43 copies

A short Scholastic Biography book about Helen Keller. 1880-1968.
This is a wonderful book about what Helen Keller accomplished in her life with the help of her "Teacher", Annie Sullivan. It begins with how she lost her sight and hearing because of the disease, scarlet fever.
Contents: A Strange Fever; The Dark Silence; The Stranger Comes; The Worst Fight of All; W-A-T-E-R; So Much to Learn; A Time to Move On; "I Am Not Dumb Now!"; College; and The Busy Years.
She learned to spell with the "finger alphabet" by making the shapes of the letters. Annie Sullivan told Helen's family it was how they spoke to the deaf. Helen was a quick learner.
Later she learned to speak and also read books using the braille system. She visited the World War ll injured to encourage them after being asked by President Franklin Roosevelt. Helen Keller became a writer and lectured.
The back of the book has the braille alphabet. ( )

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Summary of Book:
This book is the biography of Helen Keller. This book starts out with how Helen Keller first was diagnosed with scarlet fever. The doctor thought because the fever finally broke, she would be fine. However, they soon realized Helen was blind, deaf and mute. The book goes on to talk about how Helen excelled at some things and struggled with others. The end of the book talks about how Helen Keller went to college and graduated and ultimately overcame the impossible.

Personal Reaction:
I really like this book because it shows how even with difficulties, people can overcome and achieve whatever they want to. Helen Keller's story is very inspirational even to children, because it shows that even people with disabilities can still do 'normal' things just like everyone else. Having a disability doesn't mean that that individual cannot be successful.

Classroom Extension:
For this book's classroom extension I would have my students write about a time that they struggled or felt like giving up. Another classroom extension I would use is have each of my students make a Helen Keller biography project report and each student would be responsible for a different aspect of Helen Keller's life. ( )