Holy Braille Note Batman ! Bat Women: Stephanie Herlich & Yurika Vu Sidekick Robin: Adrian Amandi California School for the Blind Assistive Technology Specialists

CSB is revising…

Online and hard copy versions Step by step easy to follow directions Learn through lessons linked to Common Core Anchor Strands Lessons can be adapted to students of all ages So…what’s new about this anyway?

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Creating a Journal Common Core State Standard Anchor Strand Writing: Integration of Knowledge and Ideas Writing: Production and Distribution of Writing Writing: Range of Writing Easier things first… You need much training my little grasshopper Content Objective  Student will write meaningful, task related journal entries over an extended time frame.  Student will be able to open a KeyWord document and add to an existing document.  Student will be able to spell check document.  Student will be able to navigate the document efficiently. Materials Needed BrailleNote

Procedure Note: This lesson guide can be modified for any grade by determining which steps the student can do independently and which steps will require teacher assistance. Middle and High School students should eventually be able to do all steps independently. 1.Discuss with the student the concept of a journal. For example, it can be a daily diary, a response to a question, or an outlet for creative expression. Explain that the student will create a “Journal” document in his/her BrailleNote and will continue to add to the journal several times a week. 2.The following websites contain innovative ideas for how to make journal writing fun and interesting for all ages. There are many more resources available on the internet.  and.html and.html    prompts-for-middle-school/ prompts-for-middle-school/  If your student has never written or read a journal before, providing an interesting and engaging example with several journal entries will greatly help the student understand the creative outlet and enjoyment of journal writing. 4.Instruct student to create a KeyWord document in an appropriate folder where he/she will keep his/her journal. See Creating a Keyword Document. 5.Instruct student to begin each journal entry with the date. 6.Give student a writing prompt or sentence starter. Providing a minimum number of sentences within a certain time frame may be useful. 7.Set aside time several days each week for student to add additional journal entries using different prompts or sentence starters. See Opening a KeyWord Document for instructions on how to open previously saved journal entries.

Additional Ideas:  Teach student to spell check journal entries. See Spell Check instructions.  Teachers can respond to student’s journal entries for creativity and to promote ongoing dialogue.  To encourage efficient document and text navigation, see Basic BrailleNote Navigation.  It may be helpful when instructing student to connect the BrailleNote to a visual display. See Connecting to a Visual Display Other Related Documents Creating a New Folder

Common Core State Standard Anchor Strand Reading: Integration of Knowledge and Ideas Reading: Key Ideas and Details Reading: Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity Writing: Production and Distribution of Writing Now for the hard stuff Downloading and Reading Bookshare Books

Content Objective  Student will choose an author who has written at least 2 books at the student’s independent or instructional reading level.  Student will download books to BrailleNote through KeyWeb.  Student will unpack the downloaded books on the BrailleNote.  Student will use Book Reader on the BrailleNote to read the downloaded books.  Student will use KeyWord to write a summary of each book, describe the setting, and main character or characters.  Student will use KeyWord to write a paragraph that compares either the settings, themes, or characters of the two stories read. Materials Needed BrailleNote Bookshare account and password Internet access

Procedure Note: This lesson guide can be modified for any grade by determining which steps the student can do independently and which steps will require teacher assistance. Middle and High School students should eventually be able to do all steps independently. 1.Student will research, ask teachers, parents, or friends for the name of 2 books by the same author. 2.Student will access the Bookshare.org website from their BrailleNote and download the first book. See Downloading Bookshare Books.Downloading Bookshare Books 3.Instruct student to create a KeyWord document in an appropriate folder where he/she will keep notes on the summary, setting, and main characters. See Creating a KeyWord Document. Teach student how to toggle between applications so he/she can easily take notes when reading within the BookReader application. See Task Switching under Basic BrailleNote Navigation.Task Switching under Basic BrailleNote Navigation 4.After student finishes reading the first book, have him/her download the second book and create a new document in KeyWord for the summary, setting, and main character of the second book. 5.Once student has finished both books, instruct him/her to create a new document in KeyWord in order to write his/her sentence, paragraph or essay (depending on age and ability) comparing and contrasting either the themes, setting, or main characters (or all three!). Teach student to toggle between documents within KeyWord. See Task Switching under Basic BrailleNote Navigation.Task Switching under Basic BrailleNote Navigation Other related documents Wireless Connection, Connecting to a Visual Display, Opening a KeyWord Document, Spell Check, Creating a New Folder