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<P><FONT color=#cc3399>Hello Shane at the all,</FONT></P>
<P><FONT color=#cc3399>Show them everything what is you can print of </FONT><A href="http://www.signwriting.org"><FONT color=#cc3399>www.signwriting.org</FONT></A><FONT color=#cc3399> possible :)</FONT></P>
<P><FONT color=#cc3399>Tell him that Sw in some countries are used already, and that children (the most nevertheless:)) wonderfull find to read in their own language.<BR>So, the children can distinguish being between 2 languages and see<BR>them that them just as worthy!</FONT></P>
<P><FONT color=#cc3399>So, I hope that I have helped a bite, because I'm but a lay(wo)man :)</FONT></P>
<P><FONT color=#cc3399>Greetings</FONT></P>
<P><FONT color=#cc3399>Sara<BR></FONT><BR><BR></P></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>>From: "Valerie Sutton" <sutton@signwriting.org>
<DIV></DIV>>Reply-To: sw-l@majordomo.valenciacc.edu
<DIV></DIV>>To: sw-l@majordomo.valenciacc.edu
<DIV></DIV>>Subject: Re: [sw-l] SignWriting at Jordanstown Schools
<DIV></DIV>>Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2005 10:36:09 -0800
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>SignWriting List
<DIV></DIV>>February 10, 2005
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>On Feb 10, 2005, at 9:54 AM, Shane Gilchrist Ó hEorpa wrote:
<DIV></DIV>>>I will see Stephen Clarke, the headteacher at Jordanstown Schools
<DIV></DIV>>>(the deaf
<DIV></DIV>>>school in North Belfast - people usually refer to it as Belfast
<DIV></DIV>>>Deaf School)
<DIV></DIV>>>on Wednesday. We will discuss the possibility of me teaching
<DIV></DIV>>>SignWriting to
<DIV></DIV>>>the deaf kids there. Any advice here?
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>Wonderful, Shane. I hope others will give their advice too...
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>You can join the SignWriting Literacy Project. Plus, you can
<DIV></DIV>>download and print the ASL versions of the materials used in the
<DIV></DIV>>Literacy Project, and then, like Kathleen and Sara, you will need to
<DIV></DIV>>translate those materials into your Sign Language...Those are the
<DIV></DIV>>same books which Kathleen and Sara just showed Stefan, and sent to
<DIV></DIV>>me by mail...It is a little bit of a job to do the translation, but
<DIV></DIV>>it is a good exercise because you will learn SignWriting that way,
<DIV></DIV>>and we are all here to help you...It gives me structure to our
<DIV></DIV>>Lessons Online if you ask questions while you are translating...;-))
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>SIGNWRITING LITERACY PROJECT
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>To join the Literacy Project...
<DIV></DIV>>Fill out Teachers Web Report 1, by writing your answers inside an
<DIV></DIV>>email message, and post it to the SignWriting List.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>Web Report 1:
<DIV></DIV>>http://www.signwriting.org/forums/teachers/teach002.html
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>Then download these materials and start the translation process...
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>1. What materials are used?
<DIV></DIV>>http://signwriting.org/archive/docs1/sw0004-Literacy-Project.pdf
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>2. Goldilocks Workbook Level 1
<DIV></DIV>>http://signwriting.org/archive/docs1/sw0076-US-Goldilocks-1.pdf
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>3. Goldilocks Storybook Level 2
<DIV></DIV>>http://signwriting.org/archive/docs1/sw0077-US-Goldilocks-2.pdf
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>4. ASL-English Picture Dictionary for Children
<DIV></DIV>>http://signwriting.org/archive/docs1/sw0078-US-Pict-Dict-1.pdf
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>5. SignBank Dictionary Database & Other Software
<DIV></DIV>>http://www.SignWriting.org/downloads
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>6. Lessons In SignWriting Introduction (Manual)
<DIV></DIV>>http://signwriting.org/archive/docs1/sw0009-Intro-SignWriting.pdf
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>7. Lessons In SignWriting Basics (Manual)
<DIV></DIV>>http://signwriting.org/archive/docs1/sw0010-SignWriting-Basics.pdf
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>8. Lessons in SignWriting Textbook
<DIV></DIV>>http://signwriting.org/archive/docs2/sw0116-Lessons-SignWriting.pdf
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>9. About SignWriting
<DIV></DIV>>http://signwriting.org/archive/docs1/sw0008-About-SignWriting.pdf
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>-----------------------------
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>ASL SignWriting Literacy Project
<DIV></DIV>>FREE FOR TEACHERS OF THE DEAF
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>The SignWriting Literacy Project is pioneering a new concept in Deaf
<DIV></DIV>>Education. SignWriting books, videos and software are donated to
<DIV></DIV>>classes of Deaf students. In return, teachers, students and parents
<DIV></DIV>>provide documented feedback. The results are published on the
<DIV></DIV>>SignWriting Web Site.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>SignWriting is a way to read, write and type any signed language.
