Summertime Cool: Ideas to Enrich and Teach

"What did you do on your summer vacation?" This was a familiar writing assignment for many people when they were growing up. I remember, don't you? The end of school is around the corner, and summertime fun will be here before we know it. Let's support students and their families in their building of great summer vacation memories with new ideas that inspire, as well as teach.

Inspiration comes from the Described and Captioned Media Program, a curricular resource for teachers, families, and orientation and mobility instructors. DCMP has numerous free-loan media items that support the Expanded Core Curriculum (ECC) for kids who are blind, have low vision, or are deaf-blind.

The ECC component of the National Agenda for the Education of Children and Youths with Visual Impairments, Including Those with Multiple Disabilities is seen by many school districts and agencies as a key area for building effective teaching practices for these children. It is a set of skills that are intended to assist the students, birth to 22 years of age, in becoming an independent, confident, capable member of his or her community. It goes beyond the reuglar core curriculum (such as math, reading, and science) and focuses on skills that are disability-specific (Pugh & Erin, 1999).

The nine areas of the ECC include: Assistive Technology/Technology, Career Education, Compensatory or Access Skills, Independent Living, Orientation and Mobility, Recreation & Leisure, Sensory Efficiency (auditory, tactual & visual), Self-Determination, and Social Interaction, (Hatlen, 1996; Lohmeir, Blankenship, & Hatlen, 2009).

As you plan for additional activities to keep your students' skills at their highest level, look to the DCMP resources and this Summertime Cool Lesson Calendar for ideas. When your students return to school, prepare to read and hear enthusiastic tales of cool fun.

Summertime Cool Lesson Calendar

The ECC Lesson Chart is a sampling of ideas and resources to build additional fun opportunities for teaching the Expanded Core Curriculum (ECC). Many of the resources support several ECC areas and may be used in different ways throughout the curriculum. The ECC Lesson Chart is meant to inspire you to continue your search for additional resources to build an ECC teaching portfolio.

Week	Sensory Efficiency	Compensatory/ Access Skills	Social Interaction	Orientation & Mobility	Career Education	Recreation and Leisure	Independent Living	Self-Determination	Technology & Assistive Technology
	Attract birds to your schoolyard or home. Read More	Increase opportunities for communication skills through drama. Read More	Discuss the importance of friends and family in their lives. Read More	Start an orientation & mobility Jeopardy game. Read More	Here is a career exploration opportunity--get to know community workers. Read More	Discuss steps to plan a day trip to a community museum, art gallery, or park. Read More	Get out the measuring cups and spoons, pick a recipe, and enjoy cooking together. Read More	Increase opportunities for making choices and decision making. Read More	Keyboarding is an essential part of literacy programming. Read More
	Play I spy. Read More	Have your students watched any good books lately? Read More	Discuss the importance of "looking your best." Read More	Make a mobility story book. Read More	Develop a survival kit for college. Read More	Think of ways to record fun sports or indoor/outdoor recreation memories. Read More	Limit the number of sedentary activities. Read More	Discuss and practice good telephone manners. Read More	Children first learn to listen and speak, then use these and other skills to learn to read and write. Read More
	Work on improving their skills with their low vision devices. Read More	Build vocabulary with meaningful stories and experiences. Read More	Discuss how to make and be a friend. Read More	Plan for a rainy day retreat. Read More	Promote both volunteer and paid work opportunities. Read More	Set the stage to entice and motivate students to want to travel. Read More	Kids need to learn responsibility, self-esteem and self-worth. Read More	Encourage reading about successful people who are visually impaired. Read More	Building competent writers is important. Read More
	Play mystery voice game. Read More	Practice letter-writing skills. Read More	Good body posture is important to making a good impression. Read More	Go on an adventure. Read More	Support development of mentorship opportunities with adults who are blind or have low vision. Read More	Encourage outdoor activities. Read More	Dress for success. Read More	Provide opportunity for imaginative play that focuses on sharing. Read More	Work on setting goals. Read More

Resources

About the Author

Mary Ann Siller, M.Ed., is first and foremost an educator of children who are blind or visually impaired, ages birth through twenty-one. Siller has vast experience developing and leading national education initiatives and advocating for access to instruction and information. She is most at home when she is working with families to inspire their young children to dream big and find their special path to adulthood. She continues to address the most critical issues impacting the field of blindness and works as an advocate and curriculum designer. In previous career positions, she oversaw educational programming, curriculum development, and professional training at a state and national level for the Texas Education Agency and American Foundation for the Blind. Additional experience includes teaching/consulting for students with visual impairments and liaison with school districts to implement Federal and State laws. Mary Ann resides in Dallas, Texas.

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