CONNECTIONS Lesson Plans: Grades K 4 A meaningful, interac ve dance assembly that takes the inspira onal story of Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan, through the medium of dance, to bring awareness of people with disabili es and give students a be er understanding of the differences and resul ng connec ons with people with disabili es.
Connections Disability Awareness and Success with a Disability Hello teachers! We are very excited to come to your school and present our assembly, Connections. We have developed this assembly based on our story ballet entitled, A Light in the Dark: The Story of Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan. This ballet depicts the story of Helen Keller from age seven, before she met her teacher; through her discovering the world and finally making the connection that every object in the world has a name. Even though Helen Keller was both blind and deaf during a time of social unawareness and lack of acceptance, she prevailed and went on to graduate college and pave the way for future generations. Through a series of loosely created lesson plans and class activities, we are hoping to introduce your students to the content of our assembly so that they will be engaged and ready to participate! We understand that your school s curriculum is very demanding, but we hope that you can find time to do a couple, if not all of these activities. Enjoy! **Please note that these plans were created to make your lives easier and can be presented and/or combined in any way. They are also easily modifiable in order to meet the needs of your specific grade. So use them as you please you re the experts!
Lesson 1: The 5 Senses (Designed for younger grades. May combine with following lesson) Objective: Students will identify the five senses and the body part involved with each. Materials Needed: Copies of the attached worksheet one per student Students list the 5 senses and record on the board o Hear, taste, touch, see, smell Establish the body part that is associated with each sense o Students work with their neighbor to draw the body part that they think is associated with each. Volunteers can come to the board to record what they discovered Students can then pair up to play the memory game provided, or they can complete the worksheet provided to assess whether or not they met the objective.
Senses Matching Game Instructions: Cut out the boxes, scramble them up and match the sense with the picture that goes with it. You can even turn them all over and play a game with your friend! Smell Hear Taste See Touch
Lesson 2: Visually Impaired Objective: Students will identify 3 5 accommodations for people who are blind. Materials Needed: See individual activities below Introduction: Do you know anyone who is blind? What is life like for them? What do they struggle with? Activity #1: People who are missing a sense compensate by using their other senses. o Touch Materials Needed: Several blindfolds, objects similar to each other to be identified by student while blindfolded (tennis ball, baseball, apple, orange, doorknob ) Choose several objects that are similar, yet easily identifiable by feeling. Blindfold students and have them identify the objects. Their guesses are recorded and can be compared to the object once the blindfold comes off. Many objects can be used so several students can participate in the activity simultaneously. o Hearing Materials Needed: Blindfolds Imagine what it would be like to be in the classroom, but unable to see. Once again, blindfold students and manipulate objects around the classroom and have them guess what you re doing. For example: write on the chalkboard, slam a textbook shut, open and close the door, shuffle papers, push chair in, etc. This can be as a whole class activity. Students all have their eyes covered and the teacher can call on students to guess what he/she is doing. Students can hear their peers guesses and engage in a class discussion following the activity. o Smell Materials Needed: Blindfolds, food items that have a strong scent (coffee beans, orange juice or a peeled orange, lemons, garlic, onion, maple syrup ), Dixie cups or somewhere to put the food objects How would you identify food and drink if you could not see? Students are blindfolded and presented with objects to smell and identify. It is recommended that students do not handle objects in order to isolate the sense of smell only. Like the sense of touch, this can be done in several small groups so that all the students can participate simultaneously. Activity #2: As part of a follow up discussion, students make a list of things that would be difficult for a person who is blind. These implications should
consist of elements outside the classroom. This can ben done as a whole class or in small groups Examples: reading, watching television, telling time, knowing where things are, walking down the sidewalk, using a computer, etc. o Brainstorm solutions to these, ways in which society has accommodated for people who are visually imparied. Older students can incorporate research in to using the computer. Examples: talking alarm clocks, Seeing Eye dogs, braille text, braille keyboards, audio street crossings, grooved pavement near intersections, item locators, etc. Additional Information: Blindness does not inhibit people s ability to succeed in life. In fact, some people who are visually impaired have done amazing things. o Louis Braille Invented Braille, an alphabet made up of raised bumps that people who are blind can feel with their hands o Erik Weihenmayer First person who is blind to reach the summit of Mount Everest o Andrea Bocelli Operatic pop singer o Ray Charles Famous pianist and singer o Stevie Wonder Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee o Chis Holmes A swimmer who has won multiple Paralympic gold medals in swimming o Marla Runyan Olympic and Paralympic runner who is legally blind o David Paterson Governor of New York, 2008 2010 o Thomas Gore United States Senator from Oklahoma o Matthew A. Dunn Member of the United States House of Representatives
Lesson 3: Deaf Objective: Students will identify 3 5 accommodations for people who are deaf. Materials Needed: Copies of the American Sign Language Alphabet (one for each student), materials for an in class activity (see Activity #1) Introduction: Do you know anyone who is deaf? What is life like for them? What do they struggle with? Activity #1: People who are missing a sense compensate by using other senses. We learned that people who are visually impaired use their sense of touch, hearing and smell. People who are deaf can use their sense of sight, touch and smell, but not hearing. o Following directions in the classroom: Teacher conducts a whole class activity without using her voice. This can be any activity in any subject. An example would be a craft or something with simple instructions that can be acted out. If students have questions, they must find a way to ask them without using their voice. The teacher needs to find a way to get the class attention without using his/her voice. An example of this would be to flick the lights. After the completion of the activity, talk about what was difficult and what the students learned from not being able to use their voice. o Communicating with other people using sign language: Students receive the American Sign Language Alphabet and go through all the signs as a class. Then they work individually to spell their own name using the worksheet as a reference. They may also spell a word chosen by the teacher or a word of their choice (maybe the name of the school, or the name of the assembly, Connections ). Activity #2: As part of a follow up discussion, students make a list of things that would be difficult for a person who is deaf. These implications can consist of elements both inside and outside the classroom. This can be done as a whole class or in small groups Examples: hearing instructions, waking up to an alarm clock, having a conversation, hearing television, hearing a doorbell, hearing a phone ring, etc. o Brainstorm solutions to these, ways in which society has accommodated for people who are deaf. Older students can incorporate research in to using the computer. Examples: American Sign Language (ASL), interpreters who listen to instructions or a speaker and then translate to sign language, doorbells that flash instead of ring, phone flashes instead of rings, alarm clocks that vibrate or light up, movies
