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Short Courses and Student Programs

In order to promote, facilitate, and provide appropriate educational opportunities for all Wisconsin children who are blind or visually impaired, regardless of their educational placement, Outreach staff offer Individual and Group Short Courses with an emphasis on the Expanded Core Curriculum (ECC). 
 
This year, the student programming team was awarded two Glen Stacy grants. For one of these grants, they are excited to offer a Monthly Expanded Core Curriculum (ECC) Challenge.  Any Wisconsin student who is blind or visually impaired is eligible to participate in the ECC Monthly Challenge.    

What is the ECC Monthly Challenge?   

The Expanded Core Curriculum (ECC) Monthly Challenge is a way for students to gain more experience in each area of the ECC. Each month of the school year, a menu of activities will be posted on this webpage. All the activities for that month will focus on a different area of the ECC. Students can complete activities individually, with their families, or at school if they are able. For each activity students complete from the menu that month, they can earn an entry to win a prize related to the ECC area that month. Students will need to submit proof of the activity they complete, which could be done in a variety of ways based on the activity. There will be five winners this month.    

When you have completed as many activities as you wish to do for this month, complete the form for that month.  Make sure you have any pictures or documents needed for submission saved and ready in a place you can access them. You will be asked to upload them or complete a reflection if that was an option for the activity.   

October ECC Challenge Submission Form – Submissions will close on November 13, 2026 at 5:00 PM. 

November – Recreation and Leisure 

What is Recreation and Leisure? 

Instruction in recreation and leisure teaches students the skills needed to enjoy and engage in physical and recreational activities. Key components include play, physical activity, health, fitness, individual and team sports, spectator sports, and personal hobbies. This instruction also encourages participation in school extracurriculars like clubs and sports teams. Instruction may include ways that games and sports can be adapted for participation, such as using a deck of cards with braille, or a guide runner for track. Developing recreation and leisure skills supports mental and physical health while boosting self-confidence.  

Recreation and Leisure Activities 

  1.  Attend the Winter Family Gathering Session on Tuesday November 10th and submit your participation certificate. 
  2. Participate in braille yoga to the Braille Rap Song. To do braille yoga, all you need are six large circles that you can make out of any material you have. These circles will represent the braille dots. If you have a yoga mat, you can arrange the dots on the mat like a braille cell (you could even use tape to make the dots). If you don’t have a yoga mat, you can arrange the 6 dots in front of you on the floor like a braille cell. As you listen to the braille rap song, touch the dots with your hands, feet, elbows and knees. Whatever you need to do to make the braille letter, it might even be like a game of twister instead of yoga! Do one of the following for your submission:
    1. Take a picture of your dots laid out to do yoga and submit using the recreation and leisure ECC challenge submission form.
    2. Have someone take a picture of you trying braille yoga and submit using the recreation and leisure ECC challenge submission form.
    3. Complete a reflection using the recreation and leisure reflection form 
  3. Have you ever watched a movie or show with audio descriptions? Try it out and complete a reflection using the recreation and leisure reflection form. Here are some sites that provide instruction for different streaming networks or other options for using audio description:
    1. Netflix audio description for shows and movies
    2. Peacock audio description
    3. Content with audio descriptions on Disney +
    4. Turning on audio descriptions on your I-phone or I-pad    
    5. Audio descriptions on Hulu 
    6. Audio described DVDs 
    7. Audio descriptions at movie theaters
    8. Described and Captioned Media Program – Accessible Television 
  4. Adapt a game and take a picture of the finished product to submit using the recreation and leisure ECC challenge submission form. Resources that might help you with this task:
    1. Instructions on how to braille a deck of playing cards 
    2. Tips to adapt games for children with visual impairments 
    3. Adapting Candy Land for Players who are Blind or Deafblind
    4. Other ideas for adaptions
      • Divide sections of game boards with glue, or various textures.
      • Add braille labels to sections of game boards.
      • Use Velcro in sections of game boards and on the bottom of playing pieces.
      • Braille the instructions and the game cards 
      • Tape record game instructions.
      • Braille regular playing cards or game cards such as Uno.
      • Use textures or glue to mark differences in game pieces.
      • Add brightly colored stickers to game pieces and game sections.
      • Mark dice with braille labels or glue dots.
      • Make a Tic-Tac-Toe board with a cake pan and magnet strips.
      • Divide checkerboard with glue and mark red playing pieces with texture.
      • Play Tic-Tac-Toe with pegs and pegboard.
      • Use a large box lid to define the playing space.
      • Keep score with peg boards, paper clips clipped to index cards or tokens dropped into a container.
  5. Compete a 15-mintue workout. If you need some ideas, you can try one of the videos on the Eyes-Free Fitness & Blind Alive YouTube channel or the Blind Athletes Exercise YouTube channel. There are several audio descriptive videos to try. Complete a reflection using the recreation and leisure reflection form about what you did for your workout. 
  6. Make a list of hobbies you want to try and research ways you might need to adapt them for your vision, then complete a reflection using the recreation and leisure reflection form. 
  7. Listen to a sporting event on the radio or internet with no video and complete a reflection using the recreation and leisure reflection form. (Consider listening to Wisconsin teams, such as the Packers or Bucks games, or maybe a local football team at playoffs) 
  8. Complete one of the Recreation Exploration Workshops from Hadley and complete a reflection using the recreation and leisure reflection form. 
  9. Complete this recreation skills assessment form.

