Visually Impaired Resource Guide Writing Grade Two and Three

Children can now do more writing on their own. They will write so others can read what they have written, and they often choose what they want to write.

Technological devices are available to help students with their writing. Writing devices may include, Pocket Slate and Stylus, electric and manual "braille writers", refreshable braille display computers and braille notetakers.

The vision teacher has primary responsibility for teaching the braille code and braille writing. He or she has specific knowledge of the braille code and can assist the regular class teacher with instruction related to the acquisition of spelling, punctuation, grammar, paragraphing and capitalization skills.

Why We Write

• share personal experiences and interests through writing
• show awareness and interest in having others read their work
• use a variety of ways to record and represent ideas

The Braille 'n Speak 640 and/or Braille Lite with access to a print printer provides for a quick print copy of a student's writing that can be shared with sighted peers and teachers. The APH Portable Cassette Tape Recorder/Player can also be used to record and share ideas and thoughts occasionally. Pictures with a screen board and a story board with plasticine [refer to the Vision Resource Teacher in your area for further information] are multisensory ways in which ideas can be recorded and represented.

What We Write About

• write about immediate personal experiences and interests
• include ideas and events they imagine or remember
• read their own writing

Once the student is physically able to hold a stylus correctly they should be introduced to instruction in using the Pocket Slate and Stylus. [refer to the Vision Resource Teacher in your area for further information] The Pocket Slate and Stylus is useful for short note taking activities or for recording brief bits of information. Its compactness and ease of portability make it a handy writing tool equivalent to keeping having a pencil and paper in a pocket or purse.

The braille writer should also be used to produce work in braille. The vision teacher must teach the student how to operate the braille writer efficiently. Students may also be beginning to use the Braille 'n Speak 640, Braille Lite and/or computer to record their thoughts. Braille translation programs are now available for computers. Reading their braille writing to a buddy in a lower grade, to parents and to peers is often reinforcing.

Style

• rely on concrete words that represent people, places and things that are important to them
• use some descriptive words (frequently repeat a favorite word or phrase)
• write in the first person (may include many pronouns)
• write in short, simple sentences

The student can create their personal dictionaries, spelling lists, etc., with the The Speaking Language Master (Special Edition). The Bill Martin Jr. materials, Shel Silverstein poems and Mercer Mayer books can be useful for the students who reads braille to become familiar with repetition and nonsense verse.

How Letters Make Words (Form)

• learn to connect words to form basic sentences
• understand and use story structure such as a beginning, middle and end
• write in a variety of simple forms (list, journals, stories)

Begin by writing uncontracted words to form sentences on the Braille Writer (Perkins), Braille 'n Speak 640, Braille Lite and/or Pocket Slate and Stylus.

Story maps which help to understand use story structure can be constructed by using letraset tape to demarcate areas or draw boxes with braille "c's and l's".

Spelling, Grammar and Punctuation

• use spaces to separate words and spell an increasing number or words correctly, particularly those that are phonetic
• use their knowledge of phonics to help them spell many words (e.g., spesaly instead of especially)
• show increasing concern for correct spelling and basic punctuation

Grade two braille cards [refer to the Vision Resource Teacher in your area for further information] are useful for teaching phonetic words. The student can use The Speaking Language Master (Special Edition) and computer programs with spell checking features to assist with spelling. The Braille Lite provides the student with immediate spelling and punctuation feedback.

Resources

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

Large Print Textbooks American Printing House for the Blind
1839 Frankfurt Avenue, 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, NW
Washington, DC

PRCVI
106 - 1750 West 75th Avenue
Vancouver, BC
V6P 6G2
Alternate Format Instructional Materials

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

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