Physical Adaptions
Here a just a few ways you can physically adapt books for students.
Durability Adaptions
Dog's Colorful Day
For the book Dog's Colorful Day by Emma Dodd, the book was copied in color then put into plastic sleeves. The plastic sleeves were then placed in a binder. We stuck two velcro dots on the top left page and one velcro dot on the bottom right page. With the velcro arranged this way, students will be able to choose, from two or three options, what color spot is going to go next. In making the binder this way with the velcro already attached to each of the sheet protectors, this allows opportunities to swap out the books and save money on velcro for each book.
Toes, Ears, & Nose!
The book Toes, Ears, and Nose by Marion Dane Bauer, the flaps have been cut off of the pages and laminated. After the pieces have been laminates a piece of velcro can be added to each one and another one on the corresponding page for that flap that was cut off of it. This can give the flaps of the book a longer life as they will then not be able to rip off. If you are afraid that the pieces might get lost before laminating them make an extra color copy of all the pieces just to have as a replacement.
Physical Adaptions
There are many ways you can physically adapt books to make the reading experience easier and less stressful for students with disabilities. A common issue when working with students who have underdeveloped fine motor control is them having a hard time turning the pages. We have shared with you a few examples of how we have physically adapted books for our students. Another type of quick adaption, that we did not include an example of, is to make your own version of a board book. You can do this by using an old board book that you are no longer using, or by adhering copied pages of the book you would want to adapt to cardboard and creating your own board book with sturdier pages that are easier to turn.
Where Is Spot?
Where Is Spot? by Eric Hill is an exciting book about Spot's mother trying to find her son at dinner time. She travels around the home looking for him but instead she finds an assortment of animals hiding behind doors, inside clocks and pianos, and under beds and stairs. This is a fun and exciting flip book for children who may be motivated by animals. I made this book more durable by using contact paper to support the flip pages. I physically adapted this book by adding the styrofoam letters to make the flips easier to turn and lift and there is an extra letter sound component when pointing to the letter and then saying the animal (ex: M. Mmmmm. Monkey. The monkey was in the closet.)
Corduroy
For the book Corduroy by Don Freeman to make the pages of the board book easier to turn clothespins were staggered along the outside of the book. The clothespins have been colored on alternating ones to demonstrate to the reader which one comes next. The clothespins allow the reader to use one or two finger to lift and pull over the pages throughout the book. For added support to the clothespins attachment to the book add a small piece of sticky tack under the clothespins. Binder clips can also be used to make board books easier to turn as they create a space for the reader to get under the pages. Popsicle sticks can also be attached to books in an staggered fashion just like the clothespin but will have to be glued on to the actual books.
Visual Adaptions
This is my classroom's "Let's Read Together!" binder. My Friend Is Sad (An Elephant & Piggie Book) is currently in it. I use this binder to place copies of the book that we are reading as a whole class. The student who needs extra support will have his own copy of the book to hold onto and look at. If there is an aid to help, the aid can be asking questions relating to the book as the teacher reads the original book to the whole class.