Strategy
Where Shall I Put It?
Students practice following one-step instructions and concept development within their environment.
This activity has been revised and was originally created by Charlotte Cushman and published in the Perkins Activity and Resource Guide (1st edition, 1992). The second edition is available for purchase.
This interactive activity teaches students who are blind or visually impaired to understand positional concepts and to follow directions. Lessons include Concept Development, Orientation and Mobility, and English Language Arts.
- Real items in the environment
- Familiar, concrete objects
Have students place items in relation to themselves:
- Put the hat on your head.
- Put the cracker in your mouth.
- Put the shoe under your chair.
- Put the cup in front of you.
- Put your coat next to you.
- For students who need more motivation, hide a preferred toy or edible item in a given location. For example, ask the student if she can find the pretzel in the can or if she can find the radio next to her.
- The focus of the activities above has been receptive (students have been asked to place an object in relation to something). Try this activity with more expressive language by having students answer questions about the placement of objects: “Where is the comb?” “It’s in the bag.”
-
Have students place items in relation to other items:
- Put your pajamas in the bottom drawer of the bureau.
- Put the placemat under the bowl.
- Put the MP3 player on the top shelf.
- Put the stamp on the upper right-hand corner of the envelope.
- Put the fork on the napkin to the left of the plate.
Hint: This activity can be made more complex by using more complicated directions (“Put the sticker on the bottom left corner of the page.”); by using objects with more varied attributes (“Put the rough circle under the heaviest block.”); or by increasing the number of steps involved.