and television shows that have captions of what is being said, hearing aids Optional Activity #3: After the students learn about accommodations for people who are visually impaired or deaf, they can create a Venn Diagram comparing and contrasting accommodations for each. This can be done as a class or individually. Additional Information: Deafness does not inhibit people s ability to succeed in life. In fact, some people who are deaf have done amazing things. o Abbe Charles Michael de l Epee was not deaf himself, but he founded the world s first public school for students who are deaf in Paris. He was also one of the fist advocates for using sign language in the education for people who are deaf. o Laurent Clerc French American who co founded the first school for the deaf in America. She was also the first teacher who was deaf to teach in America. o Pierre Deslogues The first known person who is deaf to publish a book o Ashley Fiolek 4 time Women s Motocross Champion o Jim Kyte First and only person who is deaf to play in the National Hockey League o Marlee Maatlin Only person who is deaf to win an Academy Award for Best Actress o Sue Thomas First person who is deaf to work for the FBI as an undercover investigator reading lips of suspects o Heather Whitestone First woman who is deaf to win the title of Miss America o Ludwig van Beethoven Famous composer who was deaf
Lesson 3: Helen Keller Objective: Students will explain how Helen Keller succeeded with her disability by listing at least 3 of her accomplishments. Materials Needed: Blindfolds and earplugs (one for every two students) Introduction: What do you know about Helen Keller? How do you think Helen was able to function in life if she was both blind and deaf? How do you think you would function in life if you were both blind and deaf? Activity #1: Experiencing life as a blind and deaf person o Students are placed in groups of two and given one set of earplugs and one blindfold. One of the partners wears the blindfold and earplugs, acting as the person who is blind and deaf and the other acts as the guide. The teacher chooses a path for the whole class to go on together and leads all groups around the school or playground or sidewalk outside. The guide is to observe their partner s body language as they experience life without being able to see or hear. o Once the path is completed, partners may switch roles and go on another adventure. o After both groups have had their turn, reconvene to talk about what they experienced. Make a list on the board of some of the emotions the students felt as well as some of the body language they observed. o Introduce Helen Keller (if not done already) and explain that she succeeded with her inability to see and hear and went on to do wonderful things. Background knowledge on Helen Keller: Helen Keller was born on June 27, 1880 in Tuscumbia, Alabama. When she was 19 months old, she became ill and as a result lost her ability to see and hear. As a young child, she acquired a series of signs (hand signals) that she could use to communicate with her family. These signs were not sufficient for Helen as she continued to grow and she became unruly and violent because she was frustrated that she could not connect with her family. In 1887, when Helen was 7 years old, she met her teacher Anne Sullivan. Anne worked at the Perkins Institute for the Blind and came to Helen to teach her a language that would allow her to connect to her family. She began by spelling letters into Helen s hand and teaching her that every object has a name. She would hand Helen a doll, then take that doll away and spell d o l l into Helen s hand. The alphabet that Anne used is known as American Sign Language. One day, Helen was holding her hands under running water as Anne spelled w a t e r into them. All of a
sudden, she understood that the cold, wet substance she felt had a name and that name was water! Thanks to Anne, Helen made the connection that every object has a name. All of a sudden she wanted to know the name of everything! Helen learned how to communicate in Sign Language and was able to connect with her family in a whole new way! Helen was a remarkable woman and accomplished so much in her lifetime, despite her inability to see and hear. She was the first person who was deaf and blind to graduate from college. She learned how to use her voice and speak, and spent much of her lifetime giving speeches and lectures! She also learned how to hear by feeling people s lips as they talked. When Helen was growing up, there was not very much support for people living with disabilities. Because Helen had the ability to communicate with others, she became an advocate for people with disabilities and fought to provide accommodations for them so they could be connected to the world like her. She traveled the world with her teacher, Anne, and became friends with Mark Twain, Alexander Graham Bell and many of the Presidents! She wrote and published 12 books and many movies were made about her and her incredible life. Final Discussion: Helen Keller paved the way for all disability awareness in America. What other things can you think of in the world that have been put in to place for people with disabilities? o People who use wheelchairs have special bathrooms and cars and water fountains and sinks that have been built especially for them. On each street corner, there is a ramp so that they do not have to go up and down a curb. o The Communications and Video Accessibility act was passed in 2010. This Act ensures that people living with disabilities are not left behind as technology changes. o The I Can Connect initiative provides free technology to people who are visual impaired and deaf so they can connect with family and friends in the community.
Assembly Feedback Teachers: If you could please discuss these questions with your class after watching the assembly and provide us with some feedback, we would really appreciate it! You can respond to the following questions via email, or you may fill it out and mail it to our office (860 W. Blackhawk Drive Ste 305, Chicago, IL 60642). We want to hear what your students thought! What was your favorite part? What was your least favorite part? Was there anything that was confusing to you? What did you learn from the assembly? Do you have any suggestions for how we could make this better in the future?