Programme 1: English: Specialist Writing Course
Resources
Teacher’s Resources
None required
Student’s Resources
Lesson 1
- Student Resource 1:
Wall Search
- Student Activity 1:
Note-Taking Exercise
Additional
Resources
- None required
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Language Learning Goals – Can do statements & Lesson Overview
Coursebook link: Teacher’s book p. 15; Student book p. 9
Language Learning Goals – Can Do Statements
- Students can create a portfolio about an interesting person.
- Students can discuss their own ambitions and ways of achieving them.
Warmer:
- Brainstorm a list of people who have contributed to society or who are generally interesting people.
Pre-Task(s):
1. (Optional) Show youtube clip on Michael Phelps http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NL0MG_0-eHc
2. Ask students to read about Michael Phelps on p. 9 of their Student Books and complete exercise b.
Elicit student answers for part b on completion.
Main Task(s):
3. Next explain to students that they are going to have the opportunity to research more famous people.
4. Students complete a wall search activity - see Student Resource 1. Encourage students to walk
around first and skim read the key information. Explain to students that they will need to choose 3
people to take notes on. Using Student Activity 1 students take notes on the three people they find
the most interesting.
5. Next, students choose the one personality that they find the most interesting and create a fact file
about the person.
6. Elicit from students the main features of a fact file: full name, title/job/role, achievements/awards,
physical characteristics, interests/hobbies, distinguishing facts.
7. Students can use the format from page 9 of the student book as a model or develop their own format
to present the information from their notes.
Post-Task(s):
8. Students present their fact files to the class and say why they like their chosen person.
Extension:
9. Students discuss their own ambitions and goals for the future.
Secondary English Language Curriculum – Level 4
Page 1 of 18
Teacher Resource 1
Barak Obama
Barack Obama was born August 4, 1961. His parents were both students at the
University of Hawaii . He is biracial. His father, Barack Obama Sr., was a black
man from Kenya, and his mother Ann Dunham, a white woman, had grown up
in Kansas. Barack's grandfather had been a soldier in the army in World War 2.
His parents separated when he was two years old and his father returned to
Kenya. After the divorce his mother remarried, this time to a student from
Indonesia, and the family moved to Jakarta where Barack was enrolled in an
Indonesian school.
When he was ten years old he went to live with his grandparents (his mother's
parents) who had moved to Hawaii. While attending school in Hawaii he was
one of only three black students in the school.
He only had contact with his father on one occasion after that, and then for
only a month. His father died in a car accident in 1982.
After graduating from high school he attended college in Los Angeles and then
graduated from Columbia University in New York.
In Chicago he worked with low-income families and housing development.
Next he attended law school at Harvard and became a civil rights lawyer. He
also taught at the University of Chicago Law School.
In 1992 he married Michelle Robinson, a young woman who had been his
adviser when he started working at the Chicago law firm. Six years later their
first daughter Malia Ann was born. Three years after that they had a second
daughter, Natasha whom they call "Sasha".
Young children have not lived in the White House in over 25 years. Amy Carter
was nine years old when her father, Jimmy Carter became President.
Barack's mother Ann died of cancer in 1994 at the age of fifty-two.
In 1996 he was elected to the Illinois State Senate, and eight years later he was
elected to the United States Senate.
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Secondary English Language Curriculum – Level 4
Page 2 of 18
In 2004, the year John Kerry was nominated to run for President on the
Democratic ticket, Obama gave the keynote speech at the Democratic
convention. He gave a very impressive speech, and people at that time took
note of his leadership ability.
In 2007 he announced he would run for the Democratic nomination for
President of the United States. Hillary Clinton also wanted to be the Democratic
nominee. After months of campaigning Obama won the nomination. Then he
and John McCain, the Republican candidate, campaigned tirelessly for
months. On election day November 4, 2008 an early victory was achieved and
Barack Obama became the first African American to ever be elected to the
highest office in the land, the presidency. It was a truly historical event in the
country.
Unfortunately his beloved grandmother, Madelyn Dunham did not live to see
her grandson elected. She died on November 3rd, the day before the election.
After the election people began naming their newborns after Barack and
Michelle. The story of Barack Obama has only begun to be written. The nation
and the world watch as he starts to accomplish the goals he has set for the
betterment of Americans.
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Secondary English Language Curriculum – Level 4
Page 3 of 18
Alexander the Great
Alexander the Great was the son of a Macedonian general named Philip. His
mother was Olympias. She told Alexander he was the son of a Greek god, and
he seemed to think of himself as divine.
