SAFARI Montage as a Teaching Tool for Autistic Learners

This past year for the first time as a Library Media Specialist, I had the pleasure and privilege of teaching 4 different groups of students who are on the autistic spectrum. They ranged in their abilities. They also ranged in their personal preferences; likes, dislikes, expectations and routines. So far they sound like any other class but what made these groups of students unique was their ability to communicate.

Some were verbal, some nonverbal, some had garbled speech, some whispered, some shouted and some even sang. Many days they were a challenge to teach, so I went looking for some tricks.

I wanted to find a way for this group of learners to connect with the books in the library. Reading aloud to this group was a struggle at first. I searched SAFARI Montage and my library catalog which has stories cross referenced, and previewed many videos for picture books that we had on the shelves in my library. SAFARI Montage was a huge success. The students were able to sustain their attention on the text and video. I always had a copy of the book they were watching ready for them to check out and take back to the classroom. The following week someone was sure to ask for a video they had seen before or for a book that SAFARI Montage had “recommended.”

Because learners on the autistic spectrum do best with routine, once we had set up a ritual in the library of story time and learning about a book first, students knew what to expect every library class, which helped alleviate some of their anxieties. But be prepared to show these favorites over and over again, because the repetition helps with their learning style. Some of the stories they enjoyed and stayed focused on the most were Click Clack Moo, Cows That Type, book by Doreen Cronin, Officer Buckle and Gloria, by Peggy Rathman, Jan Brett’s Berlioz the Bear, and Good Night, Gorrilla also by Rathman. With Good Night, Gorilla, the colors of the keys and the matching cages were so much more obvious then in the book and on subsequent viewings, they would point out which key the gorilla was going to use next, working on predictions and color recognition. Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin had a core group that enjoyed it, but this story is much longer and harder to hold the attention span of most the students. Without a doubt the two favorite SAFARI Montage videos were Trashy Town, book by Andrea Griffing Zimmerman and Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin. The classroom teachers and I had a theory on why these two particular videos were the hits that they were: music! Chicka Chicka Boom Boom’s chorus is infectious and when the letters crashed down they all cheered and giggled. Trashy Town has a snappy beat along with predictable text and repetition. In fact, these two were so popular that a new ritual developed mid-year. If they were attentive during the lesson at the beginning of the period and did a nice job checking out their books, then I would show both Trashy Town and Chicka Chicka Boom Boom on SAFARI Montage as a reward. This developed partly because one of my whisperers was asking for Trashy Town and I didn’t hear him. He got back to the classroom and had a meltdown. When they could calm him down enough to find out what was wrong, he whispered, “Trashy Town.” To him, coming to the library meant watching Trashy Town on SAFARI Montage.

SAFARI Montage helped pave the way for this unique group of learners connect with books in a more meaningful way. It helped alleviate their fears and gave them a routine and something to look forward to on library days. It helped me feel successful with a unique and fun group of learners.
 

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