Patterns Braille Program and Louisiana Benchmarks

The American Printing House for the Blind instructional program, Patterns, is designed for young beginning braille readers. A complete systematic program of instruction, based on research in the field, it provides well balanced reading instruction through the third reader level. Patterns is eclectic and includes a variety of learning materials that meet the needs of students with a variety of learning styles. Patterns teaches all the benchmarks for ELA (English Language Arts). Patterns uses both oral reading (ELA 4) and writing (ELA 3; ELA 7) as an integral part of its program. Personal experience (ELA 6) is used in Patterns beginning with the Pre-Primer level. Patterns integrates other content courses into reading instruction and therefore also meets some benchmarks for standards in geography, life science, physical science, science inquiry, environmental science, history, civics, math and economics. The following list of topical skills, formatting and punctuation progression is designed for use to aid in determining book levels and writing expectations of braille students. This document is based on the work of D. Nault, M.Ed., B. McDaniel, PhD. and J. Woodson, M.L.I.S., M.Ed., for their presentation at the Louisiana Federation of Council for Exceptional Children Annual Super Conference on Special Education, 2002.

Levels: Readiness; Pre-primer: 1, 2, 3; Primer; Reader Levels 1, 2, 3 Comprehension Skills List

Readiness

Line space
Begin / end same line
Braille in same place on all pages (rt. only)
No punctuation
Only proper names and I capitalized -- ELA E 2

Pre-Primer 1

Simple story --ELA 1
Unrhymed verse
Sentences on 1 line
Maximum 6 lines/page
Braille on both pages
Period and ? -- ELA 1; ELA 3 E 2
Capital letter to begin sentence -- ELA 3 E 2
Ending: s -- ELA 1

Pre-Primer 2

Inflectional endings (ed, s) -- ELA 1
Maximum 6 lines/page
Dialogue on 2 lines
Comma and ! -- ELA 1; ELA 3 E 2
Poetry -- ELA 6
Story with moral: prejudice, unfairness -- ELA 6 E 2

Pre-Primer 3

2 line sentences
Inflectional endings (ing, s, ed) -- ELA 1
Poetry -- ELA 6
Map reading -- ELA 5 E 6; G 1 A E1
Aesop fable -- ELA 6; ELA 1 [Note -- In the benchmarks, fables are not listed as genre taught until grade 6.]
Science article -- ELA 6; ELA 1; LS M A1

Primer

8 lines/page -- ELA 1 E5
Few carryovers
All sentences begin new line -- ELA 1 E1; 3 E3
Pages continuously numbered
Apostrophe before s
Compound words -- ELA 1
No letter signs -- ELA 1 E1; 3 E3
Space between a, and, for, of, the, with -- ELA 1 E1; 3 E3
To not contracted -- ELA 1 E1; 3 E3
Be contracted vol. 1 -- ELA 1 E1; 3 E3
Science article and experiment on matter -- ELA 6; ELA 1; PS E A4
Science articles -- ELA 6 M; SI E A 2 [Note -- In SAGE (Supporting Academic Growth for Educators:a clarification of La. standards) science inquiries are not listed as genre taught until grade 5.]
- Nutrition (food) -- ELA 6; LS E A6
- Teeth -- LS E A5, LS M A5
- Trees -- LS E A 1,2; LS M A3
Poetry, riddles -- ELA 6
Map reading -- ELA 5 E 6
Farm life -- LS E A1; ES E B2; ELA 6

First Reader

Usually maximum 8 lines/ page -- ELA 1 E1; 3 E3
Paragraph indention -- ELA 1 E1; 3 E3
Write compound words -- ELA 3 E 5
1 line space; interpoint introduced in vol. 3 -- ELA 1 E1; 3 E3
Carryover sentences -- ELA 1 E1; 3 E3
No letter signs -- ELA 1 E1; 3 E3
No space between a, and, for, of, the, with -- ELA 1 E1; 3 E3
Introduce to, into, by -- ELA 1 E1; 3 E3
Whole-word, lower cell: was, were, in, his, be -- ELA 1 E1; 3 E3
Poetry and haiku -- ELA 6 [Note -- While the benchmarks list poetry beginning in Kindergarten and no specific variations are listed, haiku is traditionally introduced
in grade 3.]
Biography (H. Keller) -- ELA 6; ELA 7
Folktales (French / Danish) -- ELA 6; H 1C E4
Science article (bones) -- LS M A5
“How to” instructional article -- ELA 4 E2
“Little Engine that Could” -- ELA 6

