When: Thursday February 5, 2015
Time: 9:00 am – 4:00 pm
Where: Career and Technology Center
2336 53rd Avenue SW
Calgary, Alberta T3E 1L2
The Vision Resource Centre - Calgary, in conjunction with ASVI Calgary and CSSD, is excited and proud to host the Alberta Braille Challenge®, for Alberta students from grades one through twelve who use braille.
The Braille Challenge® is the Braille Institute’s international reading and writing contest.It is a great motivator for students to practice their literacy skills. Reading comprehension, braille speed and accuracy, proofreading, spelling and reading tactile charts and graphs are all tested. Additional information can be found on the Braille Institute’s website: http://www.brailleinstitute.org/braille-challenge-homepage.html
The contest is divided into five academic levels.
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· Grades 1 and 2 – Apprentice
· Grades 3 and 4 – Freshman
· Grades 5 and 6 – Sophomore
· Grades 7 - 9 – Junior Varsity
· Grades 10 - 12 – Varsity
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Last year more than 500 students from all across Canada and the United States in grades one through twelve participated in the Preliminary Rounds. The top-scoring 60 are invited to Los Angeles in June for the Final Round.
The overall intent of the Vision Resource Centre - Calgary, is to develop programs that target areas of the Essential Components of Educational Programming for Students who are Blind or Visually Impaired, a document that has been developed by Alberta Education to be incorporated into programming for students who are blind or visually impaired from kindergarten through grade 12 in Alberta.
The Expanded Core Curriculum areas covered include:
1. Compensatory or functional academic skills include reading and writing in braille.
2. The orientation and mobility component will involve the opportunity to reinforce current white cane skills, personal space, sighted guide, and listening skills on an incidental basis during this program.
3. One important component of this program is to promote and encourage ways for the students to connect as peers, get to know each other better and be able to share experiences and information (social interaction skills).
ASVI will be providing snacks, juice and lunch. If your child has food allergies, please ensure they are included in the “Medical Issues and/or Special Medication Needs” section of the Referral Form and/or "Acknowledgement of Risk" Off-Site Form and provide your own snacks, beverages and/or lunch.
Please ensure your son/daughter has:
· appropriate footwear / outerwear for the weather conditions;
· their white cane with them.
For educational and promotional purposes, photographs may be taken during the program and your child’s work may be posted or published. Information on posting and publishing student’s work is included.
Please note: DO NOT REGISTER ONLINE with the Braille Institute – if you do, your child will be not be able to participate in this regional challenge.
If you have questions or require further information, please contact Angela Leavens.
Sincerely,
Angela Leavens
Specialist - Vision, Learning Services
t | 403-817-7621
f | 403-777-6316
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