Dots: An Introduction to Braille Lowercase Letters

Dots: An Introduction to Braille Lowercase Letters PDF

Lesson summary:

This is a fun way to introduce the braille alphabet in English (Grade 1 braille) to young learners. Sighted and blind learners will use an exploration of braille to reinforce their knowledge of lowercase letters. This activity can also give students, sighted and blind, a fun way to explore sight words.  

After a brief introduction to braille, the student will use tactile braille and print letter cards to make letters that look like braille lowercase letters using tennis balls and 6-muffin-slot muffin tins. 

This can be part of a larger unit using dots to teach Science, Math, Art, and English Language Arts. (More about that in the Additional Materials Section) 

This activity can help normalize braille in a classroom for both blind and sighted emerging readers of both print and braille. 

This activity can give blind braille learners more interaction with braille letters and words if set up in a way that’s accessible for them. And some blind students may increase their confidence as they help their sighted peers by using what they are learning in their own braille studies.

Subject and topic:

English Language Arts and Disability History

Grade level:

Kindergarten and 1st Grade

Duration:

15 minutes plus