Guide Dogs for the Blind Inc
At A Glance—An Educational Resource Guide: Section C

Section C: Curriculum and Classroom Activity Planners

Curriculum and Classroom Activity Planner / Grades K-4

 

Enclosed Learning Aids:

[* Teachers—For a copy of the puzzles, Activity Sheet or Wall Poster, please contact Guide Dogs for the Blind via email at iteachers@guidedogs.com; or by mail at the following address: P.O. Box 151200, San Rafael, CA 94915-1200. Please include your name, the name, address and phone number of your school, and the grade level that you teach.]

Curriculum:

Lesson Concept #1: Adapting to Vision Loss
When someone loses their vision, they must depend on other senses to accomplish daily tasks.

Activity: While seated on the floor in a circle, have the students remove one of their shoes. Ask them to close their eyes and put their shoes back on. Have students describe the experience and identify the senses they used to accomplish the task without using their sight.

Activity: Ask the students to list all the things they did that morning to get ready for school. Have them list ways they might do each task differently if they couldn't use their sight. (Ex: How would they know what time they should get up? How would they choose their clothes so they'd match? How could they pour a glass of milk without spilling it?)

Lesson Concept #2: Puppy Raising and Guide Dog Training
In order to become a guide, a dog must learn to behave in social situations and to help a blind person travel safely.

Activity: Have the students make and name an origami guide dog puppy out of colored paper (instructions enclosed; diagrammed instructions included with graphic version of At A Glance). They can then use their puppies to tell stories about what a puppy needs to learn in order to become a guide dog.

Activity: Have the students illustrate the enclosed story, "Juno Becomes a Guide Dog."

Origami Guide Dog Puppy Instructions

  1. Start with a square piece of paper placed with one of the corners facing you. Fold the top corner down to line up with the bottom corner to form a triangle.
  2. Somewhere between 1/3 and 1/2-way across the top of your triangle, fold one of the corners down toward the triangle's point but sticking over the edge of the paper. Repeat this fold with the other corner. These flaps will be your origami puppy's ears.
  3. Make a fold along the bottom point of the original triangle to create your origami puppy's chin.
  4. Now for the finishing touches! Draw a face on your puppy and give him a name.

Story: Juno Becomes a Guide Dog
Juno was a little puppy living with his mother and his brothers and sisters in the kennel. One day, he met a young girl named Susan. Susan brought Juno to her house and told him that she would be his puppy raiser. Juno was very happy.

Susan taught Juno how to behave in the house - not to jump up on the furniture or to chew socks and shoes. Whenever Juno was going outside, Susan would dress him in a green coat that read "Guide Dog Puppy In Training." She took Juno to school and to the store.

When he was a little older, Susan took Juno to guide dog school. Instead of wearing his green coat, he wore a guide dog harness. The harness was made of leather and had a handle that a person could hold on to. Whenever he was wearing the harness, Juno knew it was time to work.

At guide dog school, Juno worked with a trainer named Mark. Mark taught Juno to lead him around obstacles like telephone poles and mailboxes, and to cross the street safely.

One day, Mark took Juno to meet a man who was blind. The man's name was Sam. Juno and Sam became great friends, and Juno became Sam's guide dog, leading him safely around obstacles and across streets. He was a very good dog.

- The End -

Curriculum and Classroom Activity Planner / Grades 5-8

Enclosed Learning Aids:

[* Teachers—For a copy of the puzzles, Activity Sheet or Wall Poster, please contact Guide Dogs for the Blind via email at iteachers@guidedogs.com; or by mail at the following address: P.O. Box 151200, San Rafael, CA 94915-1200. Please include your name, the name, address and phone number of your school, and the grade level that you teach.]

 

Suggested Materials:

Curriculum:

Lesson Concept #1: Orientation
In order to use a cane or a guide dog, a person who is blind must develop their orientation skills. Orientation is defined as: a person's sense of spacial awareness and direction in relation to themselves.

Lesson: Ask students to use the word "orientation" in a meaningful sentence. Include the word "orientation" in spelling lessons.

