Blind Visionary

1. Set Focus
Pose this essential question: Why is it important to make reading and writing accessible to everyone?

2. List Vocabulary
Share some of the challenging vocabulary words in the article (see below). Encourage students to use context to infer meanings as they read.

• tactile (p. 19)
• embossed (p. 19)
• cumbersome (p. 19)
• transcription (p. 20)
• autonomous (p. 20)
• deteriorating (p. 21)

3. Engage
Ask: What benefits do we get from reading and writing? What might life be like if you could not read or write?

4. Read and Discuss
Ask students to read the Upfront article about Louis Braille. Review why the article is a secondary source. (It was written by someone who didn’t personally experience or witness the events.) Then pose these critical-thinking questions and ask students to cite text evidence when answering them:

• When Louis Braille was young, what was life like for people who were blind? What can you infer from the article’s description of Braille as “among the very privileged”? (When Louis Braille was young, people who were blind would struggle to read, write, and find work. The article calls Braille “very privileged” because even though his family was not wealthy, he received a scholarship to the only school for blind youth. The reader can infer that very few blind children received such an education.)

• According to the article, what were the problems with the existing method of reading and writing before the introduction of raised dots? (Before the introduction of raised dots, blind students learned to read using embossed Roman letters, which was a difficult and time-consuming process, and Roman letters made books heavy and hard to move around. Writing using Roman letters without being able to see them was also challenging and was impossible to proofread without help from a sighted person.)

• How did Braille’s reading and writing system work? How did it improve upon Charles Barbier’s system? (Braille’s system used six dots to represent letters, numbers, and punctuation. His system improved upon Barbier’s system, which used 12 dots, by allowing the reader to read an entire letter with a single touch. It was also easier to write with.)

• Based on details in the article, as well as your own understanding about the world, do you think technology will make braille obsolete? (Responses will vary, but students should support their ideas with evidence, such as details about the popularity of screen readers or how reading braille improves literacy.)

5. Use the Primary Source
Project, distribute, or assign in Google Classroom the PDF ‘Like a Magic Wand,’ which features a speech given by Helen Keller honoring Braille’s life. Discuss what makes the speech a primary source. (It provides a firsthand account of the topic.) Have students read the excerpts and answer the questions below (which appear on the PDF without answers).

• What is the tone and purpose of Helen Keller’s speech? (The tone can be described as formal yet celebratory. The purpose is to praise Braille’s system and to discuss how important his work was in improving the quality of life of people who are blind or low vision.)

• What are the main ideas of Keller’s speech? What impact does she say Braille had on the lives of people who are blind or low vision? (The main idea Keller expresses is that the ability to read and write is a fundamental requirement for full inclusion in society because, without those capabilities, people are excluded from knowledge and self-expression. She says that Braille’s invention was the “magic wand” that allowed people who are blind to participate more fully in society and to be more independent.)

• In the second paragraph, Keller says “we, the blind, are as indebted to Louis Braille as mankind is to Gutenberg.” Why does she make this comparison? (According to the footnote, Gutenberg invented the printing press, which revolutionized sighted people’s access to information. Braille’s system gave that same transformational access to people who are blind or low vision.) 

• Keller ends her speech with a “rhetorical” question, which is a question asked to make a point. What is her purpose in asking this question? (Students’ answers may vary, but they should understand that Keller’s purpose is to inspire her audience, the faculty at the Sorbonne, to continue to support advancements that will help people with disabilities.)

• Keller compares human knowledge to an “inner light.” What can you infer from her statement about people’s capacity to learn? How is her statement supported by the Upfront article? (Keller compares human knowledge to an “inner light” because she believes everyone has an innate capacity to learn, and that, when given access to resources, they can reach their potential. The article supports this by describing how Braille learned to play music and invented a reading system after being given an accessible education and how teenagers today continue to learn using accessible resources.)

6. Writing Prompt
Using the Upfront article and your own research, write a brief essay explaining why it took more than 100 years for a uniform system of braille to be adopted in the U.S.

7. Quiz
Use the quiz to assess comprehension.

8. Dig Deeper
Assign students events from the timeline and have them give brief presentations that answer the questions who, what, where, and why?

9. Speaking With Meaning
Assign each student the speech from the Primary Source lesson. Have students make notes about how to best deliver the speech (e.g., what tone to use, words to emphasize, when to pause). After students present the speech, have them explain their choices.