- 1). Gather books appropriate for the age group you are teaching. Some to consider are Scholastic's "Alexander Graham Bell: A Famous Inventor" for kindergarten through 4th grade, "Alexander Graham Bell and the Telephone" graphic biography from Capstone Press for middle and high school grades, or the "Time For Kids: Alexander Graham Bell Biography" for elementary through middle grades.
- 2). Assign a biography of Graham Bell at your students' appropriate grade level. Use the information in the biography to point out how Graham Bell came from a family focused on research in hearing and in teaching and learning. This legacy helped shaped the things he would do later in his life. Ask your students to ponder what their parents and grandparents did to shape the students' lives. Have them write a short journal entry about what career they would have if they followed in their parents' footsteps versus what they'd like to have as a career.
- 3). Use diagrams of the ear to show how hearing works and how hearing impairments occur. Point out the outer ear and its function in amplifying sound, and the tympanic membrane, or eardrum, which receives the vibrations of sound. For middle to high school students, develop a spelling or definitions list using the parts of the ear. Some important terms to include are tympanic membrane, ossicles, amplification, vibration and auditory. Quiz the students on their knowledge of the terms after a fews days of study.
- 4). Purchase or borrow an old-fashioned rotary phone. Unscrew the cap on the transmitter and receiver to show the different parts of a telephone. Compare the way the telephone is put together to the diagram of the ear. Have students point out similarities and differences between the phone and the ear.
- 5). Assign a critical thinking exercise. Students will brainstorm about what life would be like now without telephones or ways in which the telephone has helped make our lives better. Draw a two-columned chart on the whiteboard. Label one side "Without Telephones" and the other "With Telephones." Have a student helper write some of the ideas the class has come up with. Some ideas to encourage would be the differences in expediency of communication, differences in access to global information and the likely size of one's circle of personal contacts pre- and post-telephone.
Source...