To be eligible, each Student/Teacher and Family/Student team must follow these simple guidelines:

1. Show Us Your Success!

Every challenge submission needs to be supported by proof. Fill out this month’s Google form to enter. This can be photos, documents, videos, or even links to social media reels, stories, highlights, or Google Photos albums. 

2. Submit by the 1st, Win by the 5th!

All proof must be uploaded to the portal by the 1st of the following month. The raffle drawing will happen by the 5th, and winners will be notified via the email used for the submission.

3. One Month at a Time!

You can’t submit for the next month until the previous month’s entries close. (Give a cheer to our hardworking MSB gerbils who keep everything running smoothly!)

4. More Entries, More Chances to Win!

The number of complete submissions equals your number of entries in the raffle. 

For example:

   – Joe Smith & family complete eight challenges, which means that  Joe earns eight raffle entries.   Easy, right?

For every student you enter, you’ll be entered into a separate monthly drawing for a $50 value prize and each entry means more chances at the year-end $250 prize!

For example:

• If Penny Jones & her family complete and submit ten challenges and Penny has a teacher complete three entries, Penny gets 13, and her teacher would get 3! 
• If  Damion Doright has 0 entries from his family but his Paraeducator submits 3,  His teacher does 2, and his  RSP does 1, that means Damion gets six entries, and each member of that service team gets the number they submit for the teacher raffle.
• Don’t be like Tommy OopsIForgot—no entries mean no raffle tickets!

5. Grand Prize Alert! Every month, you submit at least one entry, and you’ll be entered for our June Grand Prize drawing worth $400! (Each student can earn up to 9 family entries and nine teacher entries for the year.)

**And most importantly, HAVE FUN!** Contact the MSB Outreach Team (OutreachECC@mdschblind.org) if you need support, resources, or just a little help along the way.

Orientation & Mobility

Orientation & Mobility includes skills related to independent and safe travel for students who are blind or have low vision. “Orientation is knowing one’s position in relation to other objects, people, and places in one’s surroundings and keeping track of how these positions and relationships change as one moves through the environment. Mobility is the physical act of moving from one place to another (Allman, et al., 2014).

I can describe the layout of a familiar room using landmarks and directional terms.

How will we get there?

Know. Understand. Do. A framework to guide learning activities.

Know (K): Tends to be binary. Either you know it or you don’t. Examples: Facts & Dates, Definitions, People & Places

Understand (U): Is a continuum; from novice to advanced. Examples: Big Ideas, Essential Questions, Generalizations.

Do (D): Show they understand and the application of skills/content.

Resources

• Parent Mobility -List of skills by grade level and videos explaining concepts. https://parentmobility.com/ 
• Perkins School for the Blind Resource Center – Description of the role of building mental maps and spatial concepts. https://www.perkins.org/resource/building-mental-maps-preschool-college/

To submit to the monthly ECC Challenge:

1. Complete activities and experiences featured in this month’s ECC Challenge.
2. Complete the Google Form on the TVI Portal OR email this worksheet and a photo to OutreachECC@mdschblind.org.
3. The student and teacher will be entered into this month’s raffle!

Tell us what you KUD!

September

Student name: Teacher name:

Vocabulary

• Mental map
• Tactile map
• Landmark

• Clue
• Perimeter
• Center

K: Can the student define these words? ☐

U: Can the student explain the relationships between words? ☐

D: Can the student use these words in conversation or writing? Can the student teach or share with someone else? ☐

Objects/Materials

• Maps (tactile, print)
• Map Keys
• Picture Maker Wheatley Tactile Diagramming Kit
• Tactile paint, bump dots, stickers…

K: Can the student tell you what these objects are? ☐

U: Can the student tell you how they relate to the representation of space and places? ☐

D: Can the student use objects to determine which are landmarks and clues? ☐

Concepts/Activities: Use to teach words, objects and concepts.

K: Label the landmarks and clues in a map ☐

U: Trace the perimeter of a map. Determine the center of the map. Describe the spatial relations of the features of the map. ☐

D: Use a tactile map to locate a landmark. Analyze the map’s effectiveness. ☐

Experiences: Connect words, objects, and activities to everyday experiences.

• Do a perimeter walk (of your classroom, school gym, neighborhood block, etc.). Compare sizes of how many feet traveled. 
• Create your own tactile map of a space using materials found at home or school.
• Have someone else follow your tactile map. Solicit feedback from them.

ECC @ Home:  September Challenge O&M

Student Activities: 

• Walk around the perimeter of your house/yard & make a mental map  
• Practice saying your home address or locating an address in your neighborhood. 
• Find the center of a store or the mall. 
• Label landmarks and clues in your home or your neighborhood 
• Clean your room: vacuum using a grid pattern or similar technique 
• Count the streetlights or signs in your neighborhood or on your street. 
• Describe the shape of 3 objects at home or on routes that you travel. 
• Gather materials and create a tactile map
  

Family Concept Practice: 

• Practice using cardinal directions to find something
• Use clockface to explain where something is
• Identify 2-3 landmarks in your neighborhood
• Identify 2 orientation clues in your house or neighborhood
• Locate and explore a tactile map in your community
• Play Simon Says together 
• Find broken or raised sidewalks in your community
• Create a tactile map of your home together. 

Parent Only Activities: 

• Attend the Parent Pop In (Virtual) on 9/17/2024 
•  Download the MTA Mobility Application. 
• Have your child explain cardinal directions to you.
• Play follow the leader- have your child lead! 

Resource Links (do not count as entries if completed): 

•  Watch the Moment of Outreach Video:  Orientation & Mobility
•  Read Through the Orientation & Mobility Resource Binder
•  Explore the Parent Mobility Website.
• Email:  OutreachECC@mdschblind.org for help!

DETAILS: 

Submission Deadline For September:  October 1
Prize Drawing:  $50 Amazon Gift Card

Submission & Photo Upload Link

Questions or Support Needed?   OutreachECC@mdschblind.org