The Cochlear Implant School Toolkit

4 - Teaching a Child with a Cochlear Implant

Examples of preteaching strategies continued...

Storytelling:

• Provide parents with the titles of the books you will be reading in class, if known, so that they have the opportunity to read these at home with their child before they are read in class.
  
• This will allow the child to pay attention to the story in class rather than struggle to hear individual words.
• Identify one or two storybooks on the same topic as the new unit.
  
• For example, if your new unit is on oceans, recommend The Magic School Bus on the Ocean Floor (Scholastic).
• At least one week before the new unit begins, inform the parents of the upcoming theme and learning topics and recommend related books for them to read with the child with a cochlear implant.
  
• This will familiarize the child with new vocabulary and related themes and concepts.

Below, a teacher of a student with a cochlear implant discusses why and how he uses preteaching.