:: Your teacher will give you a scarf that you will tie around your eyes (you will be blindfolded) and he/she will tell you what to do.

:: Concentrate particularly on what you feel while you are blindfolded.

:: Avoid peeping or taking the scarf off during the activity.

:: Underline 6 words from the Feeling Words list to describe your feelings while you were blind.

:: Using the words from the Feeling Words list make sentences to describe the feelings of a blind person, and give a reason.

Example:

:: Your teacher will give you wax tampons to put inside your ears (like the ones you may use at the swimming pool).

:: Do not take them out until the end of the activity.

:: Underline 6 words from the Feeling Words list to describe your feelings while you were deaf.

:: Using the words from the Feeling Words list make sentences to describe the feelings of a deaf person, and give a reason.

Example:

:: Read your sentences aloud and comment about your feelings and the feelings of a blind/deaf person.

:: Read the poem carefully and make a cluster map expressing the feelings of the blind man.

The Blindman's Song

I am blind, you outsiders. It is a curse,
A contradiction, a tiresome farce,
And every day I despair.
I put my hand on the arm of my wife
(colourless hand on colourless sleeve)
And she walks me through empty air.

You push and shove and think that you've been
Sounding different from stone against stone,
But you are mistaken: I alone
Live and suffer and howl.
In me there is an endless outcry
And I can't tell what's crying, whether it's my
Broken heart or my bowels.

Are the tunes familiar? You don't sing them like this:
How could you understand?
Each morning the sunlight comes into your house,
And you welcome it as a friend.
And you know what it's like to see face-to-face;
And that tempts you to be kind.
Rainer Maria Rilke

:: Compare your map with the other students in the class and comment on it.

:: Draw a picture to illustrate the different moments of the poem.

:: Make a poster including the poem and the pictures you have drawn.

:: Read and comment on the short story "The Blind Man and the Elephant" (A modern version of an old Indian tale):

http://www.mcps.k12.md.us/curriculum/socialstd/grade7/india/Blind_elephant.html