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Easy Reader Biographies: Helen Keller
An Inspiring Life
Guided Reading Level J
No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part, or stored in a retrieval
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permission, write to Scholastic Inc., 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.
Written by Carol Ghiglieri
Illustrated by Antonio Castro
Designed by Maria Lilja
ISBN-13: 978-0-439-77417-8
ISBN-10: 0-439-77417-9
Copyright © 2007 by Scholastic Inc.
Published by Scholastic Inc.
All rights reserved.
Printed in China.
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Easy Reader Biographies: Helen Keller
© Scholastic Teaching Resources
Helen Keller lived
from 1880 to 1968.
She was a hero to
many people.
Helen Keller was deaf and blind. But
that did not stop her. She wrote books
and traveled around the world. Read
on to learn about her inspiring life!
Easy Reader Biographies: Helen Keller
© Scholastic Teaching Resources
Helen’s parents worried about
Helen while she was sick.
Helen was born in Alabama in 1880.
She was a happy baby. But when
she was almost two, she got very
sick. For days she had a high fever.
Easy Reader Biographies: Helen Keller
© Scholastic Teaching Resources
Helen could not see
spring f lowers or
hear birds sing.
After the fever passed, Helen was
not the same as before. Her parents
realized that she couldn’t hear or see.
The illness had left her deaf and blind.
Easy Reader Biographies: Helen Keller
© Scholastic Teaching Resources
Sometimes Helen got
so angry she would
kick and scream.
Helen could not hear words, so she
could not learn to speak. It made her
angry that she couldn’t communicate.
Easy Reader Biographies: Helen Keller
© Scholastic Teaching Resources
Helen made different movements
to show what she wanted.
Helen found ways to let her parents
know what she wanted. When she
wanted ice cream, she pretended she
was cold. When she wanted her father,
she pretended to put on glasses.
Easy Reader Biographies: Helen Keller
© Scholastic Teaching Resources
Annie brought Helen a doll.
When Helen was six, a teacher named
Annie Sullivan came to live with her
family. Annie wanted to teach Helen to
communicate with words. But how?
Easy Reader Biographies: Helen Keller
© Scholastic Teaching Resources
Annie tried to teach Helen about
words. She tried to teach her
that everything has a name.
Annie spelled letters with her fingers
in the palm of Helen’s hand. Annie
spelled the letters D-O-L-L. Then she
handed Helen a doll. But Helen didn’t
understand that the letters spelled doll.
Easy Reader Biographies: Helen Keller
© Scholastic Teaching Resources
For many weeks,
Annie tried to
teach Helen about
words. It was a
very difficult job.
One day, Annie had an idea. She led
Helen to the water pump. Annie let
the cold water run over Helen’s hand.
Then she wrote the letters W-A-T-E-R
in Helen’s palm again and again.
Easy Reader Biographies: Helen Keller
© Scholastic Teaching Resources
Mother, father,
sister, and teacher
were some of the
new words Helen
learned that day.
Suddenly Helen understood! The
letters spelled water! Now she knew
that everything had a name!
“I learned a great many new words
that day,” Helen later wrote.
Easy Reader Biographies: Helen Keller
© Scholastic Teaching Resources
Helen loved books. She
read one after another.
Helen later learned to read books in
Braille. These books had raised dots
that stood for letters. Helen could feel
the dots with her fingertips. She also
learned to write and speak, too.
10
Easy Reader Biographies: Helen Keller
© Scholastic Teaching Resources
Helen used a special typewriter
to write. Her first book was
called The Story of My Life.
When Helen was 20, she went to
college. She also wrote a book about
her life. Now people all over the world
could read Helen’s amazing story.
11
Easy Reader Biographies: Helen Keller
© Scholastic Teaching Resources
The leaders of many
countries wanted to
meet Helen.
Over the years, Helen visited more than
30 countries. She met many deaf and
blind people on her travels. Everywhere
she went, she gave people hope.
12
Easy Reader Biographies: Helen Keller
© Scholastic Teaching Resources
“We can do anything
we want to do if
we stick to it long
enough,” Helen said.
For the rest of her life, Helen worked
to help deaf and blind people.
She showed them that they could do
many things. Today people remember
Helen Keller as a true hero.
13
Easy Reader Biographies: Helen Keller
© Scholastic Teaching Resources
This timeline shows some of the
important events in Helen Keller’s life.
1880
Helen Keller
is born.
1880
1887
Annie Sullivan
comes to live
with Helen.
1885
1890
1887
Helen learns
her first
words.
1882
Helen gets sick.
She becomes
deaf and blind.
