Prekindergarten Building on Patterns: Lesson Learned

Getting In Touch With LiteracyPresented by:

Luanne Blaylock, Jo Ellen Croft,Kate Dilworth, Kay Ferrell, Cay

Holbrook, Cathy Senft-Graves, Susan Spicknall,

Anna Swenson, Robin Wingell

AgendaIntroductionsPlans and Support for the Revision of

the Building on Patterns (BOP) Curriculum

Research that guides decision-making on BOP

Program Components and Lesson Examples from BOP Pre-K

Building on Patterns Only “basal reading series” for teaching

braille reading and writing Building on Patterns Team

External Writing Teams from Arkansas, California, and Oregon (All members of the writing teams are experienced teachers of students with visual impairments.)

APH Staff Consultants to the program

Building on Patterns Revision

2nd Revision began immediately after completion of BOP 2nd Grade (original Patterns went through 3rd grade)

Original intent to begin revising BOP Kindergarten

Writers and consultants determined a need for Prekindergarten BOP to lead into Kindergarten based on state standards and checklists for Kindergarten entry

Building on PatternsUEB Teacher Supplements

andUpdated Student Materials

Student textbooks and worksheets in UEB

Posttest materials for First Grade and Second Grade in UEB

Free, downloadable supplements for the existing teacher’s editions with information on what changes need to be marked in the teachers manual to comply with UEB

Current BOP-K SurveyOnline survey conducted 11/14/12 –

12/20/1275 respondents from 22 states and

the US Virgin Islands97% of respondents TVIsParticipants were asked:

What is taught in BOP-K that should be taught in a pre-kindergarten early literacy program?

BOP-K Survey Results:Teach Before Kindergarten

When asked what is taught in BOP-K that should be taught in a Pre-K emergent literacy program, the top three responses were: phonemic awareness and phonics the alphabet, or an introduction to the alphabet

contractions at least the first 12 lessons of BOP-K should be

taught earlier.

BOP-K Survey Results:Teach Before Kindergarten

Tracking, reading

with both hands

Rhyming

Introduction of

braille cell

Capital sign

Period

Vocabulary

Spatial awareness/

directionality: left to right; top,

bottom, middle

Concepts/concept

development

Tactile identification as fun

activities

Listening comprehension

Other specific skills that received multiple mentions:

The “New” Kindergarten

Standards have pushed skills needed at kindergarten entry

National Early Literacy Panel ReportCommon Core and Pre-K State StandardsNational Association for the Education of

YoungChildren (NAEYC) Early Learning Standards

Quality Literacy Instruction StudyCurrent BOP-K Survey

Supporting Research

NELP Variables for Literacy Development

Alphabet knowledge Phonological awareness Rapid Automatic Naming of

letters or digits Rapid Automatic Naming of

objects or colors Writing or writing name Phonological memory

Kindergarten Entry Standards

Language: Understands and expresses needs and ideas; engages with a variety of texts (e.g., stories, informational text, poems)

Print/Braille concepts: Understands how text relates to speech; demonstrates book handling skills; understands print/braille conventions.

Phonological awareness: Identifies rhyming words; discriminates same/different sounds; blends onsets & rimes

Kindergarten Entry Standards (continued)

Letter/word recognition: Recognizes some or most letters of the alphabet; recognizes name

Phonics: Begins to understand the alphabetic principle; matches name and sound of some consonants to their written letter

Writing: Writes most or all of first name; participates in developmentally appropriate writing using letter-like shapes, letters, and/or words to convey meaning; begins to match initial sounds with letters in writing.

Quality Literacy Instruction Study

Skill Areas Consistency

Total Time/Day Time Span Duration

Emergent Braille Literacy Skills

1 to 5 days/week

1/2 to 1 hour

Infancy to Preschool

At least one school year

Early Formal Literacy Skills ("prebraille")

Daily 1/2 to 1 hour Preschool- K At least one

school year

Beginning Braille Literacy Skills Daily 1-2 hours

per day K-Grade 3 At least one school year

Beginning Literacy Skills in Dual Media (Print and Braille)

Daily 1-2 hours per day

K-Grade 3

At least one school year

Project SLATE /Framework for Braille; Professional Consensus on Instructional Considerations for Students in Braille Literacy Programs Koenig, A. J., & Holbrook, M. C. (2000). Assuring quality literacy instruction in braille literacy programs. Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness, 94(11), 677-694.

