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Documentary Lens Lesson Plan for Out of Silence
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Documentary Lens Lesson Plan for
Out of Silence
By Gail Morong
DP Todd Secondary School, School District #57, BC
Curriculum Connections
Out of Silence is a 1971 film about the Montreal Oral School for the Deaf, whose teaching
methods draw students out of the silent world. The goal of “oralism,” as the method is known, is
to enable children at an early age to live and communicate in the world of sound. The school’s
Web site emphasizes “the importance of intensively stimulating hearing and speech in the child's
early years. This is the optimal time for acquiring effective speech communication.” Audiovisual
equipment, modern electronics and specially trained teachers are all part of this approach, which
allows hearing-impaired children to be integrated into regular school classes.
The running time for the film is 37 minutes.
Lesson Objectives
This lesson is intended for secondary school students, professionals and others who may interact
with persons with hearing disabilities: speech and occupational therapists, special education
teachers, teaching assistants, sign language interpreters, parents of deaf children, and teachers
who may have deaf students in their class. It is hoped that viewers of this video will:
 acknowledge the existence of deaf/hard-of-hearing persons in our schools and communities
 understand that deaf/hard-of-hearing persons have different needs from other school children
 learn about the various communication methodologies available for deaf/hard-of-hearing
persons
 become more aware of the issues surrounding the education of deaf/hard-of-hearing persons.
Outcomes and Expectations
The following expectations relate to the British Columbia high school curricula.
Social Studies/Social Responsibility (Grades 6-12), Culture and Community
 Valuing Diversity: treating others fairly and respectfully
 Defending Human Rights: recognizing and defending human rights
 Contributing to the classroom: participating and contributing
Career and Personal Planning (Grades 9-10), Personal Development
 Mental Well-Being: showing respect for others
English Language Arts (Grades 8-12)
 Comprehend and Respond, Comprehension: demonstrating an understanding of written/visual
communications; and Critical Analysis: drawing conclusions from information given, and
defending conclusions rationally
 Self and Society, Working Together: interacting and collaborating with others, and exploring
ideas and accomplishing goals within a group
 Communicate Ideas and Information, Improving Communications: enhancing clarity of
communications, and using different methods of presentation
© 2005 National Film Board of Canada
Documentary Lens Lesson Plan for Out of Silence
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Reading, Viewing and Listening, Research I and II: employing a variety of research tools and
resources, and gathering and organizing primary source information
Resources

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Current information about the Montreal Oral School for the Deaf is available at the school’s
Web site at http://www.oraldeafed.org/schools/montreal/
Taylor, Karen M. Deafness and Learning with Karen Taylor (video guide). British Columbia:
Province of British Columbia Ministry of Skills, Training and Labour, 1994.
Activities for Out of Silence
Introduction
ACTIVITY 1: Pre-viewing: What Do You Know about Deafness?
Students are to assess their existing knowledge of deafness and discover any basic
misconceptions. Distribute copies of Worksheet 1: “What Do You Know about Deafness?” to
begin this activity.
Go over the students’ answers together, correcting any misinformation. The correct responses are:
1) False. If someone is deaf, sounds, especially speech, have no meaning. Most deaf people hear
gross environmental sounds. Most have some residual hearing. If someone is hard of hearing,
his or her hearing is impaired but functional. Speech is heard in varying degrees.
2) American Sign Language.
3) Oralism is the theory or practice of teaching hearing-impaired or deaf persons to
communicate by spoken language.
4) False. There are many methods of communication for persons with hearing disabilities (for
example, oralism and cued speech).
5) False. The ability to hear and cognitive development are separate issues. With effective
communication strategies, a non-hearing person can learn just as well as someone who can
hear.
6) False. Only a very small percentage of deaf people are unable to hear any sound. Most deaf
people hear some sounds but usually are unable to detect or discriminate speech sounds.
7) False. There are many variations of sign language. People in different countries and regions
may have their own sign language.
8) True. Many deaf people drive.
9) Hearing loss may result from ear infections caused by colds, allergies, etc.; the growth of
bone tissue around the middle ear; a hereditary gene; childhood illnesses such as measles,
mumps, chicken pox; and a trauma to the head/ear.
10) False. There are people with hearing disabilities all over Canada. National and provincial
support groups and organizations can easily be found on the Internet.
Debriefing and Assessment
 Were there any questions that most students got wrong?
 Why do misconceptions about deafness persist?
© 2005 National Film Board of Canada
Documentary Lens Lesson Plan for Out of Silence
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ACTIVITY 2: What Is Deafness?
This activity may be done before showing the video in class. The object is to have students think
about the word “deafness” and become aware of their preconceptions.
1.) Have students form small groups. One person acts as the recorder.
2.) The recorder writes the term “Deafness” on a sheet of paper.
3.) The group members suggest any words that come to mind as the recorder writes them down.
4.) Stop the exercise after a certain time, and ask students to share their responses with the class.
Write ideas on the board.
Debriefing and Assessment
 Did students think this exercise was useful in getting them to think about the term
“deafness”?
 What were the frequent responses? Were there any words/ideas that only one or two groups
expressed?
Show the video.
Developing Concepts
ACTIVITY 3: Let’s Talk about It
The aims of this activity are to discuss the video, assess student comprehension and encourage
critical thinking. You can divide the class into groups or do this activity as a class.
Before distributing Worksheet 2: “Let’s Talk about It,” you may want to predetermine which
questions are suitable for your class. Encourage participation and discussion from everyone.
