Week 3: July 14-20

Core Curriculum Unlocking the Foundations of Reading
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  1. In what ways can educators incorporate real-life experiences and tactile learning activities to help students with visual impairments build their background knowledge and vocabulary skills, thus enhancing their reading comprehension abilities?

There is an abundance of ways in which educators can incorporate real-life experiences and tactile learning activities to help students build their background knowledge and vocabulary skills, thus enhancing their reading comprehension abilities. I will categorize some of these strategies under headings illustrated in the Language Comprehension Instruction module in which Melinda Bachelor listed three tiers, Tier 1- Everyday Life Conversations, Tier 2- School Texts and Tier 3- Content Specific.

Everyday conversations which occur naturally between educators and students, peer to peer and classroom dialogue can strengthen background knowledge and vocabulary skills. Beginning the class with an age-appropriate morning meeting gives educators a consistent way to connect with everyone while discussing daily events, reviewing vocabulary and introducing new words. The morning meeting could include discussions on weather, days of the week, months of the year, how do you feel, nutrition- what did you eat, along with current events in the community and world in addition to what did you do over the weekend with friends and family. These discussions could be accompanied by songs or videos. Tactile pieces depicting meeting topics may also be relevant. When students share their experiences, it’s important that educators ask probing questions, give examples and definitions of words so students fully understand the context.

School texts can be read out loud by the teacher, student, shown through video and/or accompanied by pictures or auditory only. Besides class dialogue regarding school texts, one-on-one and small group discussion may be beneficial. While teaching school text, educators will use examples and even try to connect stories to real-life, so students fully understand the content matter. Allowing students to discuss vocabulary and use the words in a sentence will further enable their understanding. Another helpful idea for enforcing vocabulary is for educators to set up their room with alphabet, parts of speech, punction, grammar and other age-appropriate posters. It serves as a quick reference guide for educators and students.

Educators could build activities around specific content daily or weekly. These activities lend itself to tactile and other “show and tell” opportunities. Depending on the content, students can interact with the objects they’re learning about and greatly strengthen their background knowledge. A few learning activities could include cooking, building and horticulture. Cooking is a sensory activity whereas students will read the recipe, touch the cookware, smell/feel and possibly taste the ingredients, mix/measure/pour the ingredients and eat the final product. The same is true for building activities in which students can touch and use tools. They can learn how to safely handle tools and the purpose of specific tools. Horticulture takes it a step further whereas students can take a seedling and plant, care for, nurture and watch the plant grow. Other content specific activities include field trips and student created events.

Students with visual impairments can enhance their reading comprehension abilities through background knowledge and vocabulary. Educators can incorporate real-life experiences and tactile activities through everyday life conversations, school texts and content specific topics.

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I think this is a well thought out response and is very helpful. I have not been in the classroom for awhile and have not had exposure to reading first hand. I would like to know the names of some auditory-based assessments that are used so that I can take a look at them and get a better understanding of them. Can you or someone share the names of some of them please?

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I will be answering the second question regarding how TVI’s can integrate real-life experiences into instruction to help students with visual impairments build on their background knowledge. Although this was not mentioned in the module, I believe that one of the most important ways for a TVI to help students gain experience is to enlist the collaboration of parents in exposing their children to many real-life experiences such as going to places of interest, going to the beach, camping, participating in sports, and enrolling their children in summer and after-school programs for children and teens who are blind or visually impaired. I am blilnd myself, and my parents took my sister and I camping, to the beach, skiing, and many other places when we were young. I also attended the summer and after-school programs with Braille Institute from the ages of 5-18, and had many experiences that helped me build on my background knowledge when I read. I have always loved reading, so I was constantly reading a book throughout my childhood, teen and adult years, so I am able to apply my background knowledge to reading comprehension. Allowing children to have these experiences also helps to build their social skills.

In the classroom environment, TVI’s could use both real-life objects and tactile graphics to illustrate concepts. I teach adults, and have had the opportunity to get a Monarch to beta-test with my students. Some of my adult students who are blind have very much enjoyed being able to feel the shapes of such tactile graphics as the Eiffel tower, Math graphs, and many of the graphics in the Orientation and Mobility category of the t

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Hello, I love these ideas, especially organizing field trips and hands-on experiences. I am blind and, as I was growing up, hands-on experiences (both inside and outside the classroom) allowed me to learn. I particularly like your idea regarding tactile representations of Science concepts; that was lacking when I took Biology in high school, and I had a Biology teacher who did not want me in his class and refused to allow my TVI and aide to make accommodations. Consequently, I barely passed Biology. Looking back, I think that if there had been more hands-on opportunities and accommodations I would have learned a lot more and actually enjoyed Science. Unfortunately, because the experience was so negative I developed a negative view of classes like Life Science and Biology in college. There are so many more resources today (I went to high school in the late 1980s), so I am hopeful that the kids today are able to learn concepts in a more accessible manner.

