Level: M
DRA: 28
Genre:
Biography
Strategy:
Summarize
Skill:
Main Ideas and Details
Word Count: 416
by Thea Joseph
2.3.14
HOUGHTON MIFFLIN
Online Leveled Books
1032198
H O UG H T O N M IF F L IN
2_023021_OL_LRSE_CVR_L14_Bell.indd 1
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by Thea Joseph
PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS: Cover © Corbis. 1 The Granger Collection, New York. 2 © Corbis. 3 Gilbert H. Grosvenor
Collection of Photographs of the Alexander Graham Bell Family/Library of Congress. 4 Library of Congress, Manuscript
Division. 5 The Granger Collection, New York. 6 Sheila Terry/Science Photo Library. 7 © Bettmann/CORBIS. 8 The Granger
Collection, New York. 9 Library of Congress/Science Photo Library. 10 General Photographic Agency/Hulton Archive/
Getty Images.
Copyright © by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company
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for permission to make copies of any part of the work should be addressed to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt School Publishers,
Attn: Permissions, 6277 Sea Harbor Drive, Orlando, Florida 32887-6777.
Printed in China
ISBN-13: 978-0-547-02645-9
ISBN-10: 0-547-02645-5
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Inventor
Alexander Graham Bell invented the
telephone, which lets people talk to each other
all around the world. He was was born in 1847.
As a boy, Alexander’s behavior showed he wanted
to be an inventor. When he was eleven years
old, he invented a machine that cleaned wheat.
2
Sound
Alexander’s mother was deaf. She could
not speak or imitate sounds. Alexander knew
his mother lived in silence. He wanted her to
hear his voice.
3
Visible Speech
Alexander’s father could hear. He wanted
to help Alexander’s mother learn to speak.
He invented symbols and called them Visible
Speech. He passed his knowledge on to
Alexander.
4
Alexander’s father
When Alexander was 21 years old, he taught
at a special school for deaf people. His most
famous student was Helen Keller. Instead of
sign language, Bell taught the Visible Speech
method that his father invented.
5
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Sending Voices
Bell was very curious about sound. One
of his ideas was for an invention that could
send voices through a wire, but he didn’t
know how to make it. So he studied another
machine, called a telegraph. The telegraph
sent electricity through a wire. It made
clicking sounds that communicated letters
and words. Bell wanted to make the wire
carry voices instead!
6
Bell worked on his invention with an
assistant named Thomas Watson. Finally, Bell
had an idea. He would put the wire in liquid.
The sound of his voice would make motion in
the wire. The motion was the sound, and
liquid made the sound travel better. But would
it work?
7
Telephone!
One day, Bell was working with Watson
in his laboratory. Mr. Watson was in another
room. Bell shouted into the invention, “Mr.
Watson, come here. I want to see you.”
Watson heard Bell’s voice through the wire.
Bell had made a telephone!
8
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Watching kites
Inventions
Alexander Graham Bell invented many
other things, too. He invented a machine
that could find metal, a very fast boat, and
new kinds of kites. He even invented a kite
that could carry a person into the air! In
1898, he became the president of the National
Geographic Society. Thanks to Bell, National
Geographic is an important magazine all
around the world.
9
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Alexander Graham Bell died from an
illness in 1922. It was a day of darkness for
the whole country. Telephone service all
over America stopped for one minute. This
silence honored an inventor who changed
history—and the way we live.
10
Responding
Main Ideas and Details
One of the main ideas of this book is
that Bell wanted to help deaf people
communicate. Write in details that
support the main idea.
TARGET SKILL
Main Idea: Bell wanted to help people communicate.
Detail: Bell taught ?
Detail: ?
Write About It
Text to Text Bell had strong opinions.
Think about another book in a which
someone has an opinion. Use a few
sentences to write a persuasive essay trying
to change their opinion. Focus your ideas
on using facts to change their opinion.
11
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TARGET VOCABULARY
behavior
curious
darkness
illness
imitated
knowledge
motion
silence
Main Ideas and Details
Tell important ideas and details about a
topic.
TARGET SKILL
Summarize Stop to
tell important ideas as you read.
TARGET STRATEGY
GENRE A biography tells about events in
a person’s life.
12
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Level: M
DRA: 28
Genre:
Biography
Strategy:
Summarize
Skill:
Main Ideas and Details
Word Count: 416
by Thea Joseph
2.3.14
HOUGHTON MIFFLIN
Online Leveled Books
1032198
H O UG H T O N M IF F L IN
2_023021_OL_LRSE_CVR_L14_Bell.indd 1
2/11/10 12:43:22 AM