PHASES of INSTRUCTION
In BRAILLE READING and WRITING
>by Dr. Dixie Mercer
What follows are my thoughts on how I typically go about “starting” a braille reader.
There are many, many variables that would, of course, change these steps
completely, but in general, these represent my “mental beginning point” for each
category of braille reader.
FUNCTIONALLY BLIND STUDENTSⁱ GRADES K-3
WHO HAVE NEVER READ PRINT:
ⁱBy definition, of course, Functionally Blind students are those who will use primarily tactual literacy and learning media
(braille and other tactual materials). For purposes of this discussion, I’m assuming that these students are totally blind
or have no academically useful vision.
PHASE 1:
 EVALUATION
1. Use the Oregon Project (or other appropriate instrument) to thoroughly evaluate
the student. Pay particular attention to how the student scores on:
a. Fine Motor
b. Language, and
c. Cognition.
2. Evaluate the student using the pre-braille section of the ABLS and/ or Patterns.
3. Evaluate the student using a basic concepts checklist (such as the one provided in
the KIT).
4. Evaluate the student’s book skills (page turning, correct orientation, etc.)
5. Evaluate the following skills in as many functional ways as you need to in order to
be assured that they are FIRMLY in place:
a. same/different
b. sequencing
c. categorization
d. left/right
e. top/bottom
6. If you find ANY problems on any of the evaluations listed above, address them!
Don’t proceed! Go back and teach (or re-teach) the prebraille/prereading skills
that the student needs in order to be successful.
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PHASE 2:
 LANGUAGE SKILLS
1. Begin placing A LOT of emphasis on language and vocabulary building. Do A LOT of
Language Experience Stories in which:
a. The student and teacher explore a concept together (trees)
b. They collect “illustrations” for their story (leaves, bark, twigs)
c. They go back to the classroom, and the student orally “writes” a story about
what they did together. The teacher acts as scribe and brailles out the story
EXACTLY as the student says it.
d. They go back and read the story together by coactively tracking the lines of
print.
e. The story can then be bound into a book using punched holes and yarn, placed
in a notebook, stored in a “story box” by placing it in a large zip lock bag and
then into a plastic storage box with all of the other stories they have done that
year, etc.
2. Continue to place a great deal of emphasis on whatever prebraille skills need to be
addressed. Click here for a list of curricular resources for teaching these skills. You
should also go to the APH catalogue (or web site) and check out things like Tactual
Treasures).
3. While we’re on the topic of early literacy, follow this link and read/download/print
this article “Early Literacy: Braille and the Young Child”, for your BFFD.
 MOTOR SKILLS
1. The student needs a great deal of practice in tactual discrimination. Matching,
naming, and categorizing textures, shapes, etc. is critical.
2. Emphasis should also be placed on strength building at this point. Playing with clay,
tearing paper, using scissors, scribbling and coloring with crayons and a screen
frame, kneading dough for cookies (makes a great Language Experience Story,
too), etc., are all very good activities and should comprise a part of each lesson.
3. Toward the end of this Phase, the student should begin a formal instruction in
tracking. The Mangold Reading Readiness Program is one good resource in this
area. You will want to refer to the link to the Exceptional Teaching Aides web page
in this WIA. There you can find more information about this program.
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PHASE 3:
 UNCONTRACTED BRAILLE
1. At this point, the student is ready to begin actually naming and identifying braille
letters. For students in the K-3 age range, “Building on Patterns” probably is the
curriculum of choice.
2. The other option for learning about Uncontracted braille is a program called “One
is Fun”.
3. Remember that there are certain rules that are absolutely NEVER to be broken!
a. Never give a child a single character to read at a time! If you use flash cards,
use a 3-4 full cells and then the character to be taught followed by 3-4 more
full cells. For example,
=== m ===
b. Never allow a child to “scrub,” moving their finger up and down on a cell
rather than from left to right across a group of cells. If a student misses a
letter or word, have them continue tracking across it saying “pass” and then
go back to the beginning of the line and try again.
PHASE 4:
 CONTRACTED BRAILLE
1. At this point, the student is already reading uncontracted braille fairly fluently.
He/she is able to read simple words, simple sentences, and stories independently
and with great ease.
2. “Building on Patterns” continues to be the curriculum of choice.
3. Emphasis should be placed on reading A LOT! The student should be encouraged to
read about topics that interest them, and a wide variety of library books should
always be available to them.
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DUAL MEDIUM STUDENTS GRADES K-3 WHO ARE BEGINNING INSTRUCTION IN
BOTH PRINT AND BRAILLE:
PHASE 1:
 EVALUATION
All of the information provided above applies to these students as well. There is,
however, one question to keep in mind as you work through these steps: Does the
student’s level of visual impairment honestly require that they eventually become
an efficient contracted braille reader? In other words, as you are going through the
Phase 1 Evaluation process, you are constantly monitoring how the student handles
academic and functional tasks in terms of their vision.
Mercer’s rule about Dual Medium Readers:
If a student wants to read the braille dots with their eyes instead of their fingers, and
can do so over an extended period, 5-10 minutes, then they probably don’t need
braille. Spend your valuable time with them working on something else. Of course,
there are about a million exceptions to that rule, but if I see the Rule broken, it’s a red
flag for me.
PHASE 2:
 LANGUAGE SKILLS
1. Again, most of the things written above apply. However, at this point you should be
working particularly closely with the regular classroom teacher to try to make a
determination about which letters, words, symbols, etc. are being presented in print.
2. When you do Language Experience Stories be sure to provide a print copy that the
child can see.
3. Continue to place a great deal of emphasis on whatever prebraille skills need to be
addressed. Click here for a list of curricular resources for teaching these skills. You
should also go to the APH catalogue (or web site) and check out things like Tactual
Treasures.
 MOTOR SKILLS
Same as above.
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PHASE 3:
 UNCONTRACTED BRAILLE
Same as above, but again, pair everything with print in a size and clarity that makes
sense for this student so they are getting two “reading tools.”
PHASE 4:
 CONTRACTED BRAILLE
Same as above, except at this point for this child, you need to begin to place emphasis
on deciding what tasks require which tool.
Mercer Rules:
1. Any material that will be referred to often (addresses, phone numbers, notes
from class, etc.) should be done in braille.
2. Any long reading assignment should be done auditorially.
3. Short reading assignments (usually 2-3 pages), especially if there is critical
material involved which will be referred to again and again, should be done in
braille.
4. Any graphic material should be done visually.
5. Any material that a sighted person needs (giving your phone number to a
friend) should be done in print.
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Okay, so at this point, you should have gotten the broad, general ideas. Do some
thinking about the following kinds of students:
• Adventitiously blinded students in grades 4-8 who already have most of their print
reading skills in place, and now need to learn braille.
• Adventitiously blinded students in grades 8-12 who are on grade level readers in
print, and now need to learn braille.
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• Functionally blind students who are in the Functional Skills category, and who will
never be proficient readers, but might have a number of uses for a literacy medium.
• Dual medium students who are in the Functional Skills category, and who will never
be proficient readers, but might have a number of uses for a literacy medium.
You might want to talk these things over with some of your classmates, mentor, or
other TVIs in your district or region. Get out there and see (and get your hands on)
what others are using, and for what scenarios. Become acquainted with the plethora
of braille resources and curriculum that is available to you.
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