During TSBVI Summer Programs, I had the pleasure of working with a group of five elementary aged students from around the state. The week-long program was themed around creating a variety of different artifacts to build skills relevant to the Expanded Core Curriculum. Many of our students don’t have the opportunity to develop problem-solving skills and need intentional instruction to build empowerment and self-reliance. It was important for me to help the students recognize that they have a lot to offer in the community in which they live.
Each day of the program included a read aloud lesson using books from the Ordinary People Change the World series by Brad Meltzer. This book series highlights individuals in history who have had a profound impact on our lives or the world. There are SO many books to choose from, and new ones are currently being published. Each book usually focuses on the journey of an individual who exhibited a special character trait, and made a profound impact during their life. I chose to focus on individuals who were noted to have exceptionalities to show my students that “being different” doesn’t mean that you can’t have a profoundly positive impact on the world.
The five books I chose to feature during the program included:
- You Can Change the World: This book is a compilation of many historical figures, and I chose it to be the opening story for our week.
- I Am Temple Grandin: This book is about an individual with autism who’s love for science and animals helped her have a positive impact on farmers and their cattle.
- I Am Helen Keller: This book shares the journey of Helen Keller and her thirst for knowledge as an individual with deafblindness.
- I Am Albert Einstein: This book focuses on the obstacles faced by Albert Einstein while showing what can be accomplished with curiosity and determination.
Note: The links above take you to Amazon to see each book, but remember that these books might be acquired for free through your local or school library. You might also find them at a reduced cost on Ebay or Half Price Books. I purchased most of mine on Ebay.
Activity Setup:
I worked with this group of students for 5 days, but each time we read a book, I thought about how cool it would be if I worked with them throughout the year so we could continue to read more to build on the activity. I connected the read aloud with a writing activity to add meaning to what we were doing and to help the students generalize the content from the book into their own lives. Each day, I provided a writing prompt related to the book we had read, and at the end of the week, students went home with an Empowerment Journal focusing on how an “ordinary person” like them could change the world just like the characters we were reading about.
To set up the activity, you will:
- Acquire the books you plan to feature from the series.
- Use the Empowerment Journal Template to prepare your journal. If you choose different books than I did or want to add more, you will want to write your own prompts for those books. My focus was to have students connect characters to themselves to prove that ANYONE can be a hero.
- Print the journal for students to use. I had some students with low vision, so I used colored paper to make it a bit more exciting for them. Students using braille could load the paper with the prompt directly into a braillewriter, but my students wrote their response, and we attached it to the journal pages that had already been printed and bound.
- Read the book you’ve chosen, and ask the students to discuss their response with you before writing it in their journal.
- Allow students to decorate or draw pictures that correspond to what they’ve written.
- Share with families, teachers, and peers!
Extensions and Adaptations:
- Focus on historical figures that coordinate with monthly themes or celebrations.
- Allow students to choose the characters they would like to read about.
- Incorporate technology by playing the audiobook through an app or by looking up a video on YouTube.
- Teach tech skills by asking students to create a slideshow project about a chosen character or by asking them to complete the writing responses digitally.
- If time allows, ask more than one question for each book.
- Create a VI book club where students can connect with one another and share experiences after each story.
- Practice social skills and orientation and mobility skills if you choose to go to the local library to borrow the book.
Happy Reading!
