Encouraging Reading With A Magnifier

With preschool/primary school students

  1. Observe interesting objects: rocks, shells, fossils, feathers, money,
    fingerprints, leaves, flowers, and so on
  2. Use a magnifier to identify stamps and find out the country of origin
    in an atlas or on a globe
  3. Use a game board approach to move forward when cut-out pictures on individual
    cards are identified
  4. Find hidden pictures within pictures
  5. Encourage systematic left-to-right scanning by placing a clear piece of
    acetate over the page with a grid or scanning plan mapped out first
  6. Read recipes off boxes during a cooking lesson
  7. Life skills reading activities: include reading: recipes, menus, newspapers,
    CD covers, food cans, maps, charts, graphs, television guides, bus schedules
    etc
  8. Read Lego assembly instruction sheets to Lego toys
  9. Place magnifier on mirror to observe eyes and open discussion on the child’s
    eye condition

Picture story books

Some of the illustrations is picture story books can be
used to encourage use of magnifiers in young and not so young readers.
The detail in the illustrations in the following list of books is worthy
of further exploration. And they have minimal text:

  • “The Wrong Stone by Russell Deal
  • “The Red Tree by Shaun Tan
  • Graeme Base books including “Animalia”
  • “Where’s Wally? books and jigsaw puzzles

Try your library or book store.

With secondary school students

  1. Scan pages of print for specific information
  2. Read newspaper classified sections, sports pages, and
    stock reports to search for specific information
  3. Locate information about food ingredients on grocery
    labels
  4. Read bus and train schedules to plan routes to and from
    school or work experience placements
  5. Make an address book by looking up names and addresses
    of friends in the telephone book
  6. Make a chart to compare reading speeds using magnifier
    with different sized print
  7. Read instruction manuals for computers or new appliances
  8. Use a magnifier to locate geographic areas mentioned
    in current news broadcasts

See also Teaching the use of magnifiers for reading

Source: Corn, A.L. & Koenig, A.J., Foundations of Low Vision: Clinical
and Functional Perspectives, AFB, New York, 1996

 

Reading exercise charts

See Teaching the use of magnifier for instructions
and further information.

Here are three examples of reading exercise charts for use with a magnifier

the yellow ball to the school can live
has run away will walk it was
he was on the chair with us
up there so long has made
your mother the new doll the black bird
to the house he would do if you can
he would try when you come can run
the old man to the barn from the tree
brother and sister run and play two brown ducks
went away was made they are

Harry Potter reading exercise 1

send an owl he led them along cars don’t fly
keeper of the keys tap your wand rubbing their ribs
pat his beak wings flapped open Ron and Harry
long hair and beard back to school at Snape’s class
at the roots wash their hands dash of leech juice
in a mean smile potion needs to stew up the stairs
to the tower the Great Hall a long list
a good time gulp of potion the cold wind
not even Ron roll up the map out in front
Harry sped up the dark side upside-down

Harry Potter reading exercise 2

two feet away took out his wand watch this spell
the dark mark staff room door the class came in
get a clear shot his long robes holding his wand
take its legs off to get their bags the Fat Lady
win the cup saw the Snitch all cats chase rats
the bell rang put up his hand a look in his eye
out of his room side of the pitch seen the Grim
the end of term cold damp earth top of his head
run for it his scar hurt the house cup
a grim smile along the roof the four friends