He was a pupil of Aristotle, one of the foremost philosophers* of his time. He
studied literature and learned to play the lyre* . He was fearless and strong as a
young man.
When he was 12 years old he saw a fine horse he wanted. No one had been
able to ride the horse. He offered a wager to his father. If Alexander was able
to ride the horse, his father would get it for him. If he failed, he would pay for
the horse himself. He determined the horse was terrified of his shadow and
that's why he wouldn't let anyone near. He turned the horse so he was facing
the sun. In this way he could not see his shadow. He got on the horse and was
able to ride him.
His father bought the horse and Alexander named him Bucephalus (bue SEF uh
lus). His father said to him, "You must find a kingdom worthy of you, my son.
Macedon is too small for you."
He later built a city and named it after his horse, the city of Bucephala.
Alexander became one of the greatest generals in history. When he
conquered the Persians he honored their soldiers and commander who had
died in battle. When he had won a battle, he combined the remaining soldiers
of the enemy with his army to form a greater army. He usually did not allow his
soldiers to mistreat the conquered people.
He suffered along with his soldiers when they were at war. If they didn't have
water or food, he would not accept food or drink either. When the soldiers
were walking, he walked also and refused to ride or be carried. He set an
example for his troops.
Once he was trying to capture a city which was on an island in the
Mediterranean Sea. It was near the land, so he decided to build a bridge to it.
His soldiers put down trees, reeds, and rocks and they began to build a
peninsula* out to the island. The people of Tyre did everything they could to
stop the soldiers, but in seven months Alexander's troops had built a bridge to
the island and with the help of a naval fleet conquered the city.
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Secondary English Language Curriculum – Level 4
Page 4 of 18
Alexander's Empire
During his life he conquered the then-known world. He controlled Greece,
captured Persia and Egypt and built a city in Egypt. He named it for himself, the
city of Alexandria. He was the king of Macedonia and a pharoah in Egypt.
He was only 33 years old when he died. Some say he was poisoned. It is just as
likely that this great general was defeated by a mosquito because others
believe he died of malaria*.
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Secondary English Language Curriculum – Level 4
Page 5 of 18
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo Da Vinci (lay oh NAHR doe dah VEEN chee) was born in a small
village called Vinci in the country of Italy. He was raised by his grandparents
and even as a boy showed signs of genius. He could work hard mathematics
problems and was a very good artist.
His father Piero recognized that he had artistic talent and sent him to Florence
to study with the artist Verrocchio (və RAWK ih oh). In addition to art he also
learned sculpture and engineering. Soon he was a better artist than his
teacher. At age 20 he was accepted into the painters' guild in Florence.
About ten years later he was hired by Sforza, who later became Duke of Milan.
It was during this time he painted The Last Supper. He painted it in the dining
room in the Santa Maria delle Grazie monastery in Milan, Italy. The monks
viewed it every time they sat down to eat.
The composition shows the apostles in four groups of three. From left to right the
first group is made up of Bartholomew, James the Less and Andrew. In the
second group we see Judas, Peter and John with Judas holding the bag of
money. Jesus sits calmly in the middle. In the third group are Thomas, James,
and Philip. Matthew, Thaddeus and Simon complete the picture. Jesus has just
announced to them that one of them is going to betray Him and they are
animated and visibly upset over His words.
Artists through the centuries had used egg tempera as the base for their paint,
but Leonardo wanted to try something new, so he applied plaster to the wall
and painted on the dried plaster. Unfortunately within 20 years the plaster
began to flake off and the painting has required much repair through the
years. The most recent restoration was completed in May 1999.
When the French army captured Milan, the duke had to flee, and Leonardo
went back to Florence. It was here he painted the portrait of the wife of a
merchant named Giocondo. It is called La Giocando, or Mona Lisa. Legend
has it he hired musicians to play while he painted the portrait so his subject
would stay in a good mood. Numerous words have been written about the
painting and it remains one of the most recognizable paintings in the world.
Da Vinci used a painting technique called sfumato (sfoo-MAH-toe). He
described it as "without lines or borders". The subject of the painting is blended
into the background so that it becomes one with the background. We see this
in the Mona Lisa which is our study for this lesson. If two objects were side by
side, he would blur the line between them.
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Secondary English Language Curriculum – Level 4
Page 6 of 18
He was a musician who invented musical instruments. He would compose, then
play and sing his own songs.
