[blindkid] reading rates

Arielle Silverman arielle71 at gmail.com
Thu Mar 22 17:15:56 UTC 2012


One easy research project would be for the Braille teachers at all the
NFB centers to record all students' times at the beginning and end of
their training, and quantify the degree of improvement in speed. This
would be especially useful in the adult programs, for making the point
that it is possible to learn the code, or to gain fluency, in
adulthood.
Arielle

On 3/22/12, trising <trising at sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> Hello:
>     Before I began assisting Braille readers to improve their reading
> speeds, my husband and I both entered the Adult Braille
> Readers are Leaders Contest. We had to determine our speed for this contest.
> We timed each other for a period of one minute each
> time, on a passage of material from a novel that we intended to read for the
> contest. At that point, our reading speeds were
> consistently between 250-260 words per minute for each minute that we timed.
> This put us in the expert category for the contest.
>     Then, when we were asked to assist with Braille camp at Camp Tuhsmeheta,
> we read NFB literature and also  discussed strategies
> for improving Braille reading speed. These include, using more fingers on
> the Braille, reading silently, keeping palms off the
> Braille, and keeping hands together until the end of the line. When we were
> at camp with the teens, we made sure each teen had a
> hard copy Braille book that they were interested in and that they could
> keep. We then timed their speed on Monday morning without
> any instruction. Then, we gave instructions on how to improve speed and gave
> time for practice throuout the week. Last summer, by
> Friday, we  had numbers that improved for all of our students who were
> working on speed. Some others, who were just learning the
> alphabet completed the alphabet and had a good start on the contractions
> that involve each letter of the Braille alphabet standing
> alone. This is probably not a scientific method, but it has worked for us as
> we help teens improve their speeds. If they have
> something to read that they enjoy, even if it challenges their reading
> level, the results are much better than trying to get teens
> to read books that are written more for the elementary level. Sorry this is
> so long. I hope it helps
>
> Sincerely,
> Terri Wilcox
> Secretary, National Federation of the Blind of Michigan
> Ann Arbor Chapter President
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> blindkid mailing list
> blindkid at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindkid_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> blindkid:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindkid_nfbnet.org/arielle71%40gmail.com
>




More information about the BlindKid mailing list