The students in Ms. Stuckey’s 2nd Grade class at Montrose researched Helen Keller in the library. They read a book with their librarian, Ms. Driver, and also read through a leveled reader in RAZ Kids to gather information about Helen Keller.

After learning more about Helen Keller, students used Tinkercad to design 3D name plates with their names written in Braille. For this lesson, students logged into Tinkercad and had access to a copy of the Braille alphabet. The student created a rectangular prism and then recessed their name into the rectangle. Then they created a raised dot, which they duplicated and re-positioned to spell out the letters of their name in Braille.

Once they were finished, they made their designs public and shared them on a Google Doc so I could access their designs to print the files. Their finished prints turned out fantastic!! With the recessed name, we learned that we need to build in supports to keep the center of the letter from being completely cut out. We also learned that the height of the Braille dots are important. If they are raised up too high, they will break off easily. The Braille dots and spacing aren’t as uniform as true Braille text, but thanks to Tinkercad and the 3D Printer, the students were able to learn more about this important language.