I am pleased to be participating in Booking Across the USA, a collaborative project of over 50 bloggers who are sharing picture books and activities from every state.
“Alabama the Beautiful” is a state tourism slogan from a few years ago, and Alabama certainly is that. From the white-sand beaches of the gulf to the rugged, craggy foothills of the northeast, the landscape has beauty in spades. But the real beauty of Alabama comes from its people. I am not claiming that Alabama folks are perfect, but when it comes to overcoming adversity, you won’t find better examples anywhere — Rosa Parks, Heather Whitestone, and Marva Collins all hail from our state. So when I started looking at books for the Booking Across the USA project, I knew focusing on an Alabama personality would be the way to go.
Helen’s Big World
It seemed fitting to focus on the personality engraved on the back of our state quarter — Helen Keller. Born in 1880 in Tuscumbia, Alabama, a childhood fever left Helen blind and deaf at the age of two. Through the patience and perseverance of her teacher, Anne Sullivan, and much hard work, Helen learned to sign, read, write and eventually talk. She graduated from Radcliff college in 1904 and went on to become an advocate for the deaf and blind and a political activist.
My search for a good book on Keller was plagued by insipid children’s biographies. Imagine my delight when I stumbled upon Helen’s Big World: The Life of Helen Keller. This is a beautiful book. It is over sized with large illustrations that fill the pages to the edges, effectively drawing the reader into Helen’s world. The book tells the story of her life and is interspersed with her own quotes, lending an authentic look into Helen’s thoughts on her trials and successes. Unlike other children’s books, this one does touch briefly on Keller’s later social activism. It does not mention specifics, so while it is true to Keller’s legacy, it does allow families with younger children to focus on her triumph over adversity without having to discuss meatier topics if they do not desire.
Activities
Our activities with the book focused on the senses and information about the communication of the deaf and blind. We briefly discussed the use of braille and took turns running our fingers over the raised braille title embossed on the cover of the book. Next we turned out attention to the finger alphabet. There are sketches of the alphabet on the back fly-leaf of the book, but I also downloaded a set of finger alphabet flash cards from ABC Teach. We reviewed each of the letters and then took turns finger spelling the names of family members.
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| The flashcards provided clear diagrams on the finger spelling alphabet. |
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| O-L-I-V-I-A |
Our next activity focused on “seeing” with our fingers. For this the kids each donned a blindfold. I provided a number of small household objects for them to feel and guess. They identified most of them pretty easily, but the chalk did stump Olivia. Eventually, she employed the senses of smell and taste as well to try and figure out what the strange object was.
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| Smelling the chalk to see if the extra sense would help with the identification. |
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| Sometimes we would get stumped, but that was part of the fun. |
Even More
- Adventures from the Book of Virtues: Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan (YouTube Video)
- Helen Keller Kids Museum Online
- Helen Keller Activity Book – Made in conjunction with Animated Hero Classics, but works fine as a stand-alone activity.
Now Book It!
Be sure to check out the other bloggers who are Booking Across the USA today for more fascinating books and activities. There is a giveaway on the Booking Main Page an some of these other ladies are offering giveaways as well. Check them all out!
| All 50 States for Booking Across the USA Blog Hop, A book review and crafts, activities, or freebies are included in each post. All the posts were live on February 25, 2013. | ||
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 Alabama Blog Post by Everyday Snapshots Blog |
 Alaska Blog Post by Little Wonders’ Days Blog |
 Arkansas Blog Post by Homeschooling in Arkansas |
 Arizona Blog Post by Simply Kinder |
 California Blog Post by Juggling with Kids
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Colorado blog Post by Learners in Bloom
Colorado Blog Post by Living Montessori Now
Connecticut Blog Post By Teacher Park Blog
Delaware Blog Post by Mama Miss
Florida Blog Post by the Teaching Stars Blog
Georgia Blog Post by Fabulously First Blog
Hawaii Blog Post by Teaching with Style
Idaho post by True Aim Education Blog
Illinois State Post by Growing Book by Book
Indiana State Post by Teach Pre-School Blog
Iowa Blog Post by Surviving a Teacher Salary Blog
Kansas Blog Post by KCEdventures 
Kentucky Blog Post by Chicken Babies
Louisiana Blog Post by Your Child’s Next Book and Project Blog
Maine Blog Post by Country Fun
Maryland Blog Post by Picture Books and Piourettes
Massachusetts Blog Post by Mama Smiles Blog
Michigan Blog Post by Play Dr. Mom
Minnesota Post by the Wise Owl Factory Book a Day Blog
Mississippi Blog Post by Hey Mommy, Chocolate Milk
Missouri Blog Post by Ready, Set, Read Blog
Montana Blog Post by The Honey Bunch
Nebraska Blog Post by The Good Long Road
Nevada Blog Post by Boy Oh Boy Oh Boy Crafts Blog
New Hampshire Blog Post by Elementary Matters
New Jersey Blog Post by The Pleasantest Thing
New Mexico Blog Post by The Enchanted Homeschooling Mom Blog
New York Blog Post by What Do We Do All Day Blog
North Carolina Post by the Realistic Teacher Blog
North Dakota Post by ND Health Works
Ohio Blog Post by the Smart Chick Teacher Blog
Oklahoma Blog Post by Herding Kats in Kindergarten
Oregon State Post by Journey of a Substitute Teacher Blog
Pennsylvania Blog Post by the Land of Once Upon a Time
Rhode Island Blog Post by Smiling in Second
South Carolina Blog Post by Cookies and Kiddos
South Dakota Blog Post by Wise Owl Factory Book a Day
Tennessee Blog Post by No Monkey Business
Texas Blog Post by Curls and a Smile
Texas Blog Post by Kid World Citizen
Utah Blog Post by Teach Beside Me Blog
Vermont Blog Post by Vermont Moms Blog
Virginia Blog Post by Once Upon a Story Blog
Virginia Post by the Freckled Homeschooler Blog
Washington Blog Post by Home Learning Journey
West Virginia Blog Post by Great Peace Academy Blog
West Virginia Blog Post by Mamas Like Me
Wisconsin Blog Post by Reading Confetti
Wyoming Blog Post by No Twiddle Twaddle
USA Blog Post by the Corner on Character Blog
More US Geography from Everyday Snapshots
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