“Sign and ABC’s”
(star) (star) (star) (star)
`No one’s talking! Something’s wrong with the TV!” my 5-year-old loudly complained. But in moments, she and her 7-year-old brother and 3-year-old sister were mesmerized as two actors on a bare set introduced them to the intricacies of American Sign Language.
“Sign and ABC’s,” available from Aylmer Press, targets hearing children in the belief that teaching sign language not only will give them a second language that is the fourth most commonly used language in the United States but also will boost their reading and writing skills and prepare them for long-term school success.
This new video was created by Steve Kokette, a Madison, Wis., producer who has made it his mission to bring the benefits of sign language to all children. His inspiration for this video, as well as his earlier production, “Sign Songs,” stems from his fascination with Dr. Oliver Sacks’ book, “Seeing Voices,” a compelling exploration of the nature of language and communication through the world of the deaf.
At the Kinzie Elementary School on Chicago’s Southwest Side, every child from preschool through 8th grade learns sign language. This decadelong practice was put in place mainly to ensure the successful integration of more than 100 deaf children at this cluster school site for the deaf. “We wanted to be sure that the deaf children and hearing children could talk with each other and understand each other,” Principal Geraldine Banks said.
But teachers there have discovered they’re also providing another tool for learning. “It isn’t anything that we can document. . . . But they have learned another language. They have another way of learning and communicating,” Banks said.
In Baltimore, where sign language is widely taught throughout the public school system, research has bolstered such common wisdom.
“It is definitely not a gimmick,” Berkshire Elementary School Principal Cynthia Bowen said. As a reading program supervisor for Baltimore elementary schools in the early 1990s, Bowen pioneered the introduction and use of sign language for hearing children, as well as deaf children. Reading specialists had noticed stellar reading skills among some hearing children with deaf siblings and decided to see whether sign language could help boost the skills of early readers and older students who were lagging.
Watching young children watch the 50-minute “Sign and ABC’s” echoes educators’ claims. The video teaches the American Sign Language alphabet, as well as the signs for 88 words.
After a brief musical introduction, each letter of the alphabet is introduced simultaneously through writing, speaking and signing. After the letter is introduced, words starting with that letter are simultaneously signed, spoken and shown in writing. Often the actors build funny mini-skits around the vocabulary; for instance, signing that an insect has fallen into ice cream making one ill. Children of varied cultures and ages then repeat the signs and words.
The spartan set and rote structure force children to focus exclusively on the signs and the individual and imitate the way in which each person makes those signs. The video also contains a couple of songs and a brief, child-appropriate explanation of sign and encouragement to take learning sign “like many things in life . . . a little bit at a time.”
“The larger question begs to be asked,” Kokette said. “If we’re beginning to get results that show sign benefits all children, then why can’t we make it more widely available to more children? I hope this video helps more people ask it.”
Sign and ABCs is available from Aylmer Press for $20.50, including shipping and handling by calling 888-SIGNIT2.
