Friday, September 6, 2013

SIGNING STANDARDS - YES WE CAN!


We are on the same team!  We are all trying to figure out how to make the Common Core State Standards more meaningful and engaging for children!  And we can do this, yes we can!   I often tell teachers that I am not your meat and potatoes – I’m your condiment.  I’m your salt, sugar, and spice to help your standards taste better!  And sign language might just be that spice to help those skills go down. 



R.L.4 – Teach the sign for “understand” (wiggle index finger by brain) and “don’t understand” (shake head as you wiggle finger) so children can let you know if they don’t know a word.

R.L.5  - Introduce signs for fact, fiction, poem, etc. 

R.L.6 – Make signs for author, illustrator, and title as you begin to read a book.

R.I.10 – Engage children to make connections with text with “schema.”  Open hands for the book, hook index fingers to make the connection, and then touch your brain.

R.F.1 d  - Learn manual signs to help children remember letters. 

R.F.3 a – Make signs for letters as you sing alphabet songs such as “Alphardy,”  “Who Let the Letters Out?” or “I’ve Got the Whole Alphabet in My Hand.”

R.F.3 c – Teach signs for word wall words.

S.L.1 a – Introduce the sign for “me too”  (thumb and pinky up and point to self) so children can learn to listen and wait their turn.

S.L. 3 – Ask and answer questions.  Make a “C” if they have a comment.  Make a question mark in the air if they have a question.

L.1 d  - Teach signs for question words: who, what, where, when, why, how.

L.1 e – Learn signs for prepositions.

L.2 d – Spell simple words - Make manual signs for letters as children write them down.

L.4 a – Introduce different signs for words with multiple meanings. 

L. 6  - Sign phrases in daily conversations.  (Please, thank you, excuse me, help, etc.)

Math
Counting and Cardinality
Learn to count manually.

Operations
Teach children signs for =, <, >, +, -.

Measurement & Data
Use signs for comparing objects.

Geometry
Introduce signs for basic shapes.
Use signs to describe positional words.

P.S.  I know many of you have other ideas you could add to this list, so please send them my way and I’ll pass them along on my blog.