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Hello, Sharon,

I love the idea of story bags; this is the first time I have heard of that. If these are available in the general education classroom, it would be a great way for the TVI and general education teacher to collaborate in order to increase the student’s background knowledge and reading comprehension. I couldn’t quite read the entire paragraph in your post regarding pets )VoiceOver didn’t quite show the whole thing), but you had mentioned how caring for pets would be an experience students who had pets at home might have, but those without pets might not have had such an experience. I know a lot of general education teachers in elementary schools bring in pets to the classroom. When my nephew was in elementary school, his general ed teacher was a puppy raiser for a guide dog so the kids got to experience what it was like to raise a guide dog puppy. My nephew is sighted, but such an experience would be wonderful for a student who is blind or visually impaired.

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Hi Charlene,
Formally, I have used the Test of Auditory Processing Skills (TAPS-4).

There are several Curriculum-Based Measurements (i.e. DIBELS, etc.) that can be used for screening/benchmarking and/or progress monitoring, specifically measuring phoneme segmentation fluency (PSF).

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Question 2: In what ways can educators incorporate real-life experiences and tactile learning activities to help students with visual impairments build their background knowledge and vocabulary skills, thus enhancing their reading comprehension abilities?

One way that educators can build background knowledge and vocabulary concepts with children who are visually impaired is to provide them lots of opportunities to interact with and manipulate real objects. If the child is learning about fruit, provide that child with a variety of fruit to feel, taste, and manipulate (peeling a banana, pulling segments from an orange, pulling grapes from the stem, etc.). While the child is engaged with the fruit, the educator can provide the vocabulary related to what the child is experiencing.
When providing tactile graphics for the child, another strategy would be to use real objects first before moving to the embossed or raised graphic of the object. This would give the child an opportunity to experience the real object and develop a better understanding of the object’s properties and related vocabulary.

The educator might also develop tactile activities that require the child to discriminate between objects to learn concepts such as same/different, big/small, hard/soft, etc. This can be done using common objects from around the house or classroom, activity boxes, or tactile books. This might also be done using objects related to the learning unit the child is working from the core curriculum.

One of my favorite ways of building background knowledge and vocabulary is to set up opportunities for the child to have experiences out in the community. There are so many locations that would provide the child with an incredible amount of concept and vocabulary development opportunities, such as the grocery store, the zoo, a farm, the playground, hair salon, etc. Many communities offer events such as “touch a truck”, where children can climb in and touch various community vehicles (fire truck, ambulance, garbage truck, etc.). These kinds of experiences give children the chance to get up close, touch, explore, and be a part of a variety of experiences in order to learn about the world and increase their vocabulary and concept knowledge.

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I love the story bag idea and have often used this strategy with young children with visual impairments in the general education setting. It is such a wonderful way to involve the child in the classroom story time while also giving them a chance to learn about objects from the story. It is also a wonderful idea to give the child the chance to interact with the objects ahead of time and to provide them the related vocabulary so that the child is not just playing with items that may not have any meaning for them. I also agree with taking time to get information from the parents related to a child’s background experiences and opportunities. This strategy prevents gaps in learning that may have occurred based on making assumptions about a child’s background, and also helps parents become partners in the learning process.

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I particularly enjoyed reading your response to this question as I am most worried about this part of my job next year. I have been working as a diagnostician for many years and will be returning to the TVI role this school year. I enjoy collaborating with other professionals, but am worried about the time I will have available to collaborate and adequately prepare for a student that will be learning braille. I agree that communication, joint planning, co-teaching and professional development are all important parts of the collaborative process and hope that I am able to do so adequately. Teachers are all so busy these days so I am also hopeful that the general education teachers I will be working with will be receptive to working collaboratively with me and the rest of the team involved.

