Thoughtful Choices: Literacy Instruction for Beginning Braille Readers Anna Swenson Braille Literacy Consultant Fairfax County Public Schools, VA

The Perfect Method “The answer [to teaching reading] is not in the method; it is in the teacher. It has been repeatedly established that the best instruction results when combinations of methods are orchestrated by a teacher who decides what to do in light of children’s needs. … Hence, reading instruction effectiveness lies not with a single program or method but, rather, with a teacher who thoughtfully and analytically integrates various programs, materials, and methods as the situation demands.” Duffy, G. & Hoffman, J. (1999)

Transitional stage between early literacy behaviors and full-fledged literacy instruction Children learning to … slow down and examine braille dots carefully track using efficient hand and finger movements read and write their name, letters, & numbers match sounds and letters read simple phrases and sentences with support New realities and caveats Today’s Focus

1.Overview of commercial programs and resources 2.Closer look at four instructional strategies Today’s Agenda

Curriculum Options

Commonalities Focus on teaching reading, not just the braille code Explicit instruction and modeling Word (& letter) study and connected text Contracted braille Emphasis on the alphabetic principle

Basal reader format Comprehensive High quality read-aloud anchors each lesson Appropriate for academically-oriented learners Curriculum introduces all 26 letters, 11 alphabetic wordsigns, 9 high frequency words, and the numbers Building on Patterns Pre-K (BOP Pre-K)

Field test opportunities for Building on Patterns Pre-K, Fall 2016 Subscribe to the APH News! Get convenient reminders every month when a new issue of the APH News is released. Create an to Leave the subject blank Type the word 'subscribe' (without any quote marks) in the body of the message. Send it.

Student-centered: Individualized and highly motivating Appropriate for wide range of non-traditional learners Whole word approach – Key words basis for instruction (letter ID, phonics, spelling, reading connected text) Initially, all materials are teacher-made Requires careful, consistent data collection & evaluation I-M-ABLE Practice Guide currently in field testing (APH) I-M-ABLE (Wormsley, 2011) Individualized Meaning-centered Approach to Braille Literacy Education

I-M-ABLE and the "Language of Touch" HCBRL 1

Focus - Foundational Literacy Skills: braille concepts; phonemic awareness & phonics; letter & word recognition; fluency Braille literacy learning can be interwoven with classroom language arts curriculum Contractions learned as they appear in reading materials Flexible balance between individualized & group instruction Three Steps to Beginning Braille from Beginning with Braille: Firsthand Experiences with a Balanced Approach to Literacy

The Three Steps

iBook Introducing Braille by Laurel J. Hudson, Ph.D. "Make it fun. Make it meaningful. Make it developmental." ADDITIONAL RESOURCES …

Tracking Stories

The Three Billy Goats Gruff HCBRL 2

Thinking Creatively … HCBRL 3

School Bus Story p. 1 HCBRL 4

School Bus Story p. 2

School Bus Story p. 3

School Bus Story p. 4

School Bus Story p. 5

School Bus Story p. 6

School Bus Story p. 7

Five Little Monkeys p. 1 HCBRL 5

Individualized Words … from the beginning

Rationale Concrete Motivating Ownership Types of words Key vocabulary words Alphabetic wordsigns (go, can, like) / HF words (and, we) Selecting words: the "Language of Touch" Starting with Words

Anchor Letters HCBRL 6

Dot Density HCBRL 7 Joshua,jo%ua Mr./Mrs. Nobody =====

Joshua's First 10 Step 1 Words *Joshua (go) *Mr. Nobody ===== (can) *Kara (you) *microphone *sing (like) a *Key word ( ) alphabetic wordsign

Word Study

Simple Worksheets HCBRL 8

Teacher-made Stories

Provide opportunities to read meaningful connected text from the beginning Teach voice-to-braille match Provide practice tracking multiple lines of meaningful text (across-back-down) Motivating! Teacher-made Stories

Voice-to-Braille Match p. 1 go Ana p. 2 go Ana go p. 3 go go Ana go go Andrew p. 4 go Ana go go go

Connected Text: Step 1 Story (UEB) I can get a microphone I can sing I can get Daddy Daddy can sing sing Daddy sing sing sing Joshua sing sing sing

Choose a topic of interest to the student Use a repetitive sentence structure; predictable text Omit capital letters (except for names) and ending punctuation at the very beginning Start each phrase or sentence on a new line Use occasional uncontrolled vocabulary words to add interest. Guidelines for Writing Stories

Connected Text: Step 2 Story (UEB) Mommy said, "I see 3 dogs. Andrea has a fat dog. Ryan has a little dog. Eric has a black dog. Help! I cannot have 3 dogs in my house."

Begin with oral discussion Scaffold reading support - Meaning is primary Provide multiple opportunities to reread for fluency Consider making the story into a book Teaching with Stories

Interactive Writing

Preschool Writing Development Cabell, S.Q., Tortorelli, L.S., & Gerde, H.K. (2013). How do I write …? Scaffolding preschoolers' early writing skills. The Reading Teacher, 66(8),

Matching Sounds and Letters P d r s w

Interactive Writing Teacher and student share the brailler Teacher models sound-symbol associations & scaffolds process for the student Resulting text has conventional spelling and punctuation Pete the Cat!

Interactive Writing Follow-up Creating pictures Journals

Invented Spelling HCBRL 9,I wgld m t? I wgld m t(th)