Did you know that January is Braille Literacy Awareness Month? It honors Louis Braille and recognizes the important role that the Braille alphabet system plays in the lives on many who are blind and visually impaired.
Who Was Louis Braille?
Louis Braille was born in France on January 4, 1809. Braille himself became blind as a little boy after a horrific accident in his father’s workshop. As an older child, he received a scholarship to study in Paris at the National Institute for Blind Children, and later became a teacher there. There was no method by which the blind could read or write at the time. As a teenager, he was inspired by French army officer Charles Barbier’s invention of night writing to create a six-dot cell system eventually known as Braille to enable the blind to read using their fingers.
Bringing Braille into the Mainstream Classroom
If you have a classroom of students who are sighted, why introduce the concept of Braille?
Braille is a tool that enables inclusion and empowerment for those who are unable to see, and to participate alongside their peers in everyday activities and tasks. When those who are sighted recognize the existence and importance of a different way to read, learn, and communicate, the door is opened to better understanding and greater acceptance of others who have different abilities. It also invites the conversation of accessibility, and when society recognizes what accessibility looks like, it becomes more and more obvious when it isn’t visible.
In the past, I have introduced my students to the text (affiliate link) Louis Braille: The Boy Who Invented Books for the Blind by Margaret Davidson. We spent a few weeks on this text, while also bringing Braille products into the classroom to make a real-life, text-to-world connection.
The first step was introducing my sighted students to everyday familiar objects and games that feature Braille. We went on to discuss where in the outside world they would see Braille, and their assignment over the course of the next week was to keep alert and look out for any Braille displays. As New York City kids, this wasn’t a hard task, and suddenly, they were observing Braille just about everywhere they went. Many exclaimed that they hadn’t ever noticed that Braille was in their apartment building elevators that they rode EVERY.SINGLE.DAY. Ultimately, while all of my students were sighted, the introduction to another way to read brought them to a new level of awareness.
VOCABULARY
Following are words to include in your discussion / unit on Louis Braille:
acceptance (and how this is different from tolerance)
accessibility
inclusion
resources
Some of the items I brought into my classroom included:
Braille dice
Braille playing cards
A Starbucks card with Braille writing (This inspired another thoughtful discussion on the important, and unfortunately limited retailers providing gift cards with Braille.)
We completed our study of Louis Braille and his invention by doing a hands-on fine motor craft activity. Using puffy paint, beads, or rhinestone stickers, students created a tactile replica of their names or the entire alphabet in Braille.
A TACTILE CRAFT
“I love,love the puff paint braille paper. We have so much fun with it and I also use it as a data sheet too. Thank you so much for making this.”
“I used this activity on my school's annual "dot day." We read "Six Dots" (about Louis Braille) then completed this activity. My kids were so interested and engaged and loved learning that some students read with their hands! Their name tags have been displayed in the hallway and students always stop to "feel" their names. Love, love, love!”
Before I sign off, I also have to (HIGHLY) recommend an introduction to Helen Keller as part of the National Geographic series and how Braille’s invention played a role in her ability to achieve such greatness despite her disability.
If you can locate a copy, Jeremy’s Dreidel by Ellie B. Gellman, this one is also a wonderful addition to any library. The setting is the Jewish Community Center during Hanukkah, and is written from the point of view of a boy whose father is blind. In this sweet story, Jeremy wants to find a way to help his visually impaired father enjoy a popular Hanukkah game that involves reading specific letters from an object - the dreidel. But when he succeeds and his prize-winning Braille dreidel is put on display, Jeremy teaches us all an important lesson about inclusion.
How will you and your students partake in Braille Literacy Awareness Month?