Social Studies

Grade 1- 3

Objective

Students will participate in group activities using the Braille alphabet.

Directions

Braille Flashcards
Create a set of Braille flashcards to assist your children in learning the Braille alphabet, using white index cards. On one side of each index card, draw the necessary dots to represent each letter. Then write the actual alphabet letter on the back of each card. Place the set of cards in a learning center for children to use during free or planned center time.
Who Is It?
Write each child's name on an index card in Braille. Place the index cards in a basket. Have a child randomly choose a card from the basket and decode the Braille letters to read the Braille name. The child whose name is on the card is then the next child to choose an index card. (If a child chooses his or her own name card, he or she simply puts the card back in the basket and chooses a new card.)
Books in Braille
Many school districts have collections of books in Braille for blind children. Show several Braille books to your children and allow them to use their fingertips to "read" the letters on the pages. If possible, invite a child or adult with moderate to severe blindness to visit your classroom to read a Braille book to your children.
What's My Reward?
Challenge children to read sentences in Braille. On each of the sentence strips, write sentences using Braille dots that refer to a reward-oriented activity. Allow a child to choose a prepared sentence strip, decode the sentence, and if decoded correctly, receive that written reward. Some possible rewards are the following:

• Take free time to draw a picture.
• You get to choose a sticker.
• Read a book with a friend.
• You have earned time on the computer.
• You may visit the library.
• You get to be the class helper today.
• You will be the line leader today.

Create Your Own Message
For this activity, each child needs a pencil, a sentence strip, and a bottle of white glue. Have each child think of a message that he or she would like to write in Braille. Have each child lightly print the message, using Braille dots on the sentence strip. Next, the child creates each word by squeezing small dots of glue on the penciled dots. When the glue has dried, the children can trade their sentences to see if they can read each other's messages.

Resources

• enlarged copy of the Braille alphabet chart (see the link below)