October – Orientation and Mobility  

What is Orientation and Mobility?  

Orientation and mobility, often referred to as, “O&M”, is the area of the ECC where students learn the concepts and skills necessary to get from one place to another as safely, efficiently, and independently as possible. O&M is answering the questions “where am I” and “how do I get where I want to go”.  Orientation and mobility teaches body, spatial, environmental, and directional concepts. Orientation and mobility skills include but are not limited to using the long cane, bus travel, sensory efficiency skills, and mobility skills. Orientation and mobility instruction occurs in the home, school, and community environments, per the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Orientation and mobility instruction often enhances other areas of the ECC such as social skills, assistive technology, and self-determination. An example of orientation and mobility instruction is teaching a child how to cross at a four-way, stoplight-controlled intersection, using non-visual skills and a long cane. 

O&M Activities  

  1. Play a game of Simon Says with a friend or family member; use as many directional concepts as you can. For example, Simon says, “take 10 steps north.” Or Simon says, “think about the clockface and jump to 10:00”.  Keep track of how many directions you could give using directional words and report the number.  
  2. October 15th is White Cane Safety Day. If you receive O&M instruction talk to your O&M instructor, teacher or principal about how you could share White Cane Safety Day with your class or school.  Share your knowledge with your class or school and have someone take a picture of you sharing your knowledge or submit what you did to share your knowledge of White Cane Safety Day. Some ideas are:  
    1. Write something about White Cane Safety Day for a newsletter. 
    2. Write facts about White Cane Safety Day for morning announcements. 
    3. Give a presentation to your class about White Cane Safety Day. 

If you don’t receive O&M instruction, research what White Cane Safety Day is and talk to your teacher about how you could share what you learned about White Cane Safety Day.  

  1. Take a picture celebrating White Cane Safety Day.  
  1. Do a neighborhood scavenger hunt! Find the following items on a walk in your neighborhood or yard. Take pictures of each of the items and submit the photos.  
    1. Something that makes noise  
    2. A tree 
    3. A number  
    4. A sign  
    5. Something smooth 
  1. Design an obstacle course in a safe space with tactile markers, hoops, cones, or other items you have. Walk it with a cane, time yourself, and then beat your record! Have your family members try it. You could all try it under a blindfold and see who does the best. Take a picture or short video of the course you created to upload.   
  2. Make a tactile map of your favorite room in your house or school using materials you already have. If you need any ideas of household items to use explore the Tactile Graphics on the Fly site for ideas, to make this map. Take a picture of it to upload.   
Braille Challenge Information

Individual Short Courses

Please email wcbvi.outreach@wcbvi.k12.wi.us and put the words, “Individual Short Courses” in the subject line for more information or to begin a request, please fill out the interest form in the button above.

More Information

For more information about Short Courses, please email, wcbvi.outreach@wcbvi.k12.wi.us and put the words, “Short Courses” in the subject line. To request a Short Course, please complete an Outreach Service Request and select “Student Programming”.

Expanded Core Curriculum Resources

BrailleSense Polaris
BrailleNote Touch Plus
Expanded Core Corner Playlist
ECC Quick Reference Guide for Wisconsin Educators