Every faculty yr, I educate a unit referred to as “Talents Consciousness”. Making college students conscious of one another’s totally different skills helps us turn into higher residents and results in a extra optimistic and inclusive faculty local weather. This consciousness results in empathy and a deeper understanding of our friends’ particular person studying wants leading to a way of belonging, group, and worth in our college group. This unit can also be a possibility to deal with misconceptions surrounding totally different disabilities. Within the phrases of Winston Churchill, “Variety is the one true factor all of us have in widespread. Rejoice it on daily basis.”
Sight Studying Braille
This yr, I wished to introduce my college students to the fundamentals of the Braille alphabet. First, my scholar trainer, Tyler Villez, and I gave the scholar’s background data on Louis Braille and the way he invented a type of written language for individuals with imaginative and prescient impairments, referred to as Braille. We defined to them that Braille was a written language by which characters are represented by patterns of raised dots felt with the fingers. Our college students realized that Braille, in addition to enlarged print and audio, was how vision-impaired college students accessed tutorial supplies in class.
We first taught our college students the way to learn the Braille alphabet by sight via a enjoyable Braille scavenger hunt sport. The “Health Braille Alphabet” posters I used within the sport will be discovered right here. https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Braille-Alphabet-Health-9261345. We positioned all 26 Braille alphabet posters on cones and scattered them across the health club.
We then gave college students index playing cards with phrases, written in Braille. The scholars needed to race across the health club attempting to determine every Braille letter within the phrase, by referencing the Braille Alphabet Health posters. As soon as they discovered an identical letter, they might do the train on the poster that corresponded to that letter. For instance, in the event that they found out that the primary letter of their phrase was an L then they must do 5 lunges earlier than shifting on. Once they discovered all of the letters to the phrase and did all of the workouts, they needed to race to me and inform me the phrase the letters spelled (every phrase was a reputation of a vegetable). In the event that they have been appropriate, they might get one other phrase. Companions with essentially the most accomplished phrases “received” the sport however the true victory was the scholars experiencing a special solution to learn utilizing Braille. College students realized that having a visible impairment didn’t imply they may not learn, they simply did it another way. Similar to the phrase ‘incapacity’ doesn’t imply incapacity. My intention for this exercise was to not educate the complete braille code however somewhat to boost consciousness at an introductory stage.
Writing in Braille
One other sport we performed centered on introducing the scholars to jot down in Braille. The scholars used this clean alphabet template, with the above Braille Alphabet Health playing cards, and raced across the room attempting to find and fill in every cell within the alphabet. As soon as they discovered the following letter within the alphabet, they needed to carry out the train on the poster earlier than shifting on to the following letter. This was an incredible evaluation instrument and college students received to take it house with them.
Many college students reported to me that they used their accomplished Braille alphabet key to jot down letters to their buddies. They liked utilizing it as a result of their siblings and oldsters could not learn the letters since they weren’t acquainted with the Braille alphabet!
Studying Braille by Really feel
My favourite sport was when my scholar trainer and I reduce egg cartons in half and used them as clean cells to create letters in Braille.
We used ping pong balls because the embossed Braille dots. One associate would race right down to the appropriate aspect of the health club and create a letter in Braille utilizing the egg carton and ping pong balls. They’ll select any letter they need. Their associate can be doing the identical factor on the other aspect of the health club. As soon as they each completed creating their letter with ping pong balls, they need to each cowl the egg carton with a yoga mat so their associate cannot see it. They might then race and change sides with one another, slide their fingers below the yoga mat, and by feeling the ping pong balls, determine what letter it was. (Depart a key subsequent to the egg carton for the scholars to make use of as a reference). Once they suppose they’ve found out which letter it’s, they each have to satisfy in the course of the health club. Every associate will take turns guessing their letter. If they’re appropriate, they get to do 3 sit-ups to have a good time. If they’re incorrect, give your associate a high-five and inform them “Good attempt!” Then their associate will guess. When they’re completed, they will play once more.
We additionally performed website phrase relay races. Groups of two can be given a 4-5 letter phrase. The purpose was for the scholars to create every letter of the phrase in Braille utilizing egg cartons and ping pong balls. On ‘go’, they need to scooter right down to the opposite aspect of the health club and create the primary letter of the phrase, then scooter again. Subsequent, their associate would scooter down and make the twond letter within the phrase and scooter again. They might proceed this sample till they accomplished the complete phrase. As soon as every workforce completed their phrase, they needed to do workforce synchronized sit-ups till all different groups completed creating their phrase. Groups get one level per synchronized sit-up they carry out in every spherical.
My college students actually loved studying about Braille and taking part in video games that uncovered them to it. By elevating the scholar’s consciousness of various skills we’re giving college students alternatives to study from each other. They develop understanding, acceptance, and empathy and are serving to to create a optimistic and inclusive faculty setting for all.
Right here is a good useful resource to assist educate Braille to college students. https://hadley.edu/workshops/learn-basic-braille-by-sight-reading-series/braille-reading-by-sight-letters-aj
