This unit plan is multidisciplinary, drawing upon the bilingual story of Deaf Smith and Emily West. The story is available as an app. In this unit plan, students will study

• the history of the Texas Revolution
• the contributions of Deaf Smith and Emily West, two Texas figures
• different forms of written poetry and American Sign Language poetry, and
• the importance of role models/historical figures who are deaf and hard of hearing

The unit plan can stand alone as a special project focused on a specific aspect of the Texas Revolution and two characters. Alternatively, activities can be used as a supplement to another larger unit, such as a history lesson on Texas Independence or a language arts lesson focused on poetry and rhyming devices used in English and American Sign Language.

Those who teach American Sign Language as a first language can benefit from using this unit to supplement instruction on the differences between an original ASL poem or a translated English to an ASL poem.