Learning about Accessibility for the Blind by being able to type on a Brailler and The Scientific Process through a Potato Gun

The Brailler is the item that allows for writing. It has an interesting format that allows the words to be created on special paper that lifts the dots so that they can be felt. The word for the kids to learn was embossed. Each had a chance to create their name. Erin J. had put the alphabet on the board and how the Brailler was structured. Abi told us that it was created by a man named Louis Braille who is from France and created it himself around the 1820. The kids learned that was before the Civil War. We had another great conversation about how important time is to understand when things happened in the U.S. or the world. There are certain dates that are used as reference points. Since over the last month we learned about the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution and when they were written, it was good to have another date to be able to use. Plus knowing the dates helps the kids see these events as part of our story or narrative as a nation. 

Here, the kids are learning that the "White Canes" which help blind people navigate their path by allowing them to feel the world around them.

The way the embossed dots are numbered and the orientation of how they appear on the page. The way the dots are put together in the different patterns as shown in in the picture below is how the alphabet is created

Carson brought the potato gun he made with his Dad. When he and first started talking, it was evident that he had gone through the process of how you create an experiment to answer a question. He was able to go very deep in his explanations about what he learned from the building of the gun to the changes (variables) that could make the question he asked have different results. The class learned a lot from their classmate's curiosity. Having Carson bring the whole apparatus to class gave value to everyday types of things that kids wonder about that is full of opportunities for inquiry that can lift the mundane idea of steps of science to how it is applied. Plus all the critical thinking that Carson showed in his explanations, not to mention, the excitement of what he was learning, showed the kids that science is all around. We totally Raised the Roof for Carson's exploration of thinking!