Helen Keller and Rosa Parks - significant individuals who overcame and stood up

Calendar Circle. Then: 'Yesterday we met MLK. Today we meet TWO MORE significant individuals - a woman who could not see or hear but learned to communicate, and a woman who changed bus rules by NOT moving.'

• Re-anchor MG-6 with MLK already added
• Build curiosity with the two contrast images
• Use age-appropriate dignity language

HELEN KELLER lived from 1880 to 1968. When she was a baby, an illness made her unable to see or hear. Her teacher Anne Sullivan helped her learn to communicate through TOUCH - signing letters into her hand. Helen learned to READ, WRITE, SPEAK, and went to COLLEGE. Her contribution: she showed the world that people with disabilities can do anything, and she fought for the rights of blind and deaf people. ROSA PARKS lived from 1913 to 2005. In 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, the bus rules said Black people had to give up their seats to white people. Rosa was tired of unfair rules. She refused to move. She was arrested. But her stand started a BOYCOTT - people stopped riding the bus - until the rules were changed. Her contribution: she helped end laws that separated people by skin color.

• Notice - Helen learned WORDS through TOUCH. Her teacher Anne Sullivan was patient for YEARS.

  model Focus on the water-pump scene (signing 'WATER' into Helen's hand)

  prompt Read aloud A Picture Book of Helen Keller (Adler 1990) - selected spreads
• Notice - Rosa was not 'tired' in the usual sense. She was tired of UNFAIR RULES.

  model Focus on the bus scene and the boycott

  prompt Read aloud Rosa (Nikki Giovanni 2005) - selected spreads

• Who was Helen Keller?
• Who was Rosa Parks?
• What did each one CONTRIBUTE?

M-1-F-CIV-13-A Illustration

Reproduction of John & Alexandra Wallner's cover for David A. Adler's A Picture Book of Helen Keller (Holiday House 1990). Helen with her teacher Anne Sullivan at the water pump - the famous 'WATER' breakthrough moment. Plus enlarged spread of Helen as adult writing on a typewriter. Pages held at A3 for read-aloud.

M-1-F-CIV-13-B Illustration

Reproduction of Bryan Collier's Caldecott Honor cover for Rosa by Nikki Giovanni (Holt 2005) - Rosa Parks's portrait with light streaming behind. Plus enlarged spreads of the bus scene (Rosa seated firmly) and the boycott (crowd walking together). Held at A3.

• Add Helen Keller and Rosa Parks to biography wall with contribution cards

  scaffold Teacher leads whole class
• Match then-and-now legacy pairs: HK + modern braille book; RP + modern multi-racial bus

  scaffold Pre-printed pairs in envelope

M-1-F-CIV-13-C Chart

Wall display now shows MLK + Helen Keller + Rosa Parks. Each has portrait + contribution card + life-dates + legacy-pair tile. Helen Keller legacy: braille books in library today. Rosa Parks legacy: multi-racial bus photos today. Visual layout: left-to-right by birth date (Helen 1880, Rosa 1913, MLK 1929).

• Name ONE significant individual from today.
• Name ONE contribution.
• Name ONE LEGACY - how their contribution shows up today.

• Biography wall now has 3 individuals
• Preview: tomorrow more individuals - Wangari Maathai or Sojourner Truth or your choice

• Tonight, tell a caregiver about EITHER Helen Keller OR Rosa Parks. Then ask: 'Have you ever heard of them?'