<DIV></DIV>>All materials donated to the schools are written in American Sign
<DIV></DIV>>Language (ASL), authored by Deaf native ASL signers. The SignWriting
<DIV></DIV>>videos are taught in ASL with English voice-over. Fluency in reading
<DIV></DIV>>and writing American Sign Language is used as a bridge to teach
<DIV></DIV>>written English. Although this is a new project, feedback is already
<DIV></DIV>>coming in, and the results are positive.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>The project began in 1998. Below are some sample web pages about one
<DIV></DIV>>participating school.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>Albuquerque Public Schools
<DIV></DIV>>SignWriting Literacy Project
<DIV></DIV>>http://www.signwriting.org/forums/teachers/teachers.html
<DIV></DIV>>http://www.signwriting.org/usa/usa.html
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>Would you like your school to participate? Your students must be
<DIV></DIV>>Deaf and use Sign Language. One teacher must be online, so they can
<DIV></DIV>>receive technical support through email. Write for more information:
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>The SignWriting Literacy Project
<DIV></DIV>>The DAC, Deaf Action Committee For SignWriting
<DIV></DIV>>P.O. Box 517, La Jolla, CA, 92038-0517, USA
<DIV></DIV>>Tel: 858-456-0098...Fax: 858-456-0020
<DIV></DIV>>Email: Sutton@SignWriting.org
<DIV></DIV>>Web: http://www.SignWriting.org
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>---------------------------------------------
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>ARTICLE IN SAN DIEGO UNION TRIBUNE
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>Symbols widen deaf children's understanding
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>By David Hasemyer
<DIV></DIV>>STAFF WRITER
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>March 9, 2003
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>If you are a hearing person reading the word "house," you're able to
<DIV></DIV>>immediately visualize in your mind's eye a dwelling that has a door,
<DIV></DIV>>windows and perhaps a front yard.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>But for a deaf child who has never heard the word "house" spoken
<DIV></DIV>>before, seeing it might elicit no mental image whatsoever. It would
<DIV></DIV>>be akin to a hearing person trying to decipher Japanese characters.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>Now deaf children have their own written language, one that enables
<DIV></DIV>>them to conjure up a mental image that matches the word "house."
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>It is based on the sign language, the method of communication the
<DIV></DIV>>deaf are most comfortable with and fluently use.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>It's called SignWriting and it was developed by Valerie Sutton, a La
<DIV></DIV>>Jolla woman who wanted to give deaf children a written language of
<DIV></DIV>>their own.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>"SignWriting triggers in their brain that the symbol they see
<DIV></DIV>>translates into something real, like a house or a bus," Sutton said.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>The success of SignWriting in the elementary schools of Albuquerque,
<DIV></DIV>>N.M., was outlined in a California Educators of the Deaf conference
<DIV></DIV>>seminar yesterday in Mission Valley.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>The program is used in 27 countries, though Sutton said she is not
<DIV></DIV>>aware of it being used in any San Diego County schools.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>For children born deaf or who become deaf early in life, sign
<DIV></DIV>>language is their first language. English is their second language,
<DIV></DIV>>and an often difficult and frustrating concept to grasp.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>SignWriting uses a system of graphic symbols that closely replicate
<DIV></DIV>>the hand gestures of sign language. It connects the two and has some
<DIV></DIV>>teachers praising it as a significant teaching tool for deaf
<DIV></DIV>>children. SignWriting is essentially the ABCs of sign language,
<DIV></DIV>>essentially an alphabet for writing the movements of the hands and
<DIV></DIV>>fingers used in signing.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>"It brings their world alive," said Lorraine Crespin, a teacher at
<DIV></DIV>>Hodgin Elementary School in Albuquerque. "You can see it in their
<DIV></DIV>>faces. It's like that light bulb going off."
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>Instinctively deaf children are able to pick up SignWriting, she
<DIV></DIV>>said. "You can put it in front of them and watch their faces. You
<DIV></DIV>>can see it registering."
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>SignWriting makes the deaf child's integration into the mainstream
<DIV></DIV>>world of English speakers a little less difficult.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>"This gives them some confidence to make the transition a little
<DIV></DIV>>easier," said Hodgin teacher Kate Lee.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>"Think how important that is for a child to be able to communicate
<DIV></DIV>>ideas and thoughts in a way that they have never had before. It
<DIV></DIV>>opens the world to them."
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>David Hasemyer: david.hasemyer@uniontrib.com
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>Copyright 2003 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.
<DIV></DIV>>
<DIV></DIV>>Find this article at:
<DIV></DIV>>http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/uniontrib/sun/metro/news_1m9sign.html
<DIV></DIV>>
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