Missouri Regional Braille Challenge
Where:
Missouri School for the Blind
3815 Magnolia
St. Louis, Missouri 63110
When:
February 13, 2019, 9:00 AM to 3:30 PM
How:
Complete your two registration forms and email them to Linda Havlik at
linda.havlik@msb.dese.mo.gov or fax them to 314-776-1875
by January 11, 2019
Mail:
Missouri School for the Blind
Braille Challenge
3815 Magnolia
St. Louis, Missouri 63110
Need Help:
Contact Linda Havlick, Braille Challenge Coordinator, at linda.havlik@msb.dese.mo.gov OR Desirée Morris, School Supervisor, at desiree.morris@msb.dese.mo.gov
What is the Braille Challenge?
The Braille Challenge is a national braille contest created and sponsored by the Braille Institute of America. The Braille Challenge is a two-stage academic competition designed to support and enrich the reading and writing of braille.
Stage 1: Students participate in the Regional Event or a Preliminary Round in their home state.
Stage 2: The top 50 eligible students in the United States (10 in each category) are invited to Los Angeles to compete in the Final Rounds! (summer 2019 - sorry, no funding is available from MSB)
Braille Challenge 2019 Categories
IMPORTANT NOTICE!
All contests will be in UEB ONLY. There will be no EBAE (English Braille American Edition) option offered at any level.
- Braille Speed and Accuracy: Students listen to a digital audio story and transcribe it – speed and accuracy count.
- Reading Comprehension: Students silently read a story and answer multiple-choice questions about the story.
- Spelling: Students will braille vocabulary words in uncontracted braille. Extra points are given for the same words brailled correctly in contracted braille.
- Proofreading: Students will read a faulty passage and look for braille, grammar, punctuation, or spelling errors.
- Interpreting Tactile Graphics/Chart and Graph Reading: Students read tactile graphics to answer a variety of multiple-choice questions.
Who Can Participate?
- Braille Readers in Grades 1-2: Apprentice – Spelling, reading comprehension, proofreading; uncontracted braille, at and below grade level, continues to be offered at the Apprentice Level as a separate group contest
- Braille Readers in Grades 3-4: Freshman - Spelling, reading comprehension, proofreading
- Braille Readers in Grades 5-6: Sophomore – Reading comprehension, proofreading, speed and accuracy, charts and graphs
- Braille Readers in Grades 7-9: Junior Varsity – Reading comprehension, proofreading, speed and accuracy, charts and graphs
- Braille Readers in Grades 10-12: Varsity - Reading comprehension, proofreading, speed and accuracy, charts and graphs
*Participants must provide their own Perkins Brailler (any manual brailler is allowed-Next Generation, Light Touch, or Classic Perkins). Students participating in the Speed and Accuracy Challenge (Varsity, Junior Varsity, Sophomore levels) must have a Victor Stream or Book Port Plus with ear buds or headphones. Students may visit The Braille Challenge website at https://www.brailleinstitute.org/braille-challenge to review contest descriptions and download practice contests.
Resources:
- For practice, the Braille Institute will post 2019 practice contests. To find these practice contests, a history of the Challenge, and more, go to the Braille Institute’s website at www.brailleinstitute.org/braille-challenge-homepage
- For Missouri School for the Blind participation form:
- MSB Additional Information form
- For registration/permission forms for the Regional Contest at MSB:
- Braille Institute Permission Form
- NEW Ibraille App from Ben Pomeroy, Director of Digital Programs.
- App is available in the iTunes iPad Appstore, visit https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ibraillechallenge/id1373878444?ls=1&mt=8
- Students (or teachers) will be asked to fill out a short demographic form in order to get a password (by email)
- Once the student is logged in, they can select their ‘Age’ (Apprentice, Freshman, Sophomore, Junior Varsity or Varsity)
- Once the student selects their ‘Age’ all test content that appears in the app will be age-appropriate for the student
- The app allows the student to self-administer tests in parallel with the test types that appear in the Braille Challenge
- Students get immediate feedback and scores
- Ben Pomeror’s Contact: (323) 906-3143 bapomeroy@brailleinstitute.org