Perkins School for the Blind
Encouraging Students Who are Blind or Visually Impaired to Express Their Feelings and Explore Imagination
Being expressive in a creative, empathetic, or imaginative way is not only fun, it builds good pre-writing and communication skills. Learners with visual impairments have a roundtable discussion session where several sentence frames...
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What Makes the Wind Blow?
Student study the properties of wind. They make a miniature hot-air balloon and compose diamond-shaped poems about the wind. They explain that as the sun warms air around the earth, the air rises. Colder air then moves in to fill the...
Perkins School for the Blind
Tactile Journals
I absolutely love this idea. Children with visual impairments create tactile journals which describe an event from the previous week in an artistic way. They verbally describe one event from the previous week and then use a wide array of...
Perkins School for the Blind
Letter Confusion
Teaching a child with low or no vision how to read is the same as teaching a sighted child how to read — it all starts with letter recognition. This is a simple way to provide your learners with an opportunity to practice reading and...
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Starfish Project: Ceramics
After exploring the wonders of ocean life found in tidal pools, explore ocean life through ceramic art. Kids use texturing and the pinch-and-pull technique to create starfish, just like the ones found at the seashore. Suggested...
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Jazz In America
Students gain a fundamental understanding of the role of jazz in the Harlem Renaissance. They explain its historical significance and cultural implications.
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Clowing Around: Ceramics
Clowns are a big hit with kids! Explore a few circus related websites to get an idea of how clowns look and what they do. They then build sculpting skills by creating expressive clown faces out of clay. Web links, materials list, and...
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Cycles of Life
Students explore the metamorphosis of an insect as it changes from an egg to pupa to an adult. the process of change is observed, recorded, and transformed into a life cycle picture.
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Boxes & Blocks: Tunnel Vision
Students paint, create, and crawl through their own tunnel. In this early childhood visual arts activity, students will develop gross motor skills and engage in activities that promote physical exercise as they create and explore tunnels...
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Yummy Gummy Subtraction
Students practice subtraction facts using gummy bears. In this subtraction lesson, students use the gummy bears as a manipulative to solve simple subtraction facts.
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Picture Books and the Bill of Rights
Students identify the basic freedoms of citizens in the United States. In this Bill of Rights instructional activity, students act out scenarios about the Bill of Rights. Students create a picture book describing the rights...
Perkins School for the Blind
Left Versus Right
When you can't see, it is extremely important to be able to reorient yourself. Learners with visual impairments work though an activity to build spacial awareness based on moving left and right. A marker (bracelet, bell, or weight) is...
Perkins School for the Blind
Build a Word
Get out those scrabble tiles and a braille tape labeler because today we are playing a build-a-word game! Label several sets of scrabble tiles using the braille labeler, place them in a box, and have children take turns pulling letter...
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Measuring Pumpkins and Our World
Students estimate the circumference of a pumpkin. They measure the pumpkin and other school objects, and record the measurements on worksheets.
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Wynton's Tune
Students examine the serigraph, "Wynton's Tune," by artist Faith Ringgold. They discuss the painting, listen to jazz music, create a drawing that tells a story inspired by their favorite music, and write sentences describing their artwork.
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Weather and Technology
Students discuss daily weather change, that we live in a world of symbols and innovations. They recognize the use of symbols to replace language and the value of technological innovation to improving our lives.
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Cultures of Our Nation
Learners bring in family items that represent their culture and present them to the class. In this culture lesson plan, students can bring in food, music, dance, pictures, and more.
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Substances And Chemical Reactions
Students watch and predict chemical reactions when different substances are mixed together. They differentiate between solid, liquid, and gas.
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Meeting Our Daily Needs
Students investigate the concept of basic needs. For this philanthropy lesson, students define the term "philanthropy" and brainstorm ways to help others who don't get their basic needs met. Students analyze and sort acts of philanthropy...
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Paper Plate Sunflowers
A great way to recall the parts of a flower is to make one. Little learners create sunflowers out of paint and paper plates. They also discuss and label the various parts of their flowers.
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Investigation - Snack TIme
Students explore solving addition and subtraction problems. They solve real life problems. Students participate in a simulation activity to find the missing addend. They demonstrate adding and subtracting whole numbers.
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Leaf People
Kids create leaf people out of sticks, glue, and leaves. They use their imagination to construct leaf people and then glue them onto construction paper. Tip: Extend this craft by incorporating writing. Have learners write a short story...
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Water Changes and Moves
Students explore the three forms of water and observe how it changes from a solid to a liquid to a gas. The concepts of condensation, evaporation and the introduction to the water cycle form the basis of this instructional activity.