area(s) of interest. Also, if you haven't done so already, sign your child up for the Imagination Library through the American Printing House for the Blind and your child will receive a print, braille or audio book! You can also browse Seedlings collection of over 1200 books available in braille or visit the Braille Bookstore.
Build Your App Book LibraryWith Bookshare, Reading Ally, or Bard, your child can have access to thousands of books for their listening pleasure! Share the listening experience with your child and be sure to talk about the books and encourage your child to reflect on the stories and answer questions about the story. These books are available in braille format, but you must have access to a braille embosser or a refreshable braille display to access the braille.
Summer PostcardsAs your family goes on trips and vacations, be sure to bring along your child's slate and stylus! The slate and stylus is much more portable than a braille writer and will encourage your child to practice their writing skills. Keep in mind that writing with a slate and stylus is very different from using the braillewriter. Not all students will have the skills to produce legible braille, but any writing efforts should be encouraged. Most postcards are a perfect weight for writing braille as they are made of medium to heavy cardstock (Just don't choose a postcard that is too thick, making it be too difficult to braille on.) If the recipient does not read braille, be sure to provide both print and braille on the postcard.
Play Games!Not only will playing cards help the students develop a leisure activity and build social skills, but it will help them practice their braille skills as well! There are a number of commercially available games. The most widely available card games include UNO and a standard deck of cards. Many games can be adapted - some more easily than others. It may take a little creativity with a braille labeler, puffy paint, or textures, but you can adapt many commercially available games on your own!
Learn Braille If you haven't already done so, challenge yourself this summer to learn just enough braille to be able to help your child...or learn the whole braille code! It really is not as difficult as many people think and if viewed as a puzzle is really a lot of fun! Remember - it is OK for you to read the braille visually!
Just Enough to Know Better by Eileen Curran is a good starting place and even include braille flashcards to allow you to quiz yourself. You could also ask your child's TVI if you can borrow Quick Pick from APH over the summer! I'm sure your TVI would support any of your efforts to learn the braille code!
Better yet, encourage the whole family to learn the braille code! Siblings can get involved by going to the American Foundation for the Blind's Braille Bug site. Here they will learn more about braille and be able to solve games and puzzles with their new found skill!
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TVI’s Guide to Teaching the ECC: An Activities Based Curriculum for Teaching Students who are Blind or Visually Impaired The TVI’s Guide to Teaching the ECC is a digital pdf available for download. It is designed specifically for fellow itinerant Teachers of Students with Visual Impairments (TVI’s), and 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. 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. In addition to the book, the following two supplements are included: ·      TVI’s Guide to the ECC Concept Checklist ·      TVI’s Guide to the ECC Activities Checklist For complete product details and additional images, visit the TVI's Guide product page. TVI's Guide to the ECC Product details ·      Digital pdf download: 346 pages (11 pt font) ·      Publisher: Teaching Students with Visual Impairments ·      Author: Carmen Willings ·      Language: English Visual Efficiency & Near Magnifier Fluency Worksheets: TVI's Guide to the ECC Grab and Go Supplements The Near Magnifier Fluency Worksheets is a Grab and Go supplement to the TVI's Guide to Teaching the ECC. 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 companion 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.  For complete product details and additional images, visit the Visual Efficiency & Near Magnifier Product Page. Visual Efficiency & Near Magnifier Fluency Worksheet Details: ·      Digital pdf download: 210 pages ·      Publisher: Teaching Students with Visual Impairments ·      Author: Carmen Willings ·      Language: English Thematic Keyboarding & Braille Fluency and Maintenance Worksheets: A TVI’s Guide to Teaching the ECC Grab & go Supplement The Thematic Keyboarding & Braille Fluency and Maintenance Grab and Go ECC worksheet packet is a print on demand workbook that contains worksheets in print and simulated braille to use for data collection. Present the student with a hard braille copy and use the worksheets to document accuracy and fluency in reading braille. As a companion to the TVI’s Guide to the ECC, the worksheets correspond to the ECC Thematic activities presented in the curriculum guide. These word lists and sentences will help the student refine their keyboarding or braille reading skills while bridging ECC concepts presented in the thematic units. Although the lists and passages can be produced using a manual braillewriter, you may also copy and paste the passages into any braille translation software for quick production on an embosser. They may also be entered into a typing program such as APH’s Talking Typer to build keyboarding fluency. For complete product details and additional images, visit the Thematic Keyboarding & Braille Fluency & Maintenance Product Page Thematic Keyboarding & Braille Fluency Worksheet Details: ·      Digital pdf download: 338-page print and simulated braille worksheets ·      Publisher: Teaching Students with Visual Impairments ·      Author: Carmen Willings ·      Language: English Thematic Vocabulary Cards and Checklists: Grab & Go ECC Supplement The Thematic Vocabulary Cards and Checklists Grab and Go ECC supplement is a 446 page pdf downloadable print on demand workbook that includes 2940 vocabulary card on 3 1/2" x 2" templates divided by each of the 32 Thematic Units along with a checklist of each unit words in print and simulated braille. As a companion to the TVI's Guide to the ECC, the vocabulary cards correspond to the ECC Thematic activities presented in the curriculum guide. Additional Use: Teachers of Students with Visual Impairments can have a extremely varied caseloads. It is possible to go several years without having a student on your caseload who requires braille instruction. Like other skills, if you do not practice your braille regularly, it is easy to lose those skills. Use these checklists and cards to maintain your braille skills. Fold the checklist along the line dividing the print from the braille. Choose to either read the print and produce the word in braille using a braillewriter or read the simulated braille and decode it. Finally, these vocabulary cards and checklists may be used with family members or peers who are interested in learning and practicing the braille code. For complete product details and additional images, visit the Thematic Vocabulary Cards & Checklists Product Page Thematic Vocabulary Cards and Checklists Details: ·      Digital pdf download: 446-page print on demand resource ·      Publisher: Teaching Students with Visual Impairments ·      Author: Carmen Willings ·      Language: English BONUS! Lotto Cards The LOTTO Cards Grab and Go Supplement includes 37 theme related unit cards along with activity suggestions that support activities within the TVI's Guide to Teaching the ECC. On My Way File Folder Cards Print and use these cards to represent locations the student may visit that are related to the current thematic unit. Use these with the On My Way File Folder Game outlined in the TVI's Guide to Teaching the ECC p. 27. NEW! Access to TVI's Guide Bonus Membership Pages Note: All products are digital pdf downloads. 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. If you encounter any difficulty, please let me know and I can assist you. |
