UNIT WEB

INTRODUCTORY
ACTIVITY

LEARNING
OBJECTIVES:
VOCABULARY
BUILDING READING AND
COMPREHENSION
A BOND FOR LIFE
SKILLS
HELEN KELLER

INSPIRATIONAL
COMPREHENSION
LIFE STORY
HOW DO YOU SPELL YOUR NAME IN BRAILLE?
 Named Helen Adams Keller
 Born June 27, 1880 in
Tuscumbia, Alabama
 Daughter of Captain Arthur
Henley Keller and Kate Adams
Keller
 Was born with full sight and
hearing
 February 1882, when Helen was 19
months old, she fell ill
 Doctors called it “brain fever” otherwise
known today as scarlet fever or meningitis
 For many days, she was expected to die
 When the fever went away, her family
thought she was in the clear
 Her mother noticed that Helen
was not responding to the dinner
bell when rung
 Also, she wasn’t responding to
her mother’s hand passing in
front of her eyes
 Helen’s illness left her blind and
deaf
 Helen’s mother took her to a specialist
doctor in Baltimore who suggested that
they meet with Alexander Graham Bell
 Alexander Graham Bell was the local
expert on the problems of children who
are deaf
 Bell told the Keller family to write
Michael Anagnos-Director of the Perkins
Institution for the Blind
 The Kellers asked Michael
Anagnos-Director of the Perkins
Institution for the Blind to help
find a teacher for Helen
 He immediately recommended
Anne Sullivan who was a former
student of the institution
 Met for the first time on March 3, 1887
 Starting teaching Helen immediately
 She spelled out the word “doll” on Helen’s
hand to help her recognize what Anne had
brought for Helen
 Helen could repeat the movements on her
hand, but didn’t know what they meant
 Anne took Helen down a path to a well-house
 Someone was pumping water and Anne put
Helen’s hand under the water
 Anne immediately spelled out “water” over
and over on Helen’s hand
 Helen make the connection between the
word “water” and the flowing liquid
 Helen learned the spelling of 30 words within
the next few hours after the water
 Learned to understand what others were
saying by touching their lips and throat
 Helen could not speak due to her vocal
chords not being trained prior to being
taught how to speak
 Helen
reading Mrs.
Calvin
Coolidge’s
lips with her
hand
 Helen was the first person who was blind
and deaf to ever enter an institution of
higher learning
 She enrolled in the fall of 1900
 She was the first person was was blind
and deaf to earn a bachelor of Arts
degree
 Helen graduated cum laude from
Radcliffe College on June 28, 1904
 1903-Helen’s first book The
Story of My Life
 1913-Out of the Dark-series of
essays on socialism
 1955-Teacher-book about Anne
Sullivan
 Had fundraising tours for the American
Foundation for the Blind
 After World War II, Helen travelled the world
fundraising for the American Foundation for
the Overseas Blind
 Campaigned to help with the living and
working conditions for people who were blind
 Was awarded the Presidential
Medal of Freedom in 1964 by
President Lyndon Johnson
 1965-At the New York
World’s Fair, she was elected
to Women’s Hall of Fame
 Helen died on June 1, 1968 in Arcan Ridge at
the age of 87
 She died peacefully in her sleep
 Her lifelong dream was to be able to talk,
something she never got to master in life
 DETERMINATION AND
PERSEVERANCE
 FACE CHALLENGES TO
MAKE YOUR OWN SUCCESS
STORY
 NEVER GIVE UP