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As a early intervention TVI I work with families with early literacy. Based on Scarborough’s Rope, areas that can be focused on in early literacy is literacy knowledge- understanding pictures, letters, and words on a page and turning pages, language structures- through reading books aloud to their child and talking about what they are doing; Vocabulary- through spoken language and reading to their child; and background knowledge- by encouraging trying to have intentional experiences, meaning that during the day rather than things just happening, having the child be a part of it and use language to describe. Also trying to do things that can broaden their world, i.e. stopping to visit the cows, going to the library truck show, going to the fire department, going to the petting zoo. All these experiences can be multi-sensory where if there is remaining sight they can get up close, hear and smell and also touch when appropriate. I also like to encourage families to make experience story boxes/bags. Older children can “scribble” either with crayon or brailler and the parent can write it out so that it can be read over and over again the future. I have had families do a family hiking book and they have various items from nature that they include in the story bag that they made. Sometimes new pieces of nature are add to the bag which excites the child. Comprehension is enhanced through background knowledge that these families are providing through experiences.

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Thank you very much for sharing that. I have put it on my list of things I will check out so that I can learn more about it.

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I love the idea of “surprise concept of the day.” I may use that in my class and actually make the subject of cooking a weekly activity. Cooking can encompass so many things such as utensils, cookware, measuring devices, appliances and ingredients. In addition, some students need to learn how to perform certain motions such as scooping, pouring and dipping. So many of these motions are observed and learned through sight. Students with no sight may not understand how to level off dry ingredients when measuring or what it means to add a “pinch” of seasoning. So these concepts may need to be practiced weekly. Mathematical lessons can also be taught using measurements and general kitchen safety should be explained and practiced. These lessons would incorporate real-life experiences and tactile learning.

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This is a very good example of math literacy. It can be so difficult to get teachers to verbalize everything that they have in a written format that is being presented to the class or a group. I had not thought about this and will keep it in mind in the future.

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Incidental knowledge happens so very often that I sometimes forget to explain certain concepts because I automatically assume that students know what I’m talking about or what I’m referencing. I’ve found that some of my students with low vision or are medically fragile really haven’t had the opportunity to participate in many leisure or recreational activities. When discussing topics in the classroom, I make it a point to explain and use descriptive words. Providing video with rich sound helps create a mental picture of the word. It’s also a good idea not to assume that students understand certain concepts based on their age. Not all learners are comfortable admitting that they don’t understand especially when their peers seem to grasp what’s going on in class.

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I see this all the time with my students as well. A lot of reading that students do are based on images and punctuation which affects how the student understands the meaning of the passages or stories. My VI students often have a difficult time getting the purpose/meaning out of assignments because they are afraid to speak up and ask the teacher questions to clarify or define a word. Even if I ask them if they understand a word I feel they may not, they still are reluctant to say anything and just sit silent. Like you stated, our students need as much visual support in reading to give them the most out of the experiences and to help increase their love for reading. When this is not offered to my blind students, I have seen them shut down by either putting their down or fidgeting with items around them. This is not okay and we need to communicate with the teacher to help these students stay involved and get the reading/comprehension skills they need to be successful in school.

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Hello Cheryl! In reading your response to question #2 about building background knowledge, etc. I couldn’t help but think about an article I had kept from 2013, “Dad, Where’s the Plunger?” by Richard Holloway. In this article, Richard, describes how he helped his blind daughter, Kendra fill in some important information gaps by taking her to different community places and letting her experience firsthand the touching and exploring of different objects. The community does indeed provide an incredible amount of learning opportunities for children who are blind or low vision.