Need for BOP Pre-K BOP-K survey confirmed a need for Pre-K

braille literacy material Pre-K will be a separate curriculum as is

available in general education programs Maryland Common Core State Curriculum

Frameworks for Braille includes Pre-K skills Keeping pace with peers: many entering

kindergarteners recognize letters & numbers, read and write their names

Selected BOP Principles BOP will be a part of a comprehensive program Importance of consistent literacy instruction from

qualified TVI Service delivery is diverse Literacy instruction should be evidence-grounded

and on-going research should be conducted Value of authentic literature Concept development through literacy instruction Connections to the ECC Students have individual needs, likes and dislikes

Components of BOP Pre-K Reading and Writing Braille Letters, Numbers

and Some UEB Math Symbols Reading and Writing Simple Continuous Text Interactive Read-Alouds with Authentic

Literature Comprehension and Vocabulary Phonological Awareness and Phonics Knowledge and Concept Development Tactile Skills, including Graphics Fun, engaging activities

Pilot Field Test Feedback from Pre-K teachers on

Lessons 2, 3, and 4 Video examples of Pre-K children

working through parts of lessons Length of lessons and activities within

lessons Information about service delivery

impact on completion of lessons Sites in KY, NM, & FL; Center based

and itinerant, 7 teachers and 7+ children

Key Observations Stories (trade books) are interesting but

some are a little long; children responded more (and better) to the second reading of the book

Vocabulary words—good balance between simple and challenging words

Comprehension—these young children had some difficulty with “open ended” questions and questions that asked children to “personalize” something in the story

Key Observations(continued)

Children have difficulty producing written work on the braille writer (Perkins) but teachers saw value in ongoing practice to encourage finger strength, finger isolation and span [writers are including consistent practice in lessons]

Largest issue was lesson length and consistency. Writers have made major changes to plans for the lessons that addresses these concerns

Children liked songs and other enrichment activities (The Wheels on the Bus; art projects)

Key Observations(continued)

Children liked the Tactile Storybooks Issues were discovered that needed to be

addressed in some way: Rhyming Words Comprehension Questions Introduction of the Swing Cell Enjoyment of tactile graphics symbols

Teachers reported that even if their student has trouble with some things (e.g., finger strength) it is good to work on them

Pre-K Changes Based on Field Testing

BOP Pre-K writers have reviewed results of the pilot field test and have worked to: Shorten and/or reduce the number of

activities within the lesson Decrease the length of the curriculum by

shortening the length of review and assessment lessons

Attend to needed practice in areas of concern to teachers

In Every LessonRead-aloud of authentic literature story or

informational textKnowledge and concept developmentListening comprehension and vocabulary

developmentTactile storybookPhonological awareness and phonics

In Every Lesson(continued)

Letter recognitionRecognition of common alphabetic

wordsigns and high frequency wordsNumber recognitionReading continuous textWriting letters, words, and numbers using

practice exercises and a modeled/interactive technique

Benefits of Interactive Read-Alouds

Using Authentic LiteratureChildren engage with the same books as their

peers, which promotes social interaction through shared interests.

Children learn concepts and vocabulary that cannot be experienced directly.

Children become familiar with the "book language" they will be reading themselves later on.

Children learn to use different strategies (e.g., recall, predicting, inference) to think about the text as they discuss it with an adult reader.

Benefits of Authentic Literature (continued)

Children develop an understanding of how fluent reading sounds.

Children learn that books contain appealing stories and interesting information, which contributes to a positive attitude towards literacy.

Parents, teachers, and children gain the understanding that reading braille is equivalent to reading print.

Background Knowledge Types of background knowledge (Pearson & Liben)

General world knowledge Knowledge of relations among people Disciplinary (Informational) knowledge Knowledge of language (vocabulary; idioms; grammatical

structures) Young children acquire background knowledge through:

Hands-on exploration with verbal explanation Oral language Social situations and role-playing Play (exploration, inquiry, & reinforcement of concepts,) Read-alouds

Background Knowledgefor You Be You (BOP Pre-K Lesson 4)

Examination of real fish, model fish, & tactile graphic Activities relating fish body and movements to child‘s

own body I'm a Little Fishy (Tune: I'm a Little Teapot)

I'm a little fishy, watch me swim. (Fishy Hands)Here is my tail, here is my fin. (Point to where tail and fin would be.)When I want to have fun with my friends, (Point to others.)I wiggle my tail and dive right in! (Wiggle and jump forward.)

Fish puppet art; puppet used to practice opposites. ("Swim up/down, left/right, over/under.").

Background Knowledge Developed with Paired Literary

and Informational BooksLessons 7-8

The Very Hungry Caterpillar What's it like to be … a Butterfly?

Lessons 19-20 The Very Busy Spider What's it like to be … a Spider?

Additional Lesson Features

Daily reading of alphabet Regular reading of numbers 1-10Enrichment: MusicOther enrichment activities such as

art, movement, or sensory activitiesParent LetterLetter Bank Integral to the content of each lesson

is  the concept of play

Sample Lesson

Pete the Cat and

His Four Groovy Buttonsby

Eric Litwin

Vocabularygroovy: really cool; great; awesome

favorite: the one he liked best

popped: came off or fell off

buttonless: without buttons, no buttons

Tactile Storybook Cover: Pete’s Buttons

Tactile Storybook Page

#a

 

3333 = 333 = 3333 = 333 = 33

3333333333333333 #d 33333333

 

333333333 pop 33333333333333

Fun Learning Activities!

Questions?

Please Consider Field Testing!

APH uses the comments and recommendations gathered from experts in the field to refine and improve products before actual production.

Complete form available at:

http://www.aph.org/edresearch/ Contact Laura Zierer, Research Assistant,

lzierer@aph.org