G3 Practice Name:____________________________ Helen Keller Helen Keller was an American writer and speaker. She was born in Alabama in 1880. When she was nineteen months old she became sick and lost her eyesight and hearing. The doctor didn't know what it was, so he called it a "congestion of the stomach and brain." When Helen was seven years old, her family decided to find a teacher for her. They wrote to Michael Anagnos, who was the director of the Perkins Institute and Asylum for the Blind. They asked him to help them find a teacher for their daughter. He wrote to them and told them that he knew a young teacher and her name was Anne Sullivan. She had been blind, but a series of operations helped restore her eyesight. Anne traveled to Alabama to live with Helen’s family and to teach her. Anne went to live with the Keller family in March, 1887. Anne helped Helen to learn how to communicate with other people. She taught her the names of things by writing the words on Helen’s hand. Helen's first word was "water". She learned this word when Anne put Helen's hand under some water and wrote W,A,T,E,R on her hand. Then she learnt the words with this method. In 1890, Helen’s family sent her to the Perkins Institute to learn how to speak and communicate. When she was nineteen years old, Helen went to Radcliffe College in Massachusetts. She graduated from Radcliffe in 1904. She was the first deaf and blind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree. In 1903, Helen wrote a book about her life. It was called The Story of My Life. The movie The Miracle Worker, made in 1962, was based on Helen's book. She also wrote a book about Anne Sullivan called Teacher. She wrote twelve other books. Helen tried to help poor people and other blind people during her life. She traveled to over 39 countries with Anne to talk about her life and experiences. Asnwer the questions. 1. Who was Hellen Keller? ___________________________________________ 2. Who helped Hellen to learn to communicate? ___________________________________________ 3. What was the first word Hellen learned? ___________________________________________ 4. What is the name of Hellen’s book? ___________________________________________ 5. Do you consider Hellen’s life interesting? EXPLAIN. ___________________________________________ 6. Draw or print a picture of Hellen Keller.