Debriefing and Assessment
 What did the students think of the video?
 What did they think of the discussion activity?
 Did everyone participate? Did they find it easy/hard to get their point across?
ACTIVITY 4: The Big Debate
The aims of this activity are to help students develop their critical thinking, improve their
communication skills and do further research into deafness and oralism. You may use a number
of different strategies described below.
Strategy 1
1) Divide your class into two debating teams. Assign the topic “Oralism” to one group and
“Sign Language” to the other.
2) Each team must give arguments supporting their given method.
3) The first class could be used to watch the movie again and to find research materials.
4) The second class could be used for researching and making notes.
5) The third class could be used to combine their findings and plan their debating strategy.
6) The fourth class could be the debate with the teacher serving as moderator/judge.
Strategy 2
1) Divide the class into two teams. Assign the topic “Integration” to one group and “Separatism”
to the other.
© 2005 National Film Board of Canada
Documentary Lens Lesson Plan for Out of Silence
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2) They are to debate whether or not deaf/hard-of-hearing students should be integrated into
classrooms with students without hearing disabilities.
3) Allow 20 minutes for brainstorming ideas.
4) The remainder of the class should be spent as an informal debate.
5) Encourage participation by everyone.
Strategy 3
1) Have students research and write an essay comparing oralism to other methods of
communication such as American Sign Language, cued speech and Manually Coded English.
2) Students are to express an opinion about which method they think is better and explain why.
Strategy 4
1) Have students survey people in the deaf community in your area. They can interview persons
with hearing disabilities, special education teachers, or families of those with hearing
disabilities.
2) Students could create their own surveys with questions about age, cause of disability,
activities available for the hearing impaired in the community, challenges of being/caring for
someone with a hearing impairment. Because of the sensitive nature of such questions, you
may want to write the interview questions with your class. In any case, before doing their
interviews, students should clear all questions with the teacher.
3) Have students present their completed interviews to you or make a presentation to the class.
Debriefing and Assessment
 Did the students find the project interesting?
 Did they gain a deeper knowledge of the topic?
 Were research materials hard to find? Was there much information available locally?
 Was it difficult to organize the groups?
 Were all students able to participate and communicate their ideas effectively?
 Was Out of Silence educational and informative as a research source?
 Did they discover any new developments or techniques made in the field since the video was
made in 1971?
Application Activities
ACTIVITY 5: Plug in to Hearing Disabilities
This activity will help increase awareness of what it’s like to have a hearing disability and to
encourage students to think about their own interactions with people with a hearing disability.
You will need a tape player, a tape with loud noises, a list of any 10 questions, and paper and
pencils.
1) Tell students to write down the answers to 10 questions you will be asking.
2) Play the tape with the loud noises.
3) Ask 5 questions with a piece of paper blocking your mouth.
4) Ask 2 questions so that the students can see your mouth.
5) Turn off the tape and ask the remaining questions.
© 2005 National Film Board of Canada
Documentary Lens Lesson Plan for Out of Silence
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Debriefing and Assessment
 How difficult was it to hear the questions?
 How did you feel being the “deaf/hard-of-hearing” person? What would it be like to live like
this all the time?
 How did you feel when you could read lips and then when the tape was turned off?
 How would being hard of hearing/deaf affect learning at school?
 What could you improve your interactions with deaf/hard-of-hearing students?
 What could you do to protect your own hearing?
© 2005 National Film Board of Canada
Documentary Lens Lesson Plan for Out of Silence
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Worksheet 1 for Out of Silence
“What Do You Know about Deafness?”
Name ________________________________________ Date __________________________
1) True or False: Being “deaf” and being “hard of hearing” is the same thing.
2) What does the acronym ASL stand for?
3) What is oralism?
4) True or False: All people with a hearing disability know sign language.
5) True or False: The intellect of a person with a hearing disability develops more slowly
than that of a person with normal hearing.
6) True or False: Deaf people hear nothing at all.
7) True or False: All people who know sign language can sign to one another.
8) True or False: It is possible for a deaf person to obtain a driver’s licence.
9) Name two causes of hearing loss.
10) True or False: There are no deaf persons in your province.
Quiz adapted from the video guide ‘Deafness and Learning with Karen Taylor’.
Copyright © Province of British Columbia. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission of the Province
of British Columbia. www.ipp.gov.bc.ca
© 2005 National Film Board of Canada
Documentary Lens Lesson Plan for Out of Silence
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Worksheet 2 for Out of Silence
“Let’s Talk about It”
Questions for Discussion
1) What is the general connotation of the word “deafness”?
2) Why put deaf/hard-of-hearing children in classes with hearing children? Is it fair that
the teacher/other students have to accommodate them? Do deaf students benefit from
being integrated?
3) What can schools do to help build acceptance and awareness for those who have a
hearing disability?
4) Why might someone with a hearing disability not want to learn to speak?
5) Why does articulation become difficult for deaf/hard-of-hearing persons?
6) Discuss the statement: “Many deaf children who are isolated in institutions learn to be
deaf when they really don’t need to be.”
7) People say deafness is a culture of its own. How can this be so?
8) Do you think that Out of Silence is biased? Why do you say yes or no?
9) Throughout Out of Silence, the filmmaker uses an image of a figure skater. Why?
10) Out of Silence has clips of students in the classroom intertwined with clips of the
school director explaining the school’s philosophy. Is this effective? Explain.
11) What did you learn from the video that you didn’t already know?
© 2005 National Film Board of Canada