Probably of greater importance than his paintings are the contributions
Leonardo made in the areas of engineering and architecture. He along with
Michelangelo, Raphael, and Bramante designed St. Peter's Church in Rome as
well as other buildings in the Vatican.
Leonardo kept books of sketches he made. He studied human anatomy and
drew sketches of the body. He had ideas for inventions that would not be
developed for hundreds of years. He had an idea for a flying machine, a
propeller, and for weapons of war. He designed and built bridges, canals and
locks to carry water and move ships. He built a helicopter which wouldn't take
off and a glider which injured one of his pupils who was trying to fly it, so he quit
trying to build the flying machines he was designing.
Crossbow by Leonardo
Da Vinci
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Flying Machine by
Leonardo Da Vinci
Ship Locks by Leonardo
Da Vinci
Secondary English Language Curriculum – Level 4
Page 7 of 18
Sir Edmund Hillary
Edmund Hillary was born in Auckland, New Zealand and grew up in a small
town south of Auckland. His father was a newspaper publisher and a
beekeeper. His parents were strict with their children and instilled in them a
sense of right and wrong. He learned from them to care for other people. He
was brought up to "think about the starving millions in Asia", and in later life he
found a way to make a difference in the lives of the less fortunate.
When he was young he helped the family with the beekeeping business. He
didn't get any money for helping, but he found ways to save a little money. At
that time they lived five miles from the school. When his dad gave him money
for the bus, he saved the money and ran to school and back.
His mother was a teacher and advanced him through his lessons to the extent
that he was able to go on to high school at age eleven. Of course, at that age
he was smaller than all the rest of the students who were a couple of years
older. He found it hard to make friends. Books, however, proved to be good
companions. He rode the train four hours a day to and from school, so he had
a lot of time to read and he read voraciously, mostly adventure books. These
stories and a trip south of Auckland where he first experienced the snowy
mountains whetted his appetite to learn about mountain climbing.
After a couple of years in high school he began to grow taller, adding six inches
in height one year and five inches the next, until he had caught up with and
surpassed many of his peers. He describes himself as having "modest abilities";
just an ordinary student, but physically he became very strong and rugged. He
created goals for himself, set his sights high, and developed a strong motivation
to complete any tasks he started. This probably explains why he succeeded
where others had failed when it came to conquering mountains.
In 1944 he joined the New Zealand air force. When he was off on the weekends
he climbed nearby mountains. He was discharged after he was burned in a
boating accident and used the money he got from the air force to fund his
mountaineering expeditions for the next few years.
By the time the Mt. Everest expedition became available to him he had
already climbed eleven different mountain peaks which were over 20,000 feet
high in New Zealand, the Alps and the Himalayas. He joined some early
expeditions to Mt. Everest in 1951 and 1952, then John Hunt invited him to join
the British expedition to scale Mt. Everest which is the tallest mountain on earth,
located in the Himalaya range on the border between Nepal and Tibet, China.
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They started out with 14 climbers and 350 porters to carry food and supplies.
They had to take everything with them. There would be nothing to eat on the
mountain except the food which would be transported by the Sherpas, the
native men of Nepal.
Sir Edmund would later say they were not really hungry while they were on the
mountain, but they had to make themselves eat to keep up their strength. They
walked 170 miles before they reached the monastery at the foot of the
mountain. They made camps at different altitudes and climbed for two months
before reaching the summit of Mt. Everest. Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, a
veteran Sherpa climber from Nepal, were the only two on the expedition who
made it all the way to the top; 29,028 feet above sea level, which is the tallest
spot on earth. On May 29, 1953 the two men stood side by side for 15 minutes
looking out over the mountain peaks, then they started their long descent. Two
other men on the expedition had made it to an elevation of 28,750 feet, but
were unable to go on to the top.
Hillary was an humble man. For many years he refused to acknowledge that he
was the first man to reach the top of Mt. Everest. He maintained that he and
Tenzing were a team and it was only after Norgay's death in 1986 that he would
claim the title of being the first man to conquer Everest. He credited Tinzing with
saving his life because once during the climb Hillary fell into a crevasse and his
climbing partner was able to rescue him. You can read about the expedition at
Scholastic.com.
When they returned from the climb they were welcomed as heroes. Four days
after their return Elizabeth II was crowned Queen of England. One of her first
acts was to knight Edmund Hillary and John Hunt. Instead of just Edmund Hillary
he became Sir Edmund Hillary. Such a distinction was uncomfortable for him at
first.
