Every faculty yr, I train a unit referred to as “Skills Consciousness.” Making college students conscious of one another’s completely different skills helps us turn out to be 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, neighborhood, and worth in our faculty neighborhood. This unit can be a possibility to handle misconceptions surrounding completely different disabilities. Within the phrases of Winston Churchill, “Range 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 coed’s background info on Louis Braille and the way he invented a type of written language for folks with imaginative and prescient impairments, referred to as Braille. We defined to them that Braille was a written language wherein characters are represented by patterns of raised dots felt with the fingers. Our college students discovered that Braille, in addition to enlarged print and audio, was how vision-impaired college students accessed tutorial supplies at school.
We first taught our college students learn how to learn the Braille alphabet by sight by means of a enjoyable Braille scavenger hunt sport. The “Health Braille Alphabet” posters I used within the sport may 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 fitness center.
We then gave college students index playing cards with phrases, written in Braille. The scholars needed to race across the fitness center making an attempt to establish every Braille letter within the phrase, by referencing the Braille Alphabet Health posters. As soon as they discovered an identical letter, they’d 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 had been right, they’d get one other phrase. Companions with probably the most accomplished phrases “received” the sport however the actual victory was the scholars experiencing a distinct approach to learn utilizing Braille. College students discovered that having a visible impairment didn’t imply they may not learn, they simply did it another way. Identical to the phrase ‘incapacity’ doesn’t imply lack of ability. My intention for this exercise was to not train the whole braille code however fairly to lift consciousness at an introductory degree.
Writing in Braille
One other sport we performed targeted 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 making an attempt to find and fill in every cell within the alphabet. As soon as they discovered the subsequent letter within the alphabet, they needed to carry out the train on the poster earlier than shifting on to the subsequent letter. This was a terrific evaluation software and the scholars acquired to take it residence with them.
Many college students reported to me that they used their accomplished Braille alphabet key to jot down letters to their mates. They liked utilizing it as a result of their siblings and fogeys could not learn the letters since they weren’t conversant in the Braille alphabet!
Studying Braille by Really feel
My favourite sport was when my scholar trainer and I minimize 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 companion would race all the way down to the appropriate facet of the fitness center and create a letter in Braille utilizing the egg carton and ping pong balls. They will select any letter they need. Their companion could be doing the identical factor on the other facet of the fitness center. As soon as they each completed creating their letter with ping pong balls, they have to each cowl the egg carton with a yoga mat so their companion cannot see it. They might then race and swap sides with one another, slide their palms beneath the yoga mat, and by feeling the ping pong balls, determine what letter it was. (Go away a key subsequent to the egg carton for the scholars to make use of as a reference). Once they assume they’ve found out which letter it’s, they each have to fulfill in the midst of the fitness center. Every companion will take turns guessing their letter. If they’re right, they get to do 3 sit-ups to have a good time. If they’re incorrect, give your companion a high-five and inform them “Good strive!” Then their companion will guess. When they’re completed, they’ll play once more.
We additionally performed website phrase relay races. Groups of two could be given a 4-5 letter phrase. The aim was for the scholars to create every letter of the phrase in Braille utilizing egg cartons and ping pong balls. On ‘go’, they have to scooter all the way down to the opposite facet of the fitness center and create the primary letter of the phrase, then scooter again. Subsequent, their companion would scooter down and make the twond letter within the phrase and scooter again. They might proceed this sample till they accomplished the whole 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 coed’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 surroundings for all.
Right here is a good useful resource to assist train Braille to college students. https://hadley.edu/workshops/learn-basic-braille-by-sight-reading-series/braille-reading-by-sight-letters-aj
