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Activity and strategy

Checking My Work, I Am A Detective!

Encourage braille students to find mistakes and correct them in their writing and braille texts.

I do something fun to encourage my students to take responsibility for their writing and they actually think it is fun…go figure!  I tell my students to become a detective and flush out mistakes.  We use a ticket system to keep track of which detective has discovered the most mistakes at the end of each week. My students work as detectives at school and at home. 
 

1 mistake = 1 ticket

  • At school, each student that finds a mistake in their own work (before the teacher finds it) can put a ticket in their envelope. 
  • If the teacher finds a mistake after the student has done their detective work, the teacher gets a ticket.
  • If a student finds a mistake in a teacher created document (and it is fun to do this on purpose, although it does happen when you least expect it) the student gets to take 2 tickets away from the teacher!

 

No Mistakes = 5 Tickets

  • At home, the student continues to detect mistakes, but now the work is even a bit more challenging because if this work comes back to school mistake-free the student gets 5 tickets!
  • Now, if the student is confident they have detected and corrected all mistakes, the teacher can challenge them to a ticket-draw!   If the student accepts the challenge, they can negotiate how many tickets could be up for grabs. For example, the teacher and student could count the tickets in their respective envelope and then agree on a number…could be 5, 7, 10, or whatever they decide.  It is now time for the teacher to be the Detective!  If the teacher finds no mistakes he/she forfeits the agreed upon number of tickets to the student. But, if the teacher finds a mistake, the student has to hand over the same number of tickets.

 

Obviously, there are many twists you can use with this type of system.  The great thing is it does not take much time and you can pick and choose when to do it. 
 
Ah, almost forgot to mention some of the fun rewards my students have decided on…they have all cost a few $$, but sooooo worth it!
  • Pizza party
  • Breakfast party (parents are great at sending yummy pastries!
  • Special Show and Tell time
  •  Lunch with a teacher
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