Helen Keller Archive Lesson Plans

Using the rich trove of information contained in the digital Helen Keller Archive (www.afb.org/HelenKellerArchive), the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) has created lesson plans that teach middle and high school students about using digital and physical archives and the difference between primary and secondary sources and how to use them.

Aligned with Common Core curriculum standards, each lesson contains a review of the lesson as a whole, as well as teacher and student activity pages. The goal is to enable teachers to guide students in using digital archival collections while discovering Keller’s work as a leading author, activist, and advocate.

Helen Keller helped raise AFB’s profile when she began working with the organization in 1924. In addition to serving as AFB’s counselor on national and international relations, she made countless speeches and appearances at home and in more than 39 countries around the world on behalf of the organization. Keller remained active with AFB until her death in 1968, by which time she had radically changed perceptions of deafblindness and left a rich legacy upon which AFB continues to expand. 

The lessons currently available are:

• Lesson One: Introduction to Digital and Physical Archives
• Lesson Two: Primary and Secondary Sources
• Lesson Three: Votes for Women, A Voice for All: Helen Keller, Suffragist