<div>Dear Andree,</div> <div> </div> <div>The entire writing system of Sign Writing can be taught in six weeks to anyone, so I'm not really sure that it can be divided equally in between various grade levels. I've had kids between 6-8 reading everything I could write once they got the hang of it. That, to me, is the beauty of sign writing, it is NOT like a spoken language in that some words are harder than others to pronounce. Very basic words that are used all the time in everyday signing are fairly complicated and it would be next to impossible to isolate words that have "difficult" motions, from "easy" motions. </div> <div> </div> <div>A sign like "finish" (in ASL), which uses two rotation hands, is one of the earliest signs they learn, so that language acquisition and SignWriting go hand-in-hand, unlike English with its ten thousand exceptional spellings.</div> <div> </div> <div><IMG alt=finish
src="http://www.signbank.org/signpuddle/sgn-US/dict/sl/finish.png" align=middle border=0> FINISH <IMG alt=nineteen src="http://www.signbank.org/signpuddle/sgn-US/dict/sl/nineteen.png" align=middle border=0> "19" <IMG alt=J src="http://www.signbank.org/signpuddle/sgn-US/dict/sl/J.png" align=middle border=0> "J"</div> <div>You can't even count to 20 without technically needing a hand rotation, nor spell the American manual alphabet.</div> <div> </div> <div><BR><BR><B><I>Valerie Sutton <signwriting@MAC.COM></I></B> wrote:</div> <BLOCKQUOTE class=replbq style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid">SignWriting List <DIV>October 10, 2006</DIV> <DIV><BR class=khtml-block-placeholder></DIV> <DIV><BR> <DIