Dancing With Joy by Deborah L. (G4) Dancing With Joy By Deborah L. Grade 4 Have you ever imagined not being able to see or hear at a young age? Or not being able to read or even understand words? Imagine not being able to even understand what your best friend is saying. Well, a woman named Helen Keller actually learned how to write and speak despite being unable to see or hear! Helen Keller was born around 1880 in Alabama. One day, Helen got a sickness that left her blind and deaf at a very young age, so she couldn’t hear or see, which made it hard to find her a teacher. Helen’s parents hired a teacher named Anne Sullivan. Anne tried her hardest to get Helen to learn words and sentences. Soon, Helen learned the alphabet in sign language, but Helen didn’t know that the letters meant words or sentences. After many tries of trying to teach Helen words, Miss Sullivan had been unsuccessful. She tried many words with Helen Keller; then she came up with a plan she thought would work. They walked near a water pump one day. After Anne pumped the pump, she tried to get Helen to feel the water. At first, she let the water fall onto Helen’s hand. Helen felt something cold and wet on her hand. Anne spelled W-A-T-E-R in her other hand. Anne redid this process again and again. Helen tasted the water, and then her face lit up. Helen finally knew that letters make words! She then danced with joy. They walked to a water pump. After Anne pumped the pump, Helen felt something cold and wet on her hand. Anne Sullivan spelled the word water. Then she felt it again. Anne Sullivan spelled the word even faster. Helen tasted the water, and then her face lit up. Helen finally knew that letters make words! She then danced with joy. Later in life, Helen Keller traveled around the world. She helped others with disabilities and disadvantages. Helen often retold her story of the water pump, and how she learned her first word. She worked very hard to write and speak. She was always grateful throughout her life to her teacher; she always remembered Anne Sullivan.
