Attached.

Pathways to Literacy

Description of Pathways to Literacy
• Literacy entails the capacity of children to understand, evaluate, use
and engage in written texts
• Children participate in society to achieve personal goals and
ambitions to knowledge and potential

Description Cont.
• Literacy skills entails listening, speaking, concept development, sign
language, object communication and understanding other people’s
instructions.

Components of Pathways to Literacy
• Pathways to literacy include:
-An Implementation Guide
-Three Teacher’s Guide (Earth Dance Teacher’s Guide, Tar Beach
Teacher’s Guide and Jamaica’s Find Teacher’s Guide.
-Hands-on resources
-A big Button that enhances student’s communication during the
lesson
-Three storybooks i.e. Tar Beach, Jamaica’s Find and Earth Dance

Importance of Pathways to Literacy
• Uses Big Button to help non-verbal students with communication
• Readily applicable in teaching students with intellectual disability or
autism
• Helps to facilitate reading engagement among learners
• Pathways to literacy helps in reinforcing key messages/ skills at
various environmental levels

Implementation
• Pathways to literacy entails five levels that help one to facilitate story-based lessons.
• Level 1
Students have poor skills and encounter difficulties in acquiring information given by an instructor.
They have little abilities to accomplish simple tasks given by a teacher.
• Level 2
Students have increased skills to cope with difficult tasks presented by instructors. They can follow
simple instructions and commands to achieve the desires and cope participate in learning
• Level 3
Students can use more than one word for communication purposes. Students are able to
understand few words and use their senses to read and follow classroom routines.
• Level 4 and 5
These two levels comprise of students that can respond to commands of higher-order information
processing skills.

Research on Pathways to Literacy
• Different authors have participated inn providing information about
pathways to literacy. There are four important journals/articles found
relevant to the underlying information about pathways to literacy.
• -ELSB Research for Students with Autism and Students with Severe
Developmental Disabilities
• -Research Foundation of Pathways to Literacy
• -Early Literacy for Students with Severe Developmental Disabilities

ELSB Research for Students with Autism and
Students with Severe Developmental Disabilities
• This study focused on learners with important developmental
disabilities.
• Autism was considered as the primary developmental disability
among students.
• The study deduced that Early Literacy Skills Builder is an effective
literacy program in schools.
• It had a strong effect size of treatment of 1.5.

Early Literacy for Students with Severe
Developmental Disabilities
• This study emphasized on least-to-most technique to teach listening
comprehension among students
• Involved students with visual impairments, intellectual disabilities and
physical disabilities
• The researcher used a multiple probe design to examine impact of
individualized scripted instruction on level of student’s engagement in
literacy
• All the students used in this study exhibited progress at least one
level of school year

Research Foundation of Pathways to Literacy
• The researcher used three students suffering from severe physical
and intellectual disabilities
• The students were engaged with children’s stories while applying
principles of universal design of learning (UDL) to enhance their
classroom engagement
• The researcher also adopted a read aloud method to students with
intellectual disabilities and visual impairments
• This study identified that students have different levels of acquiring
literacy skills.

cost
• Teaching pathways to literacy require objects of varied costs. The cost of these products ranges between $33
to $2000. Some products are:
-Manuals
-Level Kits
-Picture Vocab Cards
-Story connected objects
• Pricing
- Level 1 kit -$368
- Level 2 kit -$368
- Level 3 Kit -$368
- Level 4 Kit -$368
- Level 5 kit -$368
- Total price - $1840

Sample Lesson
Sample Lesson for Level 1
Materials
-Tar Beach Book
-Objects: wings, watermelon, necklace and star
- Big Button AAC device modified with a word fly
-Picture card for the AAC device: fly
Other materials
Eye gaze board
Solid background

Suggested wait time: Five minutes to respond
Suggested Prompt Hierarchy: Least to most

Lesson Development
The lesson starts as follows:
Good morning/afternoon
Let us start our reading lesson
We will read a book called Tar Beach (Present a book to the student and allow the student to explore the book)
I like the way you are going through the book

References
• Browder, D.M., Mims, P.M., Spooner, F., Ahlgrim Delzell, L, & Lee, A. (2008),
Teaching elementary students with multiple disabilities to participate in
shared stories. Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities,
33: 1-2, pp 3-12.
• Mims, P.J., Browder, D., M., Baker, J. N., Lee, A. & Spooner, F. (2009).
Increasing comprehension of students with significant intellectual
disabilities and visual impairments during shared stories. Education and
Training in Developmental Disabilities, 44, 409-420.
• Stanger, C., Mims, P., Wood, L., & Ahlgrim-Delzell, L., (2016). Supporting
Literacy Achievements for Students with Intellectual Disability and Autism
through Curricular Programs that Incorporate Assistive
Technology. Assistive Technology Outcomes and Benefits, 10 (1).


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PATHWAYS TO
LITERACY
1

DESCRIPTION OF PATHWAYS TO
LITERACY
• Literacy entails the capacity of children to comprehend, appraise, use and participate in written texts
• Children participate in society to accomplish individual targets and determinations to ideas and potential
• Children suffering from disabilities need special attention at school
• Literacy skills enable these children to meet their communication needs as well as educational achievement
(Browder, Mims, , Spooner, Ahlgrim & Lee, 2008).
• Teachers should consider pathways to literacy to achieve the highlighted mission

A. Lee, P. Mims, & D. Browder. © 2011.The Attainment Company,Verona,WI, www.AttainmentCompany.com
https://www.attainmentcompany.com/pathways-literacy

2

DESCRIPTION CONT.
• Literacy skills entail responding to auditory information, development of ideas, use of signs and
objects for communication and comprehending instructions given by other people.

3

CONTENT COVERED IN PATHWAYS TO
LITERACY
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Pathways to literacy comprises of five levels of teach story related topics
Involves use of picture symbols
Pathways to literacy is best applicable to older elementary students
Students at this level are between two to five years old
It is applicable to students at the 2nd grade
Literacy skills are administered through global pairing of objects with pictures

A. Lee, P. Mims, & D. Browder. © 2011.The Attainment Company,Verona,WI, www.AttainmentCompany.com
https://www.attainmentcompany.com/pathways-literacy

4

COMPONENTS OF PATHWAYS TO
LITERACY
• Pathways to literacy include:
-An Implementation Guide
-Three Teacher’s Guide (Earth Dance Teacher’s Guide, Tar Beach

Teacher’s Guide and Jamaica’s Find Teacher’s Guide.
-Hands-on resources
-A big Button that enhances student’s communication during the lesson
-Three storybooks i.e. Tar Beach, Jamaica’s Find and Earth Dance
( A. Lee, P. Mims, & D. Browder. © 2011. The Attainment Company, )
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IMPORTANCE OF PATHWAYS TO
LITERACY
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Uses Big Button to assist non-verbal learners converse with others
Pathways to literacy comply with Common Co...