"Words are only painted fire; a look is the fire itself," said Mark Twain. If so, sign language will be able to deliver the fire to you. My students and I are very eager to learn it. We love to communicate, share stories, thoughts, and feelings. Please help us to become even better communicators.
I have 25 students, between ages 6 and 8.
I have 5 bilingual children who speak Portuguese, Italian, French, Spanish, and Japanese. The reason Haiku has many children from different parts of the world is due, in part, to the world famous surfing just off of our coastline. Their parents move here to experience it. Different languages are part of these children's lives. The bilingual children were born on Maui, but at least one of their parents is from another country. While the children speak English fluently, they speak their parent's or parents' native language(s) at home. This makes for a very enriching classroom experience for all of our students. Our school is a small, rural school on the North Shore of Maui. We have 500 children and over 60% of our students are on free and reduced lunch programs.
My Project
Since my students are used to hearing different languages in my classroom and at home, I thought it would be good to teach them another language they all could use and don'ÃÂt know American Sign Language. It does not require pronunciation and is visual and develops fine motor skills. My students now know 100+ ASL words. My goal is for them to be able to make sentences and have conversations with each other. Having DVD will help us to attain this goal. The ASL teachers in the video have excellent facial expressions, and my students will be able to see conversations between people. We are already using ASL daily. We use it for spelling words. I incorporate ASL letters into my daily instructions. For instance, instead of raising their hands for certain things, they can sign it to me. I answer them in ASL. We use sign language outside of the classroom as well, such as field trips and fire drills where I cannot talk too loud but want to communicate with them.
Learning a different language broadens anyone's perspective about and the world.
ASL will also expand their understanding of people with disabilities and different physical issues. When they use ASL, it is a link of expression to movement and can be a deeper meaning than just verbal words, which helps them to understand body language and facial expressions. Most importantly, children develop compassion and tolerance for differences in the world when they can communicate with others.
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Ms. Ueoka and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.