TRANSITIONS BETWEEN ACTIVITIES

By: Carmen Willings
teachingvisuallyimpaired.com
Updated November 4, 2017
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​Transitions between activities within the daily schedule can be a stress producing time for students with visual impairments as they are leaving the familiar and moving to the unfamiliar, whether it is a different setting/area or the materials are changing. 

Provide the student with verbal prompts in a calm voice and at the student’s level to prepare them for transitions. Keep in mind that students with visual impairments tend to be more resistant to change in general than their sighted peers. Change means going from the known to the unknown when you don’t have the advantage of seeing the signals that prepare you for what will happen next.

Prepare the student prior to the transition to help him get used to the idea, even if he doesn’t like it.  Try to actively involve him in the process so that he feels that he has more control over the situation. It can also be helpful to incorporate transition songs (either sung or on a CD), clean up time songs, hello and good-bye songs, and provide reminders that an activity is about to end. 

Moving Safely

​As the student explores, describe everything with variety, quality, and richness. Be sure to avoid over-protection.  Remember that all children get bumps and scrapes occasionally. Safety is important, but over-protection can be just as detrimental to a student as under-protection. Also keep in mind that students need to learn natural consequences. Allow students to run into corners, walls and furniture, but be sure to soften the blow by placing your hand or body in between them and anything that could hurt them. You do not want the student to get hurt, but they do need to learn there are natural consequences for not trailing, using proper protection techniques or proper cane skills. Remember to NEVER let a student get hurt and be particularly careful on stairs and bleachers.

Learning Opportunities Through Transition

​Incorporate speaking and listening skills into the transitions by listening for, identifying, and imitating sounds in the environment. Take advantage of transitions and down times (like waiting to use the restroom or waiting for all students to enter or be ready for instruction) to work on following directions, and to play word games, puzzles, riddles (if I say up, you say ___) and to incorporate concepts such as like/different, in/out, up/down, over, wide/narrow, depth, thick/thin, hard/soft, front/back, numbers and shapes. Transitions are also a good time to work on following one step and multi-step directions.

Students’ needs and abilities will generally vary greatly within your classroom. It is important to provide a wide range of learning opportunities that are scaffold and multi-leveled for the population you serve. Think about the individual needs of each student when considering adaptations and the depth and level of instruction. Many of the adaptations that are beneficial and needed for the visually impaired student will also provide concrete experiences for the other students in your classroom. Also, using real materials is a way to make instruction more age appropriate for older students.

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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.

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