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  1. In what ways can educators incorporate real-life experiences and tactile learning activities to help students with visual impairments build their background knowledge and vocabulary skills, thus enhancing their reading comprehension abilities?
    I spoke about my experiences briefly in the response to some great strategies of others who posted on this question. For many years, I have been expanding my tools used with students who are not only blind, but with low vision as well to enhance background knowledge. In many cases, I have been the one to introduce the “new vocabulary” during very explicit instruction in my work with such students. In the reading from this week, Dr. Hollis Scarbourogh states that “proficient reading and reading comprehension is the ideal outcome, a product when all strands are tightly woven together. When even one strand is frayed or weak, the overall braided rope is compromised.” I believe that this is especially true for our students. I currently have a DeafBlind student who will be a Braille Reader. He has learned all of the alphabet, and about half of the alphabet word signs. He has no vision, and some corrected hearing with hearing aids. One of the main things we work on is the development of concepts, relating to vocabulary words presented in his classroom (a Deaf and Hard of hearing classroom). He uses tactile sign and now is beginning to speak.
    The school staff and the Intervener present the words in ASL. Even when items are presented to him with objects, or manipulatives to demonstrate the concept, or item presented, he does best when explicit time and instruction is delivered during our Braille time. A few months ago, my student was learning about preparing food, in particular vegetables. Of course, the classroom teacher had fresh vegetables, and he enjoyed exploring them. When it was time for me to work with him, I focused on the salient feature of each vegetable. For example, the “cucumberness of the cucumber.” We smelled, it, talked about its “long feature” and the skin. Then we cut the cucumber, so that he still understood that it was a cucumber, even though it felt and smelled the same, he had no idea that it was still a cucumber until I spent time cutting, and comparing the salient features between the whole cucumber and the cut cucumber. We did this for 4 vegetables, over 3 days. At the end of that time, this student not only could identify each vegetable, whether it was cut or not, but also could read the story about vegetables that come from the ground, but could write about This, I beleive only occured, because of the time and energy spe(Braille) as well. This whole process takes time. As stated earlier, simply placing the vegetable in front of the student, and the word in Braille would not have cemented the concept. This, is how this student has learned to read, and understand and give accurate “retelling” of the story.
    I always have utilized story boxes as others have described as well, and quite frankly, I basically have created "concept/word boxes for almost all instructional activities. I also create a goal to specifically address this, throughout the early years, so that there is always a documented way to ensure that these experiences are provided.
    When I first got out of school, I did not understand how important this skill would be. Words, Braille words, audio words, cannot simply be presented to our students, because of the gap that is left out without the actual delivery of the “what does it mean”. I have found this to be the very single most important way to facilitate the reading process.
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I loved your post and can relate to all that you shared. I always provide meaningful manipulatives, and even when the word or vocabulary is a verb (go) I provide opportunities in many environments to talk about the word, and provide the action of the word "I show the car, go, have student go, the teacher will go) and provide him repeated experiences. Book bags, letter bags, story boxes all provide the student with a variety of ways to integrate the word and the meaning, so that the concepts are solidified. Only through these repeated experiences can our students learn. This is even true for low vision students, who face gaps due to what they may have missed due to their vision loss. Labeling their environment as you shared, provides another practice and enhancement to their learning.

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Q2. In what ways can educators incorporate real-life experiences and tactile learning activities to help students with visual impairments build their background knowledge and vocabulary skills, thus enhancing their reading comprehension abilities?

Incorporating real-life experiences and tactile learning activities for students with visual impairments can significantly enhance their background knowledge and vocabulary, which in turn improves their reading comprehension skills. Here are several strategies educators can employ:

Field Trips and Experiential Learning -

Organize field trips to places relevant to the curriculum, such as science museums, zoos, parks, or historical sites. Ensure these locations offer tactile exhibits or provide opportunities for students to touch and explore objects.
Collaborate with local businesses or community centers to create interactive learning experiences. For example, visiting a bakery to learn about chemistry through baking or a botanical garden to understand plant biology.

Tactile Graphics and Braille -

Provide tactile graphics, maps, and diagrams that students can explore with their hands. Ensure these materials are labeled in Braille or with large print as appropriate.
Use raised-line drawing kits or tools to help students create their own tactile diagrams and illustrations.

Role-Playing and Simulations -

Engage students in role-playing activities that simulate real-life scenarios relevant to the lesson. For example, simulating a market to understand economics or a courtroom to learn about the judicial system. Use tactile props and costumes to enhance the realism and engagement of these activities.

Multi-Sensory Storytelling -

Incorporate objects, sounds, and scents related to the story being read to make it more vivid and memorable. For example, when reading about a farm, use hay, animal sounds, and the smell of fresh produce. Use audio descriptions and soundscapes to set the scene and provide context for stories and texts.

Interactive Learning Stations-

Set up stations with different tactile materials and activities that students can rotate through. For example, a science station with different rock samples, a history station with artifacts, and a literature station with Braille books and story-related objects.
Ensure each station includes descriptive audio and tactile labels to guide students through the activities.

By integrating these experiential and tactile learning strategies, educators can provide a rich, multi-sensory learning environment.

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I choose to answer for this same questions because I am highly interested in learning about what tactile learning could help in relation to pre-braile instruction as well.

I realize that the IDEA statutes emphasize the mandatory Braille instruction to visually impaired students unless a comprehensive evaluation determines it is inappropriate
for the student. Also the availability of alternative reading media (like large print or digital formats) should not be used to deny Braille instruction.

Therefore , it is very helpful to learn from you to diversify the tactile learning activities.
Thank you.
Rika Yamamoto