Curriculum Resources

Curriculum Guide
There is at least one curriculum guide that is specifically designed for deaf adults in the ABLE/GED programs, and was developed by the Columbus Speech and Hearing Center's Comprehensive Program for the Deaf in Columbus, Ohio, http://www.columbusspeech.org. The curriculum guide contains seven units and has videotapes and workbooks that accompanies the guide. The seven units are the following: problem solving, work ethics/how to succeed at work, time management, living on your own, legal and consumer issues, cooking, and English/writing. The content is mostly basic, but the information will be new and challenging to the students. ABLE/GED teachers should assist the students as they work with these materials. It is essential to make the deaf student a partner in the education process.

To order a copy of this curriculum guide, call:

Voice: (614) 263-5151
TTY: (614) 263-2299
Fax: (614) 263-5365
or by mail: 510 E. North Broadway, Columbus, Ohio 43214-4414.

Where to Find Curriculum Resources?
Gallaudet University Bookstore has tons of curriculum guides and resources that are made specifically for the deaf. To obtain a catalog, call:

Voice: (202) 651-5271
Fax: (202) 651-5724
Email at bookstore.office@gallaudet.edu

Garlic Press, http://www.garlicpress.com, has many curriculum tools for teachers in the deaf education field, and many of them may be appropriate for use with deaf adults. They have curriculum series for mathematics, sign language, literature, and English.

Harris Communications, http://www.harriscomm.com/catalog/default.php?cPath=35_134&osCsid=b82ea9b39174447a58e565186e501b62, has many teaching resources in addition to devices that are specifically designed for the deaf, deaf culture resources, videotapes, and ASL resources.

Useful Literacy Resources
An excellent resource to be used in the classroom is The MacMillian Visual Dictionary that is geared for all ages, especially 7th grade and up. Every picture is labeled and is categorized in themes, such as ships, airplanes, kitchen, lawn, plants and more. There are several visual dictionaries on specific topics. For example, A Visual Dictionary on Architecture and The Visual Dictionary of the Human Body. One can get this book at the local bookstore, any of the on-line bookstores or at the local library.

To get the following books, one can order from Gallaudet University catalog, Harris Communications Web site http://www.harriscomm.com, or from any on-line bookstores.

Dialogue journals are used in many classrooms, and this resource is particularly beneficial for deaf education classrooms. There are guidelines that inform teachers how to use the dialogue journals in the classroom to foster literacy.
The reference for this book is: Bailes, C., Searls, S., Slobodzian, J. & Staton, J. (1986). It's your turn now!: Using dialogue journals with deaf students. Washington, D.C.: Gallaudet University Press.

Assessment tools for literacy are also an essential part of education. A curricular resource on how to assess deaf students' literacy skills can be found in French, M. M. (1999). Starting with assessment: A developmental approach to deaf children's literacy. Washington, D.C.: Gallaudet University Press. She also wrote an accompanying workbook, "The toolkit appendices for starting with assessment."

Writing workshop is a reliable method of teaching students how to write, and this author explains in detail on how to implement this technique in the classrooms for the deaf. Many of these techniques can be used on other students as well with some adaptations.
Fisher, S. (1994). The writer's workshop. Washington, D.C.: Gallaudet University Press.

This portfolio is a collection of articles written by teachers who have used a variety of literacy strategies in their classrooms. Their ideas may provide some inspiration and ideas to be used in classrooms.
The reference is: Whole language II: A folio of articles from perspectives in education and deafness. Washington, D.C.: Gallaudet University Press.

This book is for teachers to learn about the reading process that deaf learners go through based on research. It also includes curriculum suggestions, assessment tools and applications.
McAnally, P. L., Rose, S. & Quigley, S. P. (1999). Reading practices with deaf learners.