How might collaborative planning and instruction between TVIs and general education teachers be structured to ensure alignment, particularly in terms of addressing the interconnectedness of language comprehension and word recognition?
I participated in a classroom writing instructional block this year that was so beneficial for my braille student. The classroom teacher and I discussed my student’s braille reading, background knowledge, vocabulary and language structure skills to be sure to know how to modify this activity so the student would be successful and have appropriate instruction and support. The instruction included a story that was read at the beginning of the week and then a mentor sentence from the story the students would use for the follow up activities each day that week. This activity was so easily adapted for all level of learners and my student - who is also an ELL student - thrived during these lessons. The discussions involved analyzing words and phrases from the sentence to understand inferred meanings, similies metaphors etc. The students had to identify parts of the sentence - nouns verbs etc and each week this skill developed in complexity. I embedded braille instruction in all of this too - using technology and braille contractions the student was learning to read and write. It all blended together so seamlessly and wholistically - the classroom teacher was such an invested part of all this - and we saw each week as my student was incorporating new vocabulary, language structures, verbal reasoning etc to her writing AND incorporating the contractions along with decoding and sight recognition as we read the same sentence each day and used many of the same words in repeated readings and writings. My student was learning all the same things peers were learning so the student was part of the instruction in class and could answer questions and participate along with peers. It was some of the best collaborative teaching I have ever been part of and we saw amazing results! I push into classroom activities every chance I can - I can slot in braille instruction in many of the curriculum activities my students need to do and it gives the braille instruction they need context. We can multi task - I always tell my teachers and students we need to work smarter not harder!
I agree with what you say about giving our students the tools to help them advocate for themselves when they may not understand a concept when reading. In working with students, I feel if they don’t understand what they are reading, then that can negatively impact how they are comprehending the text. f they are reading about a visual concept, that they have never seen before, then careful attention may need to be paid to that concept, to provide tactile representation of that concept, or perhaps, a more in depth description of the concept, so that the student can better understand what the concept is,and connect it to what they are reading.
n working with ELA teachers over the years, I have been involved in literature circles with my student. The students are placed into reading groups, and they are to read a novel. Each student within the group is given a specific task as they are reading the novel that relates to the story. For example, a student might be a word smith, where they find a vocabulary word that may not be familiar to them as we are reading. Once we take a break from the book, that student could share their word with the group and it is then discussed to learn the meaning of the word, based on the book’s context, or even student’s prior knowledge to the word. Literature circles allow the teacher to see how the student is understanding what they are reading, and how their knowledge of vocabulary and making connections to the text relates to their understanding of the story. Being in a small group could also promote opportunities for advocacy for our students, where they can interact with their classmates, and ask questions within their group if they do not understand something. I’ve found that at times, peers can be the best teacher to explain concepts to our students.
I agree with this so much - all those hands-on experiences give shape and meaning to words that describe features actions etc. Our students miss out on so much visually - it’s great to describe things but kids need context to comprehend the size, texture, shape, motion etc. of items and concepts. I love all the incorporation with classroom teacher and parents - you are not just teaching your student but those who will work with her so they understand how best to facilitate learning!
3.Considering the interconnectedness of decoding and language comprehension highlighted in Scarborough’s Reading Rope, how might teachers identify and address specific areas of weakness or gaps in understanding for students with visual impairments, particularly in phonological awareness and decoding?
Teachers can identify and address specific areas of weakness or gaps in understanding for students with visual impairments, particularly in phonological awareness and decoding, which requires a tailored approach that considers the interconnectedness of skills highlighted in Scarborough’s Reading Rope (n.d.).
By using auditory-based assessments to evaluate the student’s ability to identify and manipulate sounds in spoken words. This could include tasks like rhyming, segmenting words into syllables, or identifying initial and final sounds in words.
For students with visual impairments, teachers can use tactile or auditory methods to assess decoding skills. This might involve listening to the student read aloud using braille texts or utilizing assistive technology devices.
