Know Thyself and Others: ECC Lessons and Activities to Take You Through the Year
From Braille Innovations, comes another group of lessons and activities to build those hard-to-find-time-for skills of self-determination, daily living skills, writing, getting to know others with vision impairments and blindness, and more. These easy-to-implement lessons incorporate the ECC (Expanded Core Curriculum) for your transition-aged students. This curriculum was implemented in the Fort Zumwalt School District during the 2018-2019 school year. Elements include: Know Thyself Projects, Personal Skills Rating, Journalling, Building Community: Writing and Reading Together, and Community Building: Tactile Projects. The Journaling section includes links to YouTube, online articles, and short books available from Bookshare with characters who are blind or visually impaired.
Know Thyself Projects
- My Eye Condition
- Your IEP
- Medical Information
- My Professional and Personal Cadre
- Gotta Get It
Personal Skills Rating
- Your Community Access
- Daily Living Skills- Organization
- DLS- Around the House
- DLS- In the Kitchen
- DLS- Self Care
Journaling
YouTube/Journal Sources
- Caroline Casey, Looking Past Limits
- Let’s Cook by Eating First
- Blind Is Beautiful
- The Art of Choosing
- Just Learn to Say the “B” Word: Blind
- Eyes Wide Open, Isaac Lidsky
- What Nobody Told You About Happiness
- Saving Shirley
- Hannah’s Story
- Erik Weihenmayer: Blind Man Climbs Mt. Everest
- DCMP Young Heroes: Louis Braille
Articles/Journal
- Why Should I Care About Learning Braille
- Yes, Boys and Girls. There Are Reasons Adult Use Perkins Braillers
- Living with ONH
- Accessing Literacy as a University Student with a Progressive Vision Loss
- Presenting Yourself Positively
- My Journey to Braille
- My Experience at Hadley Institute for the Blind and Visually Impaired
- Why I Love My Cane and What It Means to Me
- London Fashion Blogger Emily Davison told She was “Too Pretty to be Blind”
- Fashion Help for the Blind
- Veronica Lewis is a Champion of Self-Advocacy
- You Don’t Need Sight to See the World
- My Overall University Experience, Life of a Blind Girl
- Bowling Green Songwriter Sees His Blindness as a Gift
- 5 Important Ways to Talk About Disability During a Job Search
Books with Characters that are Blind and Visually Impaired
Short, easy to read books that only take a 1-2 sessions to complete. Complete reflective journal following reading. Read online, in braille, auditory, whatever best suits your student. Books are available in braille and on Bookshare.
- The View from Under the Pew
- Keep Your Ear on the Ball
- Mom Can’t See Me
- The Listening Walk
- Through Grandpa’s Eyes
- Knots on a Counting Rope
- A Girl Named Helen Keller
- Seven Blind Mice
- Six Dots: A Story of Young Louis Braille
Community Building: Writing and Reading Together
- Shared Doc: You Too? Getting to Know Each Other
- Your Mascot: Joint Writing Prompts
- Bad Kitty and Your Students Take Over Your School
- Bad Kitty and -mascot- Team Up
Community Building: Tactile Projects
- Getting to Know Each Other: Build-a-Pumpkin
- Winter Holiday Activity (DLS Around the House)
- DLS Tactile Book
A Mascot for us!
In addition, Karen Carl created her own VI Dept. Mascot, Fort the Guide Dog. He and Bad Kitty (Nick Bruel’s creation) teamed up for a variety of story prompts that the students collaborated on. This was a BIG HIT! And lots of creativity and silly stories were created!
Know Thyself and Others is available for purchase on the Braille Innovations Square site. It is available in print as well as an electronic download. The electronic download has Word and .dbt files to share with your students. The documents are in 18 point as well for your low vision students. The program is available for download, so that you can implement it using whatever technology you desire… without having to retype or hand-braille it!
