Thoughtful Choices: Literacy Instruction
for Beginning Braille Readers
Anna Swenson
Braille Literacy Consultant
Fairfax County Public Schools, VA
annaswenson@cox.net
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)
Today’s Focus
• 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 Agenda
1. Overview of commercial programs and
resources
2. Closer look at four instructional strategies
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
Building on Patterns Pre-K (BOP Pre-K)
• 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 1-10 .
Field test opportunities for Building
on Patterns Pre-K, Fall 2016
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I-M-ABLE (Wormsley, 2011)
Individualized Meaning-centered Approach to Braille Literacy Education
• 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 and the "Language of Touch" HCBRL 1
Three Steps to Beginning Braille
from Beginning with Braille: Firsthand Experiences with a Balanced Approach to Literacy
• 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
The Three Steps
STEP 1
Whole Words
STEP 2
Letters & Sounds
STEP 3
Guided Reading
Preschool
Preschool-Kindergarten
Grades 1-2
• Individualized key
words
• Common alphabetic
wordsigns (go, can)
• High frequency
words (and, we)
• Phonemic awareness
• Letters & alphabetic
wordsigns
• High frequency
words
• Numbers 1-10+
• Phonemic awareness
& phonics
• Commercial trade
books
• Dolch words
• All braille
contractions by the
end of grade 2
• Numbers 0-100+
• Phonics & fluency
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES …
www.pathstoliteracy.org
iBook Introducing Braille by Laurel J.
Hudson, Ph.D.
"Make it fun. Make it meaningful. Make it developmental."
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
Starting with Words
• 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"
Anchor Letters HCBRL 6
Dot Density
Joshua
Mr./Mrs. Nobody
HCBRL 7
,jo%ua
=====
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
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!
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
I can get a microphone
I can sing
I can get Daddy
Daddy can sing
sing Daddy sing
sing sing Joshua
sing sing sing
(UEB)
Guidelines for Writing Stories
• 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.
Connected Text: Step 2 Story
Mommy said,
"I see 3 dogs.
Andrea has a fat dog.
Ryan has a little dog.
Eric has a black dog.
Help! Help!
I cannot have 3 dogs in
my house."
(UEB)
Teaching with Stories
• Begin with oral discussion
• Scaffold reading support - Meaning is primary
• Provide multiple opportunities to reread for
fluency
• Consider making the story into a book
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), 650-659.
1af'l"1a
1
• DRAWING AND SCRIBBLING
2
• LETTERS AND LETTER-LIKE FORMS ====== G L C
3
• SALIENT AND BEGINNING SOUNDS
m
4
• BEGINNING & ENDING SOUNDS
KT (cat) me(Mommy)
(made)
l(elevator)
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)