Follow Up with Anna Swenson - Kansas State School for the Blind

Event Description

Anna Swenson with short hair and glasses smiling for the camera

Follow Up Q&A: Beginning with Braille (Literacy Instruction for Young Braille Learners)

Follow Up Discussion after the April 2023 training with Anna Swenson.

Come join the Kansas Instructional Resource Center (KIRC), Kansas State School for the Blind & TASN as we host Anna Swenson to discuss how to teach braille!

Anna Swenson is a retired teacher of students with a visual impairment who is currently a consultant for the American Printing House for the Blind (APH). During her teaching career, she worked with numerous young braille learners in both itinerant and resource room settings, developing a passion for teaching reading and writing in braille. Anna has published articles on teaching in the Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness and is the author of Beginning with Braille: Firsthand Experiences with a Balanced Approach to Literacy from AFB Press. For the past 10 years, she has been part of the writing team that is revising Building on Patterns, the braille literacy program from APH.A solid foundation of literacy skills is important for all young children. When working with braille learners in kindergarten or the primary grades, teachers of students with visual impairments (TSVIs) are not just teaching the braille code; they are also teaching reading and writing. This presentation will provide TSVIs with an overview of current best practices in teaching beginning literacy skills and discuss strategies, activities, and materials unique to braille instruction.

Review of April 2023 Training Objectives:

Summarize the results of the ABC Braille Study and discuss it’s implications for teachers.
Explain why it is important for young braille learners to read and write connected text at the same time they are learning about letters, sounds, and words.
Provide scaffolded support to children as they read orally.
Analyze children’s writing samples and plan instruction based on the stages of writing development.
Select and/or create instructional strategies, activities, and materials for teaching beginning braille reading and writing that meet the needs of their own braille learners.
List three strategies for adapting classroom materials simply and efficiently for children who use braille or dual media learners.

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