Signing songs

One of the most interesting things I've learned in the last few weeks is how fun it can be to learn signs through music. The staff at Jay's school was invited to be part of a signing choir for the school's graduation party. It was not an obligation, but an invitation to participate. My signing skills are still very raw, but I wanted to give it a try.

We "signed" two songs: "Celebration" by Kool And The Gang and "You're so amazing" by Janelle Jamer. The first song was easy, but I decided to stick to the main chorus and did not adventure into signing the rest of the song, but the second one was surprisingly hard.

You'd think it's easy because the song is relatively slow, but for the new signers, and even some of those who have been signing for a while, it gets a bit challenging to SEE signing at the speed of the song. It's just so hard to add those contraptions, "ing's", plurals and etc without loosing the timing. But when you get it right, after trying for the 100th time in front of the mirror (oh yeah.. the mirror is great to see if you're doing it expressively enough), it's so rewarding. Best of all, you'll NEVER forget those words and you'll get more and more used to signing words together into a sentence.

Wanna give it a try? I'll be adding a song on my next post. I'll welcome any suggestions too.

Learn the colors

Here are some of the main basic colors:
Red
Orange
Yellow
Blue
Green
Purple
Pink
White
Black
Brown

Can you remember them all?

Learn some animal signs!

Practice the signs on the video after watching it:
1. Dog
2. Cat
3. Bunny
4. Rabbit
5. Bird
6. Chicken
7. Duck
8. Horse
9. Cow
10. Pig
11. Sheep
12. Goat
13. Frog
14. Bug
15. Mouse/ Mice
16. Monkey
17. Elephant
18. Penguin
19. Bear
20. Tiger
21. Lion
22. Zebra
23. Hippo
24. Turtle
25. Butterfly
26. Caterpillar

iPod Shuffle commercial with Sign Language

Just for fun: "Open and shut" song with Jay. He was still waking from his nap, so he was very quiet, but still a cute video. I apologize in advance for the distortion of sound. This was recorded with my webcam and I had no idea my voice was sounding too loud until it was too late.

Practice signing with a children's book!! It's one of the best ways. The sentences are simple and direct.
This one is called: "I can do it myself", by Emily Perl Kinsley.

Vocabulary:

1. I
2. CAN
3. PUT
4. MY
5. TOYS
6. AWAY
7. DO
8. IT
9. MYSELF
10. POUR
11. JUICE
12. BUTTON/ BUTTONS
13. COMB
14. HAIR
15. WATER
17. PLANT
18. ON
19. BOOTS
20. WRITE
21. NAME
22. MAKE
23. BED
24. RIDE
25. TRICYCLE
26. SET
27. TABLE
28. BRUSH
29. TEETH
30. LOOK
31. AT
32. THIS
33. WHOLE
34. BOOK






Now watch the video to learn the vocabulary, then practice the sentences in the book:

1. I can put my toys away.

2. I can do it myself.

3. I can pour my juice.

4. I can button my buttons.

5. I can comb my hair.

6. I can water my plant.

7. I can put on my boots.

8. I can write my name.

9. I can make my bed.

10. I can do it myself.

11. I can ride my tricycle.

12. I can set the table.

13. I can brush my teeth.

14. I can look at this whole book.

15. I can do it myself!

The Alphabet

Learning the alphabet before learning signs can be extremely handy. This is because in SEE Sign, a lot of the words are signed with its first initial. For example, "class", "group", "team", "family" and "bunch" all have the same hand movements, but each is done with their first initial. You sign "class" with a "C", "group" with a "G" and so on..
I searched on youtube for a good video which shows the alphabet correctly and it's easy to understand what the hand is supposed to look like. This one from SESAME STREET was my favorite.