14
Easy Reader Biographies: Helen Keller
© Scholastic Teaching Resources
1895
1913
1904
Helen
finishes
college.
1900
Helen begins
making speeches
to help deaf
and blind people.
1905
1910
1902
Helen writes
a book about
her life.
15
Easy Reader Biographies: Helen Keller
© Scholastic Teaching Resources
1915
Glossary
Braille (noun) A kind of writing for
blind people. It uses raised dots that
can be felt with the fingertips.
communicate (verb) to share
information, ideas, or feelings
with others
hope (noun) a good feeling about
the future
inspiring (adjective) encouraging;
giving confidence or support to
someone
palm (noun) the inside of the hand
realized (verb) understood; knew
timeline (noun) a line with marks and
words that shows when important
events happened
16
Easy Reader Biographies: Helen Keller
© Scholastic Teaching Resources
Helen Keller
An Inspiring Life
Guided Reading Level: J
Word Count: 666
Average Words Per Page: 42
Spotlight Nonfiction Feature:
Timeline
H
elen Keller (1880–1968) was born a healthy child. But at the age
of two, tragedy struck: A severe illness left her both deaf and blind.
She spent her early years frustrated and unable to communicate. But with
perseverance and the help of teacher Annie Sullivan, Helen Keller grew up
to be a highly educated and accomplished woman—showing the world
that virtually any obstacle can be overcome.
Introducing the Book
Invite children to talk about their personal
heroes. What special things have these people
accomplished? You might make a list on the board
of qualities children admire in their heroes, such
as bravery, perseverance, and hard work.
Tell children that today they will read about
a person who could neither see nor hear. Explain
that although she had many obstacles, this
amazing woman overcame them all to reach
her goals.
Spotlight Nonfiction Feature: Timeline
Tell children that many biographies are told in
chronological order. Then explain that the events
in a person’s life can also be shown in a timeline.
A timeline includes a short description of each
event and tells when it happened.
Have children turn to pages 14–15. Tell
children that most timelines have an introduction
or caption—explain that they should read this
first so they will know what the timeline will
show them. Then ask: What does the first point in
the timeline show? Why do you think so? (It shows
the year Helen Keller was born; the timeline starts
at the beginning of her life.)
32
Give children practice reading the timeline
by asking questions such as: How can you use the
first two dates to figure out Helen’s age at the time
she got sick? (Subtract 1880 from 1882; she was
two years old.) Why do two labels show the same
year? (Because
two important
events
happened that
year.) Which
event came first?
(Annie Sullivan’s
arrival came
first.)
A
Using the Reproducible
Book Links
Invite children to think about the many
things Helen Keller accomplished during her
lifetime. Distribute copies of the graphic
organizer on page 33. Have students fill in
each star with one of her accomplishments.
For more information on Helen Keller,
try these titles:
Easy Reader Biographies: Helen Keller
© Scholastic Teaching Resources
◆
A Girl Named Helen Keller by Margo Lundell
(Scholastic, 1995)
◆
A Picture Book of Helen Keller
by David A. Adler (Holiday House, 1991)
◆
Helen Keller and the Big Storm
by Patricia Lakin (Simon & Schuster, 2002)
Name ________________________________
Date _______________________
Shining Stars
Scholastic Teaching Resources, page 33
Helen Keller accomplished many things in her life. In each star,
write something she accomplished.
Easy Reader Biographies: Helen Keller
© Scholastic Teaching Resources
Easy Reader Biographies: Helen Keller
© Scholastic Teaching Resources
Date _______________________________
Important Events in ___________________________________’s Life
Write the person’s name on the line. Then write important events in the order in which
they happened.
Sequencing Timeline
Name ____________________________________________
Name ________________________________
Date _______________________
Vocabulary Chart
Record new words on the chart. First, write the vocabulary word.
Next, write what it means. Then, use the word in your own sentence.
Word
What It Means
Easy Reader Biographies: Helen Keller
© Scholastic Teaching Resources
Sentence Using Word
Easy Reader Biographies: Helen Keller
© Scholastic Teaching Resources
Date _______________________________
What the Person Was Like:
Important Events in the
Person’s Life:
Name:
How I Feel About the Person:
His or Her Accomplishments:
Write the person’s name in the center box. Then fill in the other boxes.
Character Map
Name ____________________________________________
Easy Reader Biographies: Helen Keller
© Scholastic Teaching Resources
Date _______________________________
Name _____________________
Both
Name _____________________
Write one person’s name over each circle. Write facts about this person in that circle.
In the center, write what the two people had in common.
Venn Diagram
Name ____________________________________________