Grades 3–5
Meet Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet and Alice Cogswell
Read about a hearing minister, a Deaf girl named Alice and the school they helped start, then answer the questions.
ASL worksheet · Deaf history
Meet Laurent Clerc
Read about the Deaf teacher who helped start the first permanent school for the deaf in America, then answer the questions.
- Grade level
- Grades 3–5
- Time
- About 20 minutes
- Topic
- Deaf history
- Answer key
- Yes, page 2 of the PDF
- Kids practice
- Reading informational text, Answering questions with details from a text, Putting events in time order, Learning about Deaf leaders
What kids do
Printed on the sheet:
- Laurent Clerc was born in France in 1785. He became deaf when he was a baby. When he was
- 12 he went to a school for deaf children in Paris, where he learned French Sign Language. He did so well that the school later hired him as a teacher.
- In 1816 an American named Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet came to the school. Gallaudet wanted to start a school for deaf children in the United States, and he asked Clerc to help. Clerc said yes.
- On the long trip across the ocean, Clerc taught Gallaudet sign language and Gallaudet helped
- Clerc with English.
- In 1817 they opened a school in Hartford, Connecticut. Today it is called the American School for the Deaf, the oldest school for the deaf in the United States that is still open. Clerc taught there for more than 40 years and trained teachers who started schools across the country.
- The signs Clerc brought from France mixed with the signs deaf Americans were already using.
- Over many years, this mix grew into American Sign Language.
Teacher tip
Trace Clerc’s trip on a map from Paris across the Atlantic to Hartford. It took about two months by ship in 1816.
How to use it
- Read each passage twice: once for the story and once to find answers.
- Underline the answer in the passage before writing it.
- Make every handshape with your own hand as kids work. Your hand is the best model in the room.
Watch for
Copying whole paragraphs. Ask for the answer in a few words.
Talk about it
- Why did deaf children need a school of their own in 1817?
- How is your hand different from the picture? What would you change?
Take it further
Make a class timeline and add each person or event as you read about it.
US Letter, prints well in black and white. Free for home and classroom use: print as many copies as you need.
More deaf history worksheets
Grades 3–5
Martha’s Vineyard: An Island That Signed
Read about an island where deaf and hearing people both signed, then answer the questions.
Grades 3–5
Deaf President Now
Read about the week in 1988 when Gallaudet University students won a Deaf president, then answer the questions.
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