The are several curricula and programs designed specifically for teaching deaf and hard of hearing children to read.
"Foundations for Literacy is a one-of-a-kind, evidence-based intervention designed specifically for preschool and kindergarten-aged children who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH). Classroom teachers typically implement Foundations for Literacy four hours a week for the school year. Targeted learning objectives include vocabulary, narrative skills, alphabetic knowledge, phonological awareness, and reading decodable words and short connected text. Each lesson includes strategies for differentiating instruction using fun, multi-sensory, age-appropriate, integrated activities. "
Designed to support teachers of Deaf and hard of hearing children in building the foundations of literacy. Grounded in a commitment to sharing effective instructional strategies for children with varying language backgrounds
This is a curriculum currently in development. It is rolling out to be purchased in phases.
PHASE 1- Complete and ready to be purchased. "Phase 1 includes: The Bilingual Grammar Curriculum ASL and English Anchor Standards, Benchmarks and Performance-based Objectives for Level 1, 2 & 3. Phase 1 does not include lesson plans or other curriculum related materials.
PHASE 2- Phase 2 is completed! This will include all of the Anchor Standards, benchmarks, objectives, target sentences in both languages, lesson plans, extension activities, and assessment suggestions. September 2020 release date.
PHASE 3- Completion of Levels 2 & 3 as a complete curriculum. Dates TBD
PHASE 4- Addition of Levels 4-6- Advanced Grammar Instruction. Dates TBD"
"Fairview Learning grew out of a pilot reading project at the Mississippi School for the Deaf. Co-founders Connie Schimmel, Ph.D., and Sandra Edwards sought to provide educational materials and assessment tools for teachers of deaf students. What started as project with four elementary students has evolved into the Fairview Process."
Edited by Stephen Quigley, Cynthia King, Patricia McAnally and Susan Rose.
"Reading Milestones is a revolutionary reading series that is characterized by its use of strictly controlled syntax and vocabulary. This successful alternative method, using chunking (the separation of phrases by several spaces) for linguistic control, is designed to take nonreaders to approximately a third-grade reading level. Reading Milestones is especially suited for students with hearing impairment, and is also appropriate for students with language delay, learning disabilities, and students who are non-native English speakers."
There are five levels in the Reading Milestones program. The first two are available through Amazon.com.
· //Reading Milestones: Level 1: The Red Books//
· //Reading Milestones: Level 2: The Blue Books//
The Signing Time Classroom Edition is an excellent resource for any school setting – preschool, home school, public school, private school, playgroups, after-school clubs, and church groups. Although the activities are geared for ages 3 – 9 (PreK – 3rd grade), this program is useful for students of all ages.
The Classroom Edition is packaged as a two-inch binder containing eight DVDs, two music CDs, and sixteen units of lesson material.
Music, videos and easy-to-do activities that teach language and social skills through signing. This complete package contains all the resources you need to add music, movement, signing, and fun to your early childhood classroom, playgroup, or day care program. Includes 4 teacher guides, each with 7 themed units, 4 Baby Signing Time DVDs, 4 Baby Signing Time Music CDs, 4 Rference Posters, and 4 Resource CDs with hundreds of printables. Includes a free binder for easy storage.
Family-centered programming for infants and young children with hearing loss. The curriculum contains friendly, easy-to-use topics for families with delightful accompanying visuals, handouts, and activity sheets.
Curriculum for auditory skill development. It is designed to help you:
evaluate a student’s speech perception abilities
plan auditory skills instruction
measure and record student progress and
report to parents and other professionals.
The kit contains everything you need to start laying the foundation for developing auditory skills with children aged 2-12 with cochlear implants and/or hearing aids.
designed to help individuals who are deaf and hard of hearing overcome real life listening challenges. SPICE for Life focuses on functional auditory development. It includes practice with auditory memory, listening in noisy settings, listening to music, localizing sounds, listening to voices, listening in conversation, listening on the telephone and more. Age 5 and older.
Resource for IFSP and IEP team members when developing educational plans for a student who is deaf or hard or hearing. This tool is designed for teachers of students who are deaf or hard of hearing and education audiologists to address these identified areas that are either not taught or require specific and direct teaching. The intent of the ECC-DHH is to be a framework for addressing unique needs of students who are deaf or hard of hearing.
High interest fiction and nonfiction reading materials were created to strengthen deaf students' independent reading and comprehending skills. The complex English structures that often inhibit deaf students' reading success have been eliminated. Our passages have much to offer!
Highly structured sentences. Most sentences are 5 words or less.
A maximum of 225 words.
Over 90% commonly used vocabulary. Percent may be reduced for content-specific passages such as science or social studies topics.
No figurative language or phrases that require inferential thinking.
Comprehension checks consisting of 5 questions (4 multiple choice and 1 open-ended).
Accelerated Reader is not a program designed specifically for deaf and hard of hearing children. However, the Kendall Demonstration Elementary School is currently using this program, which indicates it is useful and effective for deaf and hard of hearing children.
Accelerated Reader is a list of books, targeted to reading level and interest level, and computer-based comprehension quizzes.
The MBR program is a free, online curriculum for preschool and kindergarten students that teaches reading through sign language. (Designed for hearing students not dhh students. But does offer some sign support to communication.)
"The MBR program consists of 100 lessons divided into three units. The objectives of Unit I are phonemic awareness, letter names, sight words and the reading of simple sentences and stories. The iconic nature of signing - the fact that the signs illustrate the words they represent - plays a key role in helping students learn the sight words they need to "get them reading". The objective of Unit II is the sounds of the letters. What makes the letter sounds more meaningful to the students is that they can relate them to the words they have learned to read in Unit I. Again signing helps - this time with the use of the finger alphabet. And finally the objective of Unit III is the blending of letter sounds in the reading and writing of word families. Finger spelling again plays a key role because it helps the students sound out the words as they finger spell the letters."
Basic Writing Series: starts out basic and builds upon learning, there is a program for vocabulary, too.
Color Coding Systems for language
Visual Verbs, Teaching the State-of-Being Verbs by: Kristin Anderson DiPerri
No Glamour Grammar by: Susan Meyer Watts: clear, extra practice, minimal distractions
Best Practices in Writing Instruction by: Steve Graham, Charles A. McAurthur, and Jill Fitzgerald
Reading Instruction for Diverse Classrooms by: Ellen McIntyre, Nancy Hulan, and Vicky Layne
The Elementary Teacher’s Book of Lists by: Gary Robert Muschla, Judith A. Muschla, and Erin Muschla
Picture This by Kristin Anderson DiPerri (book) (Phrasal Verbs in English Context, Multiple Meanings in English Context, Figurative Language in English Context)