Activity: Draw a simple map of your classroom and hallways on the blackboard. Show where all exits are located. Use a compass to determine where the cardinal directions are with relation to your map (North, South, East, West). Label each exit according to its directional position (ex: the northeast exit). Ask students to show you on the map which directions they would need to travel to reach each exit. Blindfold one student using a handkerchief. Have another student direct the blindfolded student to an exit by using phrases such as "turn to the north," "halt," "continue," "turn to the south," etc. The teacher should supervise each pair during this exercise to ensure the exercise is accomplished safely. (The blindfolded student should keep a hand in front of his or her face, palm outward, for added safety.)

Lesson Concept #2: Mobility
While people who are blind travel independently by using a cane or guide dog, there are some situations in which the assistance of a sighted guide is more appropriate. A person acting as a sighted guide should always remember to ask before offering assistance, instead of assuming automatically that a blind person needs help.

Instead of pulling, pushing, or steering, the sighted guide should offer their arm and allow the person to hold on above the elbow and follow with confidence. The guide should keep their arm relaxed by their side, and should stop or slow before steps and curbs and give verbal cues such as: "We're coming to some steps. We're about to go through a narrow door, which will open out and to the right." Chair backs, seats or table tops can be tapped to provide audible cues to their location. Clear instructions should be used, such as "the chair is to your right," instead of generalities like "over here" or "this way."

Activity: Taking turns, blindfold one student and have a partner be their sighted guide.

 Lesson Concept #3: Accommodation
In order to accomplish everyday tasks, people with vision loss must learn to use senses other than sight. Accommodation means "adjustment or adaptation."

Lesson: Ask students to use the word "accommodation" in a meaningful sentence. Include the word "accommodation" in spelling lessons.

Lesson: Laurie B. is in the eighth grade and she is blind. She uses a computer. But instead of using sight to read the computer screen, she uses her hearing. She has talking software which reads the words aloud. It also announces the words as she types them. Ask students what senses other than sight she could use to read a book for a book report. (Ex: She could use her sense of hearing to listen to a talking book on cassette, or use her sense of touch to read the book in Braille.)

Laurie's computer software allows her to surf the Internet. Instead of using a mouse, however, she uses keyboard commands to navigate around the screen. Her teachers scan her assignments into the computer and then print them out in Braille so that Laurie can read them.

Activity: Have students decode the enclosed Braille message with the Braille decoder (available in the graphic version of At A Glance).

Activity: Set a table with the following objects: toothbrushes, tubes of toothpaste, plastic water pitchers, plastic water glasses, a roll of paper towels, and several coins of varying denominations. With one or more students under blindfold, have them each try to apply toothpaste to a toothbrush, fill a glass with water and identify the coins. Some helpful hints:

  • One way to get toothpaste neatly on to a toothbrush is to place your finger beside the bristles of the brush to feel how much paste is being squeezed from the tube and where it is being applied.
  • When pouring any cold liquid, place your finger over the edge of the glass to feel the level of the liquid as it reaches the top of the glass.
  • Coins are easily differentiated by their size and the ribs on their edges. Quarters and dimes, of course, both have ribbed edges, and pennies and nickels have smooth edges.

Lesson Concept #4: Issues Relating to Blindness
There are many issues related to blindness and mobility; this lesson provides quiz material, puzzles and games to test students' knowledge on a variety of these issues. After completing the activities, subsequent classroom discussion can be used to uncover and dispel any misconceptions or stereotypes the students may have surrounding blindness.

Activity: Have students complete the enclosed puppy raising puzzles and word games (available in the graphic version of At A Glance).

  • Crossword Puzzle Answer Key*
  • Word Search Answer Key*
  • Word Scramble Answer Key*

Activity: Have your students answer the true-or-false questions in the "What Do You Know About Blindness?" quiz provided.

  • "What Do You Know About Blindness" Quiz Answer Key*

[* Teachers—For a copy of the Answer Keys (Crossword Puzzle, Word Search and Word Scramble answer keys available in graphic versions only), please contact Guide Dogs for the Blind via email at iteachers@guidedogs.com; or by mail at the following address: P.O. Box 151200, San Rafael, CA 94915-1200. Please include your name, the name, address and phone number of your school, and the grade level that you teach.]

 Quiz: What Do You Know About Blindness?

Answer the following True or False Questions:

 

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