By assessing all strands of Scarborough’s Reading Rope, including language comprehension skills, to identify any interconnected weaknesses.
To address gaps in understanding:
Multi-sensory approach: Utilize tactile and auditory methods to reinforce phonological awareness and decoding skills. This could include using manipulatives with different textures to represent sounds or syllables.
Explicit instruction: Provide clear, step-by-step instruction in phonological awareness and decoding strategies, emphasizing the connections between sounds and their braille or tactile representations.
Vocabulary development: Strengthen the language comprehension strand by focusing on vocabulary expansion through tactile experiences, verbal descriptions, and real-world connections.
Background knowledge: Build background knowledge through rich discussions, audio descriptions, and hands-on experiences to support overall comprehension.
Collaborative approach: Work closely with the general education teacher and other professionals to ensure that instruction is tailored to the student’s specific needs and abilities.
I agree with what you are saying here - we need to know a lot about a lot of things. I love how you say our role extends beyond conventional methods - I think innovation is so important in our jobs and it is what I like most about my job. I love being given a challenge - when a classroom teacher asks how we can incorporate our student into a task that may seem less than conducive to adaptation - I always say I have no idea but that has never stopped me yet. These Reading Rope skills are just as important for our readers as traditional print readers - why I was interested in this training. I think I knew some of these concepts but I have appreciated the framework we have been given here - another tool in our toolbelt!
Your comment on aspects of reading difficulties being attributed to the student’s visual impairment is one I am familiar with. When others unfamiliar with vision loss see a concern for a student, there is a tendency to say it is due to the vision loss. While that has an impact, through lack of incidental learning and background knowledge as you point out, it is not the total story. When the TBVI is able to work with the general education staff to provide accessibility to materials for the student, they should be able to participate in the reading instruction and receive the building blocks necessary for their reading development. The TBVI can help support that learning during their time with the student.
Collaboration is definitely the key to a student having success with various subject areas. Sounds like you had great communication with the general education teacher so that the student had accessible materials and learned using their level of the knowledge of the braille code. I mainly have middle/high school students so try to set a schedule to meet with teachers. I also ask for them to e-mail me if something arises during the week. I find that some teachers are great with open communication while others are not. Glad you had a good experience with this teacher.
Week 3: Scarborough’s Reading Rope.
The first strand of Scarborough’s Reading Rope is background knowledge. I think this is a major obstacle to our students with significant visual impairments. Their challenges in acquiring incidental knowledge, make background knowledge difficult. For example, I had a student who was working on a report about potatoes. After she was finished, I discovered that she didn’t know that potatoes grew underground. Unless she had dug potatoes, or paid closer attention to the definitions of a word like tuber, she would need tactile representations to accompany her reading.
There is so much incidental background knowledge that sighted students are exposed to that informs their engagement with text. From diner placemats to posters glanced at, leveling that deficit is so hard. Another student was taking a test that included tactile graphics and braille; there was a passage of fishing. It struck me that so many children have been exposed to images of fishing and unless the student has fished, the activity of fishing without visuals, is extremely abstract.
Our students require that time to learn what their peers already have internalized, and then time to incorporate that new knowledge into either new reading, or new thinking. I believe that this is part of the unique relationship between a student and a TVI; the student must trust the TVI enough to admit what they don’t know, and the TVI must be creative in exposing and exploring these topics.
What I did with my students was during extended school year. We would go out and explore the plants outside. We would experience whole fruits and vegetables and then their products. For instance, we would explore a real potato and then french fries, then potato chips. We would write about our day and the things we experienced.
Background knowledge is important. Getting kids to tell us when they are confused by vocabulary can also be challenging. It is hard to know all the ways we are leaving them behind in concept knowledge.
I agree with what you’ve reiterated about understanding concepts. Literature circles are a great idea and I love the idea of a “wordsmith”. What a fun way to explore new vocabulary.
