Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Sign Language

sign language. Pictures, Images and Photos

This is a quick tip, well, relatively.

I think that sign language is a very useful tool in general. Playing charades with my husband to figure out what he wants me to bring out while barbecuing is only so helpful. I should teach him sign language...

Anyways, I think that many rooms use sign language to some extent. For example, kids that have to go to the bathroom. Having them raise their hand is only so helpful, and you don't want them to have an accident because you thought they had a question and it wasn't question time yet. I use the asl letter "r", (fingers crossed) sign for those kids who have to go to the restroom. I respond with the sign for yes, and then they can go without my lesson skipping a beat.

Another sign I use frequently in my classroom is the sign for clapping. It is hard for me when the kids are all excited and screaming when their team wins a point, because then the game takes a really long time as I refocus them after every point. Instead, they can do the silent clap, and then it stays quiet and we can continue, but they still have a way to vent their excitement. (See the last few seconds of the video below to see this).

I also use the sign for wait for when I am going too fast during test time. Instead of them raising their hand or shouting out that they need me to slow down, they do the wait sign. I see it, and pause for them, and then make sure they are ready before I continue.

I work sign language into spelling practice too as I have them sign the letters for the words that we are practicing spelling. I feel that getting to do the letters with their hand is more fun for them, will help them remember, and it is teaching them the asl alphabet as well.

There are 3 more signs that I teach my class, and intend to use a lot more than they are actually used. They are from Rick Morris' work, and it is having a sign for if they have an answer (letter "a"), a question (letter "i") or a comment (letter "c"). This is to eliminate the problem of the teacher looking for an answer to a question she asked, sees a raised hand and gets a question (or worse, a question off topic) or a comment (this weekend we saw apples, and we picked them, and they tasted nice...). While these work great in theory, and I appreciate the kids that use them, I honestly forget to enforce them, and some kids never catch on, or will do the wrong sign, which doesn't help.

To see deaf applause, watch the last few seconds of this video.


Also, check out this website for any sign that you might want to use in your class:
http://www.aslpro.com/cgi-bin/aslpro/aslpro.cgi

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