;
Lorem Ipsum Dolor Spring 2016
3
teachers can find several concrete items relatable to stories that the student
is reading, which thus aids in further comprehension. For example, the story
may talk about a bowl full of honey in which the TVI would provide the student
with an actual bowl of honey to feel. This would make the idea more concrete
to the student, showing them how sticky and messy the honey is when spilled
in the story.
In looking specifically at the area of phonics and phonological
awareness, an observer might see students completing a word sort based on
the beginning letter sound of that word; however, student with a visual
impairment will most likely need to have a more concrete representation for
better understanding. Alphabet boxes are a great way to make letter sounds
more concrete, not only for students with visual impairments, but for all
students (Access to Literacy, 2013). An example of this could be for the letter
"C," in which the teacher might have a box comprised of objects such as a
car, cat, can, etc. With this method the student can pick up an object, state
what it is, identify the beginning sound, thus completing the sort. Adaptations
would be needed for a braille reader, such as having the box labeled in
20
