Summer Braille Journal

I had the pleasure of tutoring a 10-year-old  girl this summer.  We met once a week and worked on braille reading and writing skills.  We would start our sessions with our 'summer journal'.   Before she would come I would braille three sentences about what I did that week.  She would read my journal entry.   Next, she would write in braille, her own three sentences about what she did that week.  Each week, her sentences were written on a separate piece of paper.  At our last session, she was able to bind the pages together creating a journal 'book' about her summer.   I found some fun-to-touch stickers for her to add to the pages on that last day to finish her journal.  She did a great job and it was fun to look back at what she did this summer!

Page 1:  

I went to a concert.

I went shopping.

I went to Sturgis (South Dakota).

Page 2:

I went to the Alpaca farm.

I did swim lessons.

I played with my aunt's cat.

Page 3:

I went to swim lessons again.

I did water balloons on a trampoline.

I went to Shooters yesterday.

Page 4:

I went on the Alpine slide.

I went on the zip line.

I went tubing.

Back cover illustrated with tactile stickers

Benefits of Journals:

• Ownership:
  • The student has ownership of what they are writing about.
  • The student can write about things that he/she cares about .
• Motivating:
  • The student can decorate the book at the end and bind it.
  • The student can share their journal with family and friends.
  • Journals are a fun keepsake.  
• Standards:
  • Journals can support a variety of learning goals and standards, e.g. writing goals, communication goals, reading goals, etc.

Possible Journal Ideas:

• Summer Vacation
• Vacations or Trips
• Daily Journals
• Special Occasions 
• Monthly Journals