English and children with visual impairment at P level 5-8

At this level vocabulary increases and language structure gets more complex. A new challenge, for P Level 8, is to show awareness of writing for different purposes.

 You can:

• Try the Skoog (www.skoogmusic.) for sentence structure and musical fun. Build increased vocabulary and language systematically and carefully, in a way that is relevant to the child (who relies on aural memory).
• The device mentioned is called PENpal also known as TalkingPEN
• Use PENpal also known as TalkingPEN, a scanner device, which records sound and stores it as self-adhesive dots. The dots can be stuck onto books and objects. When the scanner (like a big pen) is moved across a spot, it is activated, playing the recording. With this device ordinary books can be enjoyed by adding stickers to the pages. It can be useful at P level 8, as it can used to record texts with a range of purposes. It is called PENpal also known as TalkingPEN. This has sticky spots which retain digital voice input which responds to the pen being held over it  to reproduce the voice input. These sticky spots can be put onto pages of a book, or card, and will reproduce whatever has been recorded on them (such as instructions or text of a story or information book). They can also be used to label drawers to help the pupil find resources and equipment.
• Making meaningful marks will depend on the route the child takes with regard to ‘reading’. Anything drawn can be recorded as a raised line by a moon-writing machine. This can be felt by the child as something they have ‘written’ or ‘drawn’.