Sir Edmund Hillary died January 11, 2008 at the age of eighty-eight.
© ESF Educational Services Ltd
Secondary English Language Curriculum – Level 4
Page 9 of 18
Sadako Sasaki
Sadako Sasaki, who was born on January 7, 1943, was a two-year-old living with
her family in Hiroshima when an atomic bomb was dropped on the city during
WWII. Their house was about a mile from the center of the blast. She was not
hurt or burned at the time even though the house was destroyed, but her
grandmother was killed in the raid. Over time their lives returned to normal and
Sadako for years did not show any effects from the exposure to radiation from
the bomb.
However, in 1954 when she was eleven years old and in sixth grade, tragedy
struck. Sadako was a good runner and when she was competing in a relay
race she appeared pale. In a few weeks she caught a cold and developed
lumps in her neck. Her condition worsened and she was diagnosed with
leukemia, which is a kind of cancer, and the doctors gave her a year to live.
When a person has leukemia the bone marrow makes abnormal white blood
cells and these cells crowd out the normal blood cells. One cause of leukemia
is exposure to very high levels of radiation such as the radiation the family
received when they were in the path of the atomic bomb. Not everyone
exposed developed cancer, but Sadako was one of those who did become ill.
Her friends from school visited her. Sadako was told of a legend. According to
the legend, if a person made a thousand paper cranes, their wish would come
true. She thought if she folded a thousand cranes she would become better, so
she started folding and making the paper cranes. The crane in Japan is one of
the mystical creatures and is said to live for a thousand years. Sometimes paper
cranes are given as gifts for special occasions. Origami paper is usually used for
making them, but Sadako made the birds out of any kind of paper she could
find.
Peace Memorials
After her death her schoolmates raised money for a memorial to her and in
1958 a statue of Sadako holding a golden crane was unveiled in the Hiroshima
Peace Memorial in Hiroshima. Also in Seattle, Washington a statue of her has
been put in the Peace Park. Sadako’s aging brother has donated a tiny paper
crane made by his sister when she was dying of leukemia. He requested that it
be placed in the Visitor Center at the ground zero location in New York City
where so many were killed in the 9-11 attack. Sadako Sasaki and the paper
cranes have become a symbol of peace for children all over the world.
© ESF Educational Services Ltd
Secondary English Language Curriculum – Level 4
Page 10 of 18
Japanese children dedicate
paper cranes they have made
for
the Hiroshima Peace Park
Memorial and buildings
to protect the paper cranes*
Seattle Peace Park
Sadako Sasaki statue
by Daryl Smith*
Recent Events in Japan
The research that produced the atom bomb has also resulted in a benefit for
mankind. Nuclear plants now supply power to many cities of the world. Japan
has many nuclear power plants to generate power, but the country is again
dealing with a nuclear threat. This time it is not from a foreign source, but from
their own nuclear reactors. On March 11, 2011 a magnitude 9.0 earthquake
followed by a devastating 33 foot tsunami hit the northern part of Japan.
During the catastrophe several of their fifty-five nuclear power plants were
damaged and there is some radiation leakage. Only time will tell the extent of
the damage to the country and the people.
© ESF Educational Services Ltd
Secondary English Language Curriculum – Level 4
Page 11 of 18
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein (AL bert EYEn stine) was born in Ulm, Germany. His father was an
electrical engineer, and his mother was a musician. She taught him to
appreciate music, and he learned to play the violin.
When he was very young he was slow in development. He didn't speak until he
was two years old, and even when he was older he had trouble answering a
question. He would first silently mouth the words to himself and then slowly
answer out loud. His teachers thought he would never be successful at
anything.
When he was six, his father gave him a
compass. He was fascinated by the
way the needle always pointed north.
This experience helped to create a
great curiosity in him and had an
impact on the rest of his life.
His Uncle Jakob was a strong influence
in his life. He gave Albert math books
about algebra and geometry. Uncle
Jakob described algebra as "a merry
science". He said algebra could be
compared to hunting a little animal.
You didn't know the name of the
animal, so you called it "x". Then when
you finally caught the animal you gave
it the correct name. He made learning
fun for the boy and also provided a
model for teaching that Albert would
later use. In the future he would explain his theories by using examples of trains,
elevators, and ships.
Once a week his parents invited a poor medical student, Max Talmey to eat
with them. Max brought science books to share with Albert, and they became
good friends.
