Chapter - 6

Braille

Let us Read

Long ago, in France, a little boy named Louis Braille was playing outside his home. He was three years old. His father, a blacksmith, was working nearby. Louis started playing with the tools around him. Suddenly, a sharp tool pierced his eye. He cried out in pain. Within a few days, he became blind in one eye. The other eye also got affected, and he became totally blind.

In 1819, Louis, who was ten years old, got admission in the Royal Institute for Young Blind Persons in Paris. He learnt letters by using wood, cloth or pins arranged in pincushions. Around this time, an army man named Capt. Charles Barbier de la Serre had invented something called ‘Night Writing’. It was an alphabet of raised dots and dashes that soldiers could ‘read’ with their fingers in the dark. However, it was too difficult and, therefore, not a success. But Louis, now a teenager, became interested in it and simplified it. He gave the world the Braille alphabet.

Thus, a blind person taught the world to see.

Braille is a method of reading through touch. As you can see in the figure, there is one Braille symbol for each of the twenty-six symbols (letters) of the English alphabet.

But Braille requires more space. This is because the letters cannot be written too close together. Since Braille requires more space, a Braille book is thicker than a regular printed book.

"Braille is not just for people with blindness. Even people with sight can learn Braille too. Then they can write small poems and stories in Braille."

New Words

blacksmith, blind, pincushions, invented

Let us Think

A. Answer the following.

1. Describe the Braille alphabet.

2. Why was ‘Night Writing’ not a success?

3. What did Louis Braille do to make reading easier for the blind?

B. Think and discuss.

1. You may have seen people with blindness walking with a white cane. Why is the cane always whitecoloured?

2. Imagine that the world becomes dark for a day and there is no light. What difficulties might one face on such a day?

Let us Speak

Close your eyes. Pick an object. Keep the object back. Now complete the sentences and share them with the class.

1. The object in my hand was ....................... in shape.

2. The object in my hand was ....................... (longer/ shorter) than my forefinger.

3. The object in my hand was a ....................... .

Now add two more lines to describe the object.

Note to the Teacher

Let us Listen

Your teacher will read out the following words. Listen carefully and repeat.

spoon, splinter, spin, splash, speak, split, space, splendid

Note to the Teacher

Let us Write

A. Write these words using the Braille alphabet. You can paste “bindis”. One is done for you.

1. Cat

2. Man

3. Boy

4. Jug

5. Write your name in Braille.

B. Louis Braille lost his eyesight in an accident.

Some time ago, a newspaper reported that a child lost one eye while lighting firecrackers.

List the precautions that should be taken to protect eyes from harm.

C. Read the following sentences and notice the underlined words.

• Long ago, in France, a little boy named Louis Braille was playing near his home.

• The cats were sleeping when I reached home.

• Sameer was playing hopscotch last evening.

All the above sentences are examples of events that started in the past and continued for some time.

If the sentence is about one person, animal or bird, we use ‘was + action word + ing.’

Example: The student was writing in his notebook.

If the sentence is about more thanone person, animal or bird, we use ‘were + action word + ing.’

Example: The students were writing in their notebooks.

The following sentences describe actions in the present. Change them to the past as shown in the examples.

Note to the Teacher

D. Look at the picture story.

Now fill in the blanks from the suitable options.

My friend Tarandeep told me an interesting thing yesterday. She ............... her friends, the squirrels and the sparrows. She ............... grains for them.

Her grandmother ............... out the clothes to dry on a clothesline.

Grandmother ............... the house when a strong wind began to blow.

When she returned with the clothes pegs, she saw a wonderful scene! The sparrows and squirrels ............... on the clothes to prevent them from falling. Tarandeep ............... her hands with joy. Grandmother put the pegs on the clothes, and Tarandeep set down a bowl of water for her friends.

Let us Do

1. Take a piece of paper. With the help of a matchstick, or the back of a pencil, press hard on the paper to ‘draw’ a circle, a plus sign, or a letter of the alphabet. Now, close your eyes, turn the page over, and run your finger on the raised surface on the paper. Can you make out what the shape or outline is? Now, try the same activity with your friend. You may also use white clay for the same.

2. There are some children with low vision. (e.g., wearing thick glasses or holding a book too close to their eyes). Being a classmate and friend, how can you assist them?

For example:

Bringing a printout of a paragraph with large fonts to help them read.

Let us Explore

Find out about the nearest resource centre for people with blindness.

Self Assessment 1

You may select more than one box for each point.

1. I can recite the poems with gestures:

• By myself ____

• In a group ____

• By repeating after my teacher ____

• None of the above. I like reading poems quietly ____

2. I can understand new words:

• By using a dictionary ____

• After listening to my teacher’s explanation ____

• By reading with my classmates in groups____

• By reading the entire sentence again____

• By looking at the pictures____

3. I can answer questions:

• In my mother tongue ____

• In English ____

• In English with a few words from my mother tongue ____

• In my mother tongue, with a few words of English ____

4. I can write:

• By myself ____

• After following my teacher’s instructions ____

• After reading my friends’ work ____

• With my teachers’/friends’ help ____

5. I was able to do all the activities:

• By myself ____

• With the help of my teacher____

• With the help of my classmates ____

• With the help of my family members ____

Note to the Teacher