Updates about our three-year project funded by the Ministry of Education to address the unique needs of students who are DHH who are learning how to read.
February 2025: POPDHH was awarded a grant from the Ministry of Education to participate in the provincial K-12 Literacy Supports Initiative (read more about it here). We have been working on developing resources and materials that can be used to monitor and support the unique literacy needs of students who are Deaf/deaf and hard of hearing (DHH). This initiative will benefit all students who are deaf and hard of hearing regardless of their hearing levels, listening devices and communication modalities.
We are thrilled to welcome two Early Literacy Specialists to the POPDHH Team: Tracey Sweetapple, TDHH, and Dana Zimmer, ASL Teacher.
The POPDHH Literacy Initiative is underway and we are happy to share some updates:
- The Literacy Team has started updating the ASL Chat Program. In addition to language comprehension, verbal reasoning and social opportunities, ASL Chat will incorporate elements of phonological awareness in ASL and English grammar.
- We have refined our existing early literacy framework to focus on developing two streams of literacy interventions for students who are DHH. Foundations for Literacy will focus on improving background knowledge and vocabulary for students whose ability to use or understand language is still developing. ASL Development and Literacy will leverage fluent visual language skills to focus on word recognition skills (i.e., phonological awareness, decoding and sight words) and English grammar elements.
- Resources and materials are being ordered and vetted while we balance the needs of students and the feasibility of implementing in a mainstream classroom. There are already several excellent literacy interventions in progress in districts across BC and our goal is to provide some additional tools and professional development opportunities that complement the work that is in progress.
- We have received messages from our district partners with suggestions around training modality, case based learning, resources, materials, etc. We appreciate hearing from you and we hope you continue to reach out!
Next steps for our district partners: If you have a student registered in ASL Chat, keep an eye out for a message from us about the new content we will be piloting in these online sessions.
Resources we are currently reviewing:
June 2025
- The POPDHH literacy team is fully staffed. Dana and Tracey have been busy creating and piloting accessible resources and materials in ASL and English (including lessons, activities, handouts, and videos).
- These materials were developed for the Satellite Program to deliver direct literacy instruction and intervention to 18 elementary students. All of these students use American Sign Language (ASL) as their primary or most accessible mode of communication and utilize various listening technologies, including cochlear implants, hearing aids, and FM systems.
- In addition to the direct instruction provided by our team, we also provided follow-up information and materials to the students and over 30 school-based staff members. This was designed to expand learning opportunities between our online sessions. Below is a picture of the first page of a unit; to see the entire package included in the school communication click [here].
- Evidence-based intervention tools were adapted specifically to support the learning needs of DHH students by incorporating visual language and visual tactile strategies. The resources created and adapted by POPDHH can be used in conjunction with widely available science of reading materials that are currently being used in mainstream classrooms.
- POPDHH hosted educators from 15 school districts for the Fingerspelling Our Way to Reading training. POPDHH facilitated a discussion with over 60 educators for the BC DHH Learner Outcome Measure (a tool developed to determine the level of instruction or intervention that individual students require to maximize growth and development).
- The POPDHH literacy team explored materials by participating in training opportunities and reviewing materials from: Bedrock Curriculum, Bilingual Grammar Curriculum, 58-In-Mind.
- To address accessibility in mainstream classrooms, An Environmental Audit for DHH Learners is being developed in conjunction with the TDHH Mentorship group.