His family moved to Munich, Germany where in elementary school he was the
only Jew in a Catholic school. He attended a high school called Luitpold
Gymnasium. He was bored at the school. His family next moved to Italy, but
they wanted Albert to finish the school year in Munich. He wanted to leave
Munich so badly he got a false paper from a doctor stating he had a lung
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Secondary English Language Curriculum – Level 4
Page 12 of 18
condition and must move to a dry climate (such as Italy where his parents were
living). Then he convinced the school to give him a certificate in math so he
could get into college. They complied because they wanted to get rid of him.
After a year in Italy he went to Zurich, Switzerland to study at the Polytechnic
Institute. He failed the entrance examination and had to spend a year at
another college before returning to Zurich.
Up to this point his life had been rather unremarkable. After college he took a
job at the Swiss Patent Office examining patents for people's inventions. This job
was ideal for him because he had a lot of free time for research about things
that really interested him; things such as light and time.
The year 1905 was an exceptional year for Einstein. In that year he published
three outstanding papers.
#1. He outlined his photoelectric law in which he discussed the behavior of
light. This led to the development of television and motion pictures with sound.
In 1921 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for this paper.
#2. The second paper, which was his most famous, explored the relation of
mass to energy (E=mc squared) and addressed the problem of atomic energy.
This paper provided the basis for the development of the atomic bomb. In 1939
he wrote to President Franklin D. Roosevelt and told him Germany was also
working on nuclear fission* which would lead to the development of a German
bomb.
#3. The third paper was On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies which is also
known as the Special Theory of Relativity.
Einstein spent hours experimenting with electromagnets. From his experiments
he concluded the speed of light is always the same; 186,000 miles a second.
This, he said, was as fast as anything could travel.
In 1933 when Einstein was visiting in the United States, the Germans stole his
property and took away his German citizenship. The Institute for Advanced
Study in Princeton, New Jersey invited him to be their director. He spent the rest
of his life in America. After a few years he became a U.S. citizen.
At the end of his life Einstein was a lonely man. His wife Elsa died after they had
been married for seventeen years. His health began to fail and he died at the
age of 76.
© ESF Educational Services Ltd
Secondary English Language Curriculum – Level 4
Page 13 of 18
Harriet Tubman
Harriet Tubman is perhaps the most
well-known of all the Underground
Railroad's "conductors." During a tenyear span she made 19 trips into the
South and escorted over 300 slaves to
freedom. And, as she once proudly
pointed out to Frederick Douglass, in
all of her journeys she "never lost a
single passenger."
Tubman was born a slave in
Maryland's Dorchester County around
1820. At age five or six, she began to
work as a house servant. Seven years
later she was sent to work in the fields.
While she was still in her early teens, she suffered an injury that would follow her
for the rest of her life. Always ready to stand up for someone else, Tubman
blocked a doorway to protect another field hand from an angry overseer. The
overseer picked up and threw a two-pound weight at the field hand. It fell short,
striking Tubman on the head. She never fully recovered from the blow, which
subjected her to spells in which she would fall into a deep sleep.
Around 1844 she married a free black named John Tubman and took his last
name. (She was born Araminta Ross; she later changed her first name to Harriet,
after her mother.) In 1849, in fear that she, along with the other slaves on the
plantation, was to be sold, Tubman resolved to run away. She set out one night
on foot. With some assistance from a friendly white woman, Tubman was on her
way. She followed the North Star by night, making her way to Pennsylvania and
soon after to Philadelphia, where she found work and saved her money. The
following year she returned to Maryland and escorted her sister and her sister's
two children to freedom. She made the dangerous trip back to the South soon
after to rescue her brother and two other men. On her third return, she went
after her husband, only to find he had taken another wife. Undeterred, she
found other slaves seeking freedom and escorted them to the North.
Tubman returned to the South again and again. She devised clever techniques
that helped make her "forays" successful, including using the master's horse and
buggy for the first leg of the journey; leaving on a Saturday night, since
runaway notices couldn't be placed in newspapers until Monday morning;
turning about and heading south if she encountered possible slave hunters;
and carrying a drug to use on a baby if its crying might put the fugitives in
danger. Tubman even carried a gun which she used to threaten the fugitives if
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Secondary English Language Curriculum – Level 4
Page 14 of 18
they became too tired or decided to turn back, telling them, "You'll be free or
die."
