Teaching with Thematic Units
teachingvisuallyimpaired.com
Teaching in thematic units can help a student make connections between and among the topics of instruction that are discussed. Units expand vocabulary, concepts, and skills beyond those which can be experienced incidentally in daily routines or in isolation. The selection of themes should be based on what is happening in the lives of the students and what information will be concrete and meaningful to them. Design units based on student interest, community events, and things that are naturally occurring in the student’s environment. Units should have relevance for the student and the area in which you live. The units should respect and embrace cultural and family differences and traditions. While the goal is to provide a rich array of common experiences, take advantages of special opportunities. Such experiences will be a valuable enrichment to your student’s life and yours.
With each unit, consider how real activities, objects, places, and people can be incorporated. Make learning experiences as concrete, interactive, and multi-sensory as possible. Do this by using real things, when possible, so the students can use all of their other senses to supplement their loss of vision. When presenting objects to the student, be sure to provide plenty of time and physical guidance to gently explore the object. It is important to provide this guided exploration of real materials, particularly if the student has not had direct contact and interaction with the real item (Do not assume that a student has had experiences even with what you think may be common objects). Once the student has had an opportunity to have a real-life experience with the object, it is acceptable to provide a scale model of the object in order for the student to get an idea of its spatial arrangement and to feel it as a whole. This thoughtful planning will make the learning experiences more relevant and meaningful to the students.
Sometimes it will be necessary to teach units that do not lend themselves well to hands-on experiences in the natural environment. These units are necessary in order to help students understand content standards developed by the state. Such topics include outer space, foreign countries, etc. When introducing topics that are unavailable or inaccessible to touch (for example the galaxy or foreign countries), it is acceptable to use a scale model of the object(s).
All students will benefit when the focus of instruction is to build concepts through direct experience and interaction with the environment. Incidental learning is not effective with students with multiple disabilities. Some concepts may be fragmented, as touch and sound may provide only partial understanding without guided exploration and verbal explanations. Use of real objects and experiences during instruction increases tactile, auditory, and visual comprehension for students.
Be sure to plan lessons that challenge each student. Each student must participate at a level they can. Facilitate and guide learning to provide a supportive “scaffold” that enables each child to move to the next level of independent functioning. Learning activities should be developed to accommodate differences in ability and interest. Incorporate task analysis, backward chaining, modeling, motoring, demonstration, use of routines, reinforcement. In order to keep in mind what each student is working on – create charts that display items from each student’s IEP and hang on the wall or cabinet if you have a classroom(remember to not identify the student, but instead use color, shape or another type of code).
TVI's Guide to Teaching the ECC: An Activities Based Curriculum for Teaching Students who are Blind or Visually Impaired
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.