Your story regarding the student’s report on potatoes made me chuckle. I recall a news story long ago about a variety of ages in people that thought milk came from the store and had no idea that milk comes from a cow or other animal. As you mentioned there is so much incidental background information that individuals with visual impairments are not exposed to which then hinders their ability to fully grasp words and their meanings. I think about how similar words can have such different meanings in different countries or in different areas of the United States. Helping the student grasp the various meanings can be very challenging. Your mention of fishing made me think of the new meaning of “Phishing” in our technical world. I am not a social media user and when I come across so many new terms or abbreviations I feel like a student learning the new language of this younger generation. How does one explain some of the terms that arise in that arena?
As an itinerant teacher myself for almost 30 years, I relate to your post. I have found that participating in field trips are a great way to explore outside the school walls. Also, I am an O&M specialist and I invite the TVI to attend all my off-campus trips. These off-campus trips can be incorporated into reading, writing and making books of experiences they had to share with family and friends.
Word meaning is a major part in incidental learning. I have a braille student that read the word jut on a list of U words. I explained that it means stick out, and he followed that up with did you touch it? He heard stick and thought sticky. We then talked about that word and cleared that up before going back to Jut. Before we read, even a word list, I tell him to ask questions if he doesn’t know a word or concept.
How might collaborative planning and instruction between TVIs and general education teachers be structured to ensure alignment, particularly in terms of addressing the interconnectedness of language comprehension and word recognition?
Collaboration between TVIs (Teachers of the Visually Impaired) and other service providers is essential. TVIs play a crucial role in helping the team understand how visual impairment impacts learning. For instance, consider a student reading about the beach without firsthand experience. Without feeling the sand, hearing the waves, or seeing the ocean, comprehension becomes challenging.
In my 30-plus years of experience, I’ve encountered situations where students struggled to grasp concepts due to their visual limitations. For example, a middle school student couldn’t visualize a light bulb described in a book. I brought in a lamp, removed the shade, and showed him the bulb. He was surprised when it felt hot, leading to a valuable discussion.
As educators, we must ask questions and provide real-life examples to bridge the gap for visually impaired students. While their other senses provide 20% of information, we can help them “see” by offering the missing 80% that vision provides
The language can be so confusing–thinking about fishing–you have a reel, a line, a stream, a pole–all of these are commonly used in other ways. English is so frustrating!
I love this activity! Our world is chock full of surprise concepts! Vocabulary is extremely tricky and all of the inferences are complex. To whisk something away, to use a whisk, and then again, whiskers! Nice work!
Along with tactile representations, I believe our braille readers should learn to type on a QWERTY keyboard as they learn to read. It’s not unusual that once a braille reader is fluent in the contractions, spelling words such as ‘could’ or ‘would’ becomes harder and harder. All the iterations of the contraction ‘the’ and retaining what letters they represent, is a large cognitive load to take on if grade 2 braille has become their native reading and writing language.
Yes, ensuring that a student’s vocabulary is solid is definitely a paragraph by paragraph endeavor. I am often surprised by either the lack of vocabulary knowledge, or the creative interpretation of words that guarantee much of the meaning will be lost. This can be a very slow process and often the trade off is between thorough knowledge, and moving along to the next assignment. Language is alive and changing and references and connotations are expanding, making vocabulary a daily exercise. As education becomes more visual and lively, to keep the attention of the students with attention issues, language suffers. Collaboration is a must, and sometimes it actually happens! Thanks for your solid ideas.
Considering the interconnectedness of decoding and language comprehension highlighted in Scarborough’s Reading Rope, how might teachers identify and address specific areas of weakness or gaps in understanding for students with visual impairments, particularly in phonological awareness and decoding?:
I appreciated the visuals to help by illustrating reading like a rope made up of different strands that all weave together to make someone a good reader.
I have found the strand “Language Comprehension.” I have had students able to read in braille but do not understand what words and sentences mean when you read them. What many students also struggle with is decoding and being able to understand the meanings of words.
I appreciate how this visual in the article helps those in the field better understand how all these different skills work together to make someone a good reader.