Know Thyself and Others: ECC Lessons and Activities to Take You Through the Year

Cover of Know Thyself

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

  1. My Eye Condition
  2. Your IEP
  3. Medical Information
  4. My Professional and Personal Cadre
  5. Gotta Get It

Eye condition screenshot

Personal Skills Rating

  1. Your Community Access
  2.  Daily Living Skills- Organization
  3.  DLS- Around the House
  4.  DLS- In the Kitchen
  5.  DLS- Self Care

Journaling

YouTube/Journal Sources

 

Articles/Journal

 

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

Build-a-Pumpkin  Winter Holiday Activities

A Mascot for us!

MascotIn 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!