Visually Impaired Resource Guide Reading Grade Two and Three

Children learn to recognize many words by how they look and where they are in a sentence. Reading becomes easier as students read for longer periods of time. Children are encouraged to read alone.

Students should have access to a wide variety of reading materials in braille. Every effort should be made to provide equivalent braille materials to those used by sighted students. Material which is read aloud and then displayed by the teacher, should also be available in braille for the student who reads braille.

A braille printer or a refreshable braille display with a computer (Braille Lite) [refer to the Vision Resource Teacher in your area for further information] and electronic books (books on disk) can provide access to a wide variety of reading material. These and other technologies enable students to access information related to all areas of the curriculum. These technologies can also provide access to a wide variety of current magazines and other information that can augment and enrich regular curriculum materials. [refer to the Vision Resource Teacher in your area for further information]

The classroom reading centre should include books in braille that are twin vision in nature (braille and print on the same page). Verbal descriptions of pictures found in story books at this level are not always adequate and can be enhanced using three dimensional tactile representations of the key pictorial components or actually dramatizing the pictorial and/or text content.

Word Recognition

• apply rules of phonics as well as other ways to identify unfamiliar words (e.g. word structure, contrast, context dictionary)
• focus on reading fluently and make an effort to correct their own mistakes
• recognize a large number of words by sight, and read faster silently than orally.

In order to develop word recognition skills it is esssential that the student have access to all reading materials in hard copy or refreshable braille. The use of a computer with voice output is helpful in developing language skills but not word recognition skills.

For the early braille reader the less contracted the text, the easier it may be to decode the text. The beginning braille reader may read more fluently before many braille contractions have been introduced. Fluency will again improve as the student becomes familiar with the contractions.

Reading for Information and Enjoyment

• concentrate for longer periods of time (20 to 30 minutes at one time) on material they have chosen
• adjust their approach to fit the purpose and material (e.g. read familiar stories faster than new stories)
• rely increasingly on reading to find information

Students must have access to a variety of reading materials in their areas of interest to promote longer periods of concentrated reading. Print reading materials can be readily converted to braille by using a scanner, and a computer with braille translation software and a braille printer. [refer to the Vision Resource Teacher in your area for further information] Familiar stories and nursery rhymes are often read faster than a new story in which the student may be concentrating on the details of the story and possibly encountering unfamiliar braille contractions. The student may be able to access additional resource information from CD-ROM programs with the assitance of their classroom or vision teacher.

Increasing Recall and Understanding

• predict storyline by previewing story or book before reading
• ask questions
• retell main ideas
• read "between the lines" to make inferences about characters and their behavior

Unlike the print reader a braille reader is unable to "skim" a book. The title page and photo descriptions may provide some useful information. A precis or outline, when available, allows the student to preview the story or book and to make storyline predictions. Encourage questions about material being read. Ideas from the story which are abstract or unfamiliar may have limited meaning for the braille user and require further explanation. Students can retell stories into the tape recorder and type or braille the story at a later date. Character sketches may be written on a computer and/or braille notetaker and saved and developed as the story continues. Passages may have to be re-read to understand inferences.

Thinking About What Has Been Read

• recognize an increasing variety of story types and understand the elements that make up a story
• speculate about the author's purpose

Many different types of stories must be made available to the student who reads braille. Scanners and computers with braille translation software [refer to the Vision Resource Teacher in your area for further information] can assist in providing regular print books into a braille format.

"What if..." situations can be given to stimulate thought (e.g. "what if dogs could talk") in order to develop an understanding of author's purpose.

Using What Has Been Read

• express personal views about characters' motivation and behavior
• explain reasons why they like or dislike a book or type of reading material
• explain characters' actions and story situations in drawing and writing

Tactile pictures can be made with plasticine and screen boards. [refer to the Vision Resource Teacher in your area for further information]

Research (Using Reading to Find More Information)

• use text features such as a table of contents, headings or illustrations to help find information
• begin to recognize the purpose of specific reference material such as pictures and glossaries
• begin to locate and record information

The student should learn to find the table of contents for each volume of a braille book, place braille volume in order for easy access and be able to explain why braille books often have more than one volume. The student should become familiar with the running head for each braille page and with braillist notes for graphics etc. in print text. In addition the student should read for different purposes (e.g. skim, study details). Brief notes can be jotted down using the Pocket Slate and Stylus. Access to information available on CD- ROM is very helpful. Information may be recorded using a brailler, Pocket Slate and Stylus, computer, Braille 'n Speak 640 or Braille Lite. [refer to the Vision Resource Teacher in your area for further information]

Reading for Lifelong Development

• will talk about reading with other children
• enjoy reading, and may choose to read if given a choice of activities
• concentrate for longer periods of time on reading books they have chosen

Encourage participation in guided literary discussions. Students will often choose to read if they are provided with books that are at an appropriate reading level and are about their personal areas of interest. Poems, short stories, short story books can be scanned and put into braille. [refer to the Vision Resource Teacher in your area for further information] Try making braille books with different textured covers and in different shapes.

Resources

Twin Vision Books
American Action Fund fir Blind Children and Adults
18440 Oxford Street
Tarzana, CA 91356

Textbooks

American Printing House for the Blind
1839 Frankfort Ave., P.O. Box 6085
Louisville, Kentucky 40206-0085
(502) 895-2405; (800) 223-1839; FAX (502) 895-1509

National Braille Press
88 Saint Stephen Street
Boston, MA 02115

National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped
Library of Congress
12191 Taylor Street, N.W.
Washington D.C.

Seedlings
P.O. Box 2395
Livonia, MI 48151-0395
(800) 777-8552

Providing Quality Instruction in Braille Literacy Skills - Companion Guide to Invitations:
Changing as Teachers and Learners K-12 by Koenig & Farrenkoph
Region IV Education Service Center
7145 Tidwell, Houston, Texas 77092-2096
(713) 744-6383 FAX (7130 744-6811

PRCVI
106-1750 West 75 Avenue, Vancouver, B.C. V6P 6G2
Alternate Format Instructional Materials

Canadian National Institute for the Blind
Library Services (located in major centers across Canada)

Return to Part 1 - Learning Skills...