This post is the seventh in a series of lessons on teaching students who are braille readers to make the transition from EBAE (English Braille American Edition) to UEB (Unified English Braille). All lessons are by Catherine Summ and Suzanne Cappiello, who both work as Education Consultants for the Department of Rehabilitative Services (DORS-BESB) in CT.
See the full UEB Curriculum with all lessons.
Goal:
The student will be able to identify the dot combination for the period, decimal and dot that is now used in the UEB code.
The period, dot and decimal will always be shown as dots 2,5,6.
For further explanation of the changes refer to the handout “Overview of Changes from Current Literary Braille to Unified English Braille” authored by Braille Authority of North America, March 2013, www.brailleauthority.org. Refer to the UEB manual for a full explanation of the braille code.
Teacher prepares the examples below in braille. Students practice reading the examples below, mark the dot 2,5,6 combinations and identify them as a period, decimal or dot.
- A matinee movie ticket costs $4.00.
- You can check the weather at www.weather.com.
- There are 8.4 million people living in New York City.
- A dozen bagels is $6.00 at the bakery.
- www.wereadbraille.org
- 2.5 million people in the state said they really like cheese pizza.
- www.catsreadtoo.org
- I paid $15.00 for my train ticket.
- I have version 12.4 of the software.
- Blue jeans are on sale two pairs for $40.00.
Additional Activities: Writing Practice
Dictate the following words, phrases, and sentences to students. Feel free to add your own.
- www.puppiesforpresident.com
- $9.50
- 10.7
- Apples cost $3.50 per bag.
- I have the 5.5 version of the cell phone.
- Each ruler costs $2.50.
- 7.3 million Canadians speak French as their native language.
- www.websiteshaveinfo.edu
Assessment:
Dictate the following words, phrases, and sentences to students. Add your own. Teacher compiles a spreadsheet for each student to document progress and compile data.
- Water bottles cost $1.00.
- The world population is 7.3 billion.
- www.wereadandread.com
- Each sandwich costs $4.75.
- www.games@funtime.net
- We need version 10.2 of the software.
- Raffle tickets are $2.00 each or three for $5.00.
- 73.8 million acres of soybeans are harvested in the U.S. each year.
- Major U.S. crop information may be found at epa.gov.
- I paid $18.50 for the large ice cream cake.
Educational Activity and Game:
Trivia Challenge
Have each student go online to research fun facts about an assigned topic or a topic of their choice. Ask the students to braille their facts on index cards and quiz each other. The majority of their fun facts should include the period, decimal or dot. Ask the students to braille a list of the websites they used in their research.
Click here to download Duxbury file of Lesson 7 examples of period, dot, decimal. (Courtesy of Karen Carl.)
