View

• Arthur - "Prunella Sees the Light"
  To make everything perfect for her sleepover with Marina, Prunella happily styles her room to resemble a "Henry Skreever" book. But then she panics -- since Marina is blind, will decorations she can't even see offend her ... or worse, make her trip? Or will Prunella discover that her worries about protecting Marina -- and their friendship -- are more about Prunella's own perceptions rather than Marina's actual capabilities?
• Mister Rogers' Neighborhood - "Episode #1184"
  Mister Rogers shows how you can tell what things are by feeling when you can't see them. Jazz saxophonist Eric Kloss performs and talks about his blindness.

Do in Class

• Arthur: Communication Adventure - Explore multiple resources on blindness and braille within this comprehensive teacher's guide.
• Arthur: Understanding Eyeglasses - Discuss how eyeglasses work, explain why some people need them and others don't and learn how such differences make people unique.
• Jay Jay the Jet Plane: Let's Think About...Our Five Senses - Explore your five senses with these classroom activities.
• Mister Rogers' Neighborhood: Paper People in a Row - Make a string of paper people and then decorate each person differently. Discuss how people are all the same underneath even though they may look different on the outside.
• ZOOM: Peripheral Vision - Investigate how well you see movement, color, shape and detail with your peripheral vision, and compare your results with that of another person.
• ZOOM: You Can Help People With Disabilities - Learn how you can make texture cards for blind students.

Play Online

• Arthur: Don't Wake Kate - Use your senses to navigate through the dark in this online game.
• Arthur: You've Got Braille - Enter your message into the braille translator and use a key to learn what the dots mean.

Read

• Do You Remember the Color Blue: And Other Questions Kids Ask About Blindness
  By Sally Hobart Alexander
  Published March 2002 by Puffin
  Would you rather be blind or deaf? What if you were blind or deaf? The author, blind since 1969, answers this and other questions as she tells her own story. In addition, readers 9-12 will learn about the tools, animals, and skills the blind depend on to get along in a sighted world. An appendix describes visionless exercises for the sighted.
• The Hickory Chair
  By Lisa Rowe Fraustino and Benny Andrews
  Published February 2001 by Arthur A. Levine
  Louis is Gran's favorite youngest grandchild. When she dies, she leaves a note for each relative willing one of her possessions. Although blind, Louis helps the others find their notes. Only his note remains undiscovered. Told from the point-of-view of a non-sighted character, this book describes the world using other senses, encouraging 4-8 year olds to use what Gran called "blind sight."

*As most PBS children's programs offer one year extended taping rights for teachers, please feel free to tape them now and save them for use in your classroom during the school year.