Author: Lisa Rowe Fraustino
Illustrator: Benny Andrews
Copyright: 2001
Summary: As a boy, Louis has a special relationship. The events of that relationship involve a mystery which is finally revealed when he is an old man.
This story is a story of a young boy who has been blind since birth. This boy Louis has a very special relationship with his grandmother and even though his grandmother is not with him any more she carries him through his worst moments. The kids enjoyed reading this book and it gave us the opportunity to learn about Louis Braille, France and Blindness. We also went on a field trip and made eye glasses for art! Here is some of the activities we did.
Social Studies-(France, Family)
We decided to place our story disk on France because we have been learning about Louis Braille. We learned that Louis Braille grew up in Paris. Lily and Aj colored a flag, a map and learned about the country. They also learned words from the French language and made paper Eiffel Towers. They enjoyed making posters about what they learned. They also read books and watched you-tube videos
about France.
Science- (Human body: The Eye, blindness, 5 senses)
In the story The Hickory Chair we find out Louis is blind. This gives us the opportunity to learn about our eyes, blindness and our five senses. We learned that the eye is incredible optical device that is something like a camera. We watched a you-tube video on how the eye works. Then we worked on a diagram about the eyes. Next, we talked about Louis Braille and how he invented the Braille language of writing. We did a Braille worksheet and learned how to keep our eyes safe. Lastly we talked about our 5 senses and made books about them. We had fun reading a few books including books with Braille writing.
Language Art (Writing, Reading and Speaking)- For Fun Lily and Aj helped read this story by using their best "molasses" voices. We also talked about the way people talk with different accents. Lily and Aj also wrote sentences about what they can see with there eyes.
Mathematics (Counting, Difference)-
The children did a dot to dot and a worksheet on spot the differences.
Lily and Alex looked in a mirror and tried drawing what they were looking at. They also made glasses with construction paper, scissors and glue.
We went to the Braille Trail Park and Playground in Dennis, Ma. This is where blind people can come and experience the outdoors. They have a trail with rope that you can use to find your way. They also have braille markers and activities for children that are blind . Lily and Alex closed their eyes and learned what it felt like to be blind.
Thanks for reading!
