Sign Language in the Classroom

1. Sign Language in the Classroom Presented by Leslie Spillman MS-CCC-SLP

2. Research • American Sign Language (ASL) is the third most widely used language in the United States and it is an official foreign language.

3. Early Communication System • Between the ages of 9 and 30 months a baby’s desire to talk usually exceeds his ability to speak. (How frustrating for parent and child.) • Recent research (Acredolo, 1996) indicates that not only do infants learn to sign to express words, but those infants who are taught sign can demonstrate an increased process of learning to speak, and that it provides intellectual stimulation. It also strengthens the bond between parent and baby.

4. The most exciting research to you as classroom teachers… • Current research is focused on documenting the effects that learning sign language has on the development of language and literacy skills of young hearing children. • It has been documented that when young children are ready to learn how to read, that the learning of sign language can strengthen and increase oral language and literacy skills. It has been observed that hearing children of deaf parents were often reading before they began school because their parents had fingerspelled with them. Researchers concluded that these children were able to make the connection between the manual letters of fingerspelling and the printed letters on a page. • Sign language involves seeing, hearing, and movement. This is the perfect combination of how young children learn best. Using sign language, children are able to use both sides of the brain, thus creating multiple pathways which can strengthen memory and build connections for further learning.

5. Activities to teach Sign Language • Teach the signs yes/no -Read the book Who Took the Cookies from the Cookie Jar? And have children sign “yes” you and “no” not me. • Also teach yes/no by asking silly questions. -Are you a kangaroo? -Do you live in a submarine? -Also ask questions that allow them to answer yes.

6. Activities to Teach Sign Language • Teach the signs for toilet and wash while reading the book, Germs are not for sharing. • Teach the magic words please, thank you, your welcome, and more during snack time. • Catch’em being good or showing “heart.” -Teach them the sign for “good job.”

7. Activities to Teach Sign Language • Play Red Light/Green Light -The teacher will use the sign “stop,” “come,” and go. (come-walk forward; stop-everyone stops; go-walk backwards) • If teaching or reviewing colors, introduce the color signs. • Teach the sign “same” and “different” and you introduce the standard.

8. Activities to Teach Sign Language The opportunities to incorporate sign language in your everyday lessons are endless.

9. Plan Your Own Lesson and Incorporate Sign Language • Weather signs • Everyday objects you use at school (paper, pencil, glue, scissors, etc.) • Numbers • Emotions

10. Today’s information and activities came from this excellent resource.

11. I truly enjoy teaching kids sign language. It is as if, you were teaching your students the coolest magic trick in the book. Please do not hesitate to ask me for resources or to come in your room and assist.