Second Reader

More lines (12 – 25) / p. -- ELA 1 E5
Interpoint (at end exclusive) -- ELA 1 E1; 3 E3
Sentences and paragraphs complete on page -- ELA 1 E1,2; ELA 3 E2,3; ELA 5 E1
Letter register used -- ELA 3 E2; ELA 5 E1
Double cap sign -- ELA 3 E2; ELA 5 E1
Titles flush left -- ELA 5 E1
Spaces rather than hyphens separate syllables -- ELA 4 (syllabication)
Only odd pages numbered
Inflectional endings: ed, es, en, est, er, ing, s -- ELA 1
Cardinal directions and mapping -- G 1B E1; ELA 5 E6
Aesop fable -- ELA 6 E1
Science articles -- ELA 6
- Machines -- PS E B2, 3, 4
- Animals -- LS E A1, 2, 3
Biographies (L. Braille, Aesop) -- ELA 6; ELA 7
“How to” directions -- ELA 4 E2
Folktale (Africa) -- ELA 6 E 1, 2, 3; H 1C E4
Country article (France) -- G 1B E1; C 1C E1; ELA 6 E1, 2, 3
Poetry and riddles -- ELA 6 E2, 3
Telling time -- ELA 4; H 1A E1; M 1E; M 2E

Third Reader

All major punctuation is used -- ELA 1; ELA 3
Totally adult format -- ELA 1 E1,2
Themed poetry (science, grammar, Native American) -- LS E C1, 2; SE M A3; ELA 3
Folk tales (Africa, French, Scottish, Turkish, Central America) -- ELA 6; H 1C E4
Greek myth -- ELA 6 E2
Science articles
- Frogs -- LS E B1, 3
- Pollution -- SE E A3
Country articles (Australia, France, Africa) -- G 1B E1; ELA 6 E1; ELA 1; ELA 4; C 1C E1
History articles
- Colonial America -- H 1A E1, 2, 3; H 1B E1
- Writing -- ELA 3 E5; H 1D E2; H 1D E3
Novel ELA 6 M2
Classic literature ELA 6 (Alice in Wonderland, Winnie the Pooh)
Information literacy skills ELA 5
- Glossary, dictionary, contents ELA 3 E 5; ELA 5 E1,2
- Context clues ELA 7 E1
Biography ELA 6; ELA 1 E6
Recipe ELA 4 E2; M 1E, 2E, 5E
Careers E 1A E8

Comprehension Skills: The following comprehension skills are begun in Patterns Readiness Level and are expanded as student progresses.

Characterization -- ELA 1 E4
Classification -- ELA 7
Comparison -- ELA 7 E1
Conclusion -- ELA 6 E1; ELA 7 E1
Context clue -- ELA 7 E1
Creative thinking -- ELA 7
Detail -- ELA 1 E4; ELA 7
Emotional reaction of characters -- ELA 1 E4
Empathy -- ELA 1 E6
Forecasting (Predicting) -- ELA 7 E1
Generalization -- ELA 7 E2
Inference -- ELA 7 E1
Literary point of view -- ELA 7 E3
Main idea -- ELA 1 E4; ELA 7 E1
Personal evaluation -- ELA 1 E6; ELA 7
Personal experience -- ELA 6; ELA 7 E2
Personal reaction -- ELA 1 E6; ELA 7
Pitch, stress, juncture -- ELA 4 E1; ELA 1 E3
Previous knowledge -- ELA 2
Recall -- ELA 2
Relationships -- ELA 1; ELA 7 E4; ELA 4
Sentence meaning -- ELA 1 E1, 5
Sequence -- ELA 4 E3, ELA 7 E1
Summarizing -- ELA 5; ELA 7
Word meaning -- ELA 1
Paragraph meaning [introduced at the PP level] -- ELA 1 E5

References

Caton, H., Pestor, E., & Bradley, E. J. (1982). Patterns: The Primary Braille Reading Program, Teacher’s Edition. Louisville: American Printing House for the Blind.

Louisiana English Language Arts Content Standards: Bulletin 1965. (1997). Available electronically from Louisiana Department of Education.

Supporting Academic Growth for Educators (SAGE): a clarification of La. standards. Available electronically from Louisiana Department of Education.

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Last revision: September 20, 2007