By 1856, Tubman's capture would have brought a $40,000 reward from the
South. On one occasion, she overheard some men reading her wanted poster,
which stated that she was illiterate. She promptly pulled out a book and
feigned reading it. The ploy was enough to fool the men.
Tubman had made the perilous trip to slave country 19 times by 1860, including
one especially challenging journey in which she rescued her 70-year-old
parents. Of the famed heroine, who became known as "Moses," Frederick
Douglass said, "Excepting John Brown -- of sacred memory -- I know of no one
who has willingly encountered more perils and hardships to serve our enslaved
people than [Harriet Tubman]."
And John Brown, who conferred with "General Tubman" about his plans to raid
Harpers Ferry, once said that she was "one of the bravest persons on this
continent."
Becoming friends with the leading abolitionists of the day, Tubman took part in
antislavery meetings. On the way to such a meeting in Boston in 1860, in an
incident in Troy, New York, she helped a fugitive slave who had been captured.
During the Civil War Harriet Tubman worked for the Union as a cook, a nurse,
and even a spy. After the war she settled in Auburn, New York, where she
would spend the rest of her long life. She died in 1913.
© ESF Educational Services Ltd
Secondary English Language Curriculum – Level 4
Page 15 of 18
J.K. Rowling
Joanne Kathleen Rowling (pronounced rolling) was born on July 31st, 1965 in
Chipping Sodbury, Gloucestershire, England. Rowling’s writing career started at
the age of six when she wrote a story called Rabbit. Since then Rowling has
graduated from Exeter, worked as a teacher, and been an unemployed single
parent. Divorced and living on public assistance, Rowling wrote Harry Potter
and the Philosopher's Stone at a table in a café during her daughter’s naps.
When Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was bought and published by
Bloomsbury in 1997, her life changed dramatically. The Harry Potter series has
since then won numerous awards and become a tremendous success around
the world.
Like that of her own character, Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling's life has the luster of a
fairy tale. Divorced, living on public assistance in a tiny Edinburgh flat with her
infant daughter, it was Harry Potter that rescued her. First, the Scottish Arts
Council gave Rowling a grant to finish the book. After its sale to Bloomsbury (UK)
and Scholastic Books, the accolades began to pile up. Harry Potter won The
British Book Awards Children's Book of the Year, and the Smarties Prize. It also
won rave reviews on both sides of the Atlantic. Book rights have been sold to
England, France, Germany, Italy, Greece, Finland, Denmark, Spain and
Sweden.
© ESF Educational Services Ltd
Secondary English Language Curriculum – Level 4
Page 16 of 18
Helen Keller
Helen Keller was a very bright, sensitive, and determined
woman. The most remarkable thing about her was that even
though she had two disabilities, she never gave up and lived a
very successful life. She dedicated her life to helping people,
and her greatest achievement was proving to the world that
even with disabilities, anyone can achieve his or her dreams.
Helen was born in Tuscumbia, Alabama, on July 27, 1880. She was a bright
and healthy child, but at the age of 19 months she became very ill and almost
died. Luckily, she survived, but her life was changed forever- she was blind and
deaf. Her disabilities seemed to cut her off from the world forever. Without a
sight or sound, how could she communicate and learn?
Soon, she forgot the words she had learned as a toddler. She became very
frustrated trying to speak and be understood. Since her family spoiled her
because they felt sorry for her, she would throw tantrums to get her way and
eventually grew wild. Helen never brushed her hair, threw objects, walked
around eating off people's plates, and even locked her mother in the
pantry. At the age of seven, Helen's family was desperate for help and hired
Anne Sullivan as a private tutor. She was a teacher at the Perkins School for the
Blind in Boston. "Teacher," as Helen called her, got her under control, taught
her and helped her to understand how to communicate with her fingers. Helen
attended Perkins School for the Blind with Anne, where she learned quickly and
had an exceptional memory for details. It was there where she was known as
"Miracle Child." She later graduated from Radcliffe College in 1904 with
honors. She spent the rest of her life traveling the world and lecturing and
raising money for the handicapped. She wrote a book about her life, and the
play "The Miracle Worker" by William Gibson, won the Pulitzer Prize and was later
a movie. On June 1, 1968, she died at the age of 87 while napping.
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Secondary English Language Curriculum – Level 4
Page 17 of 18
Student Activity 1
Name of person:
Why is he/she famous:
Where is he/she from?
Key Dates:
Important Facts:
Odd, striking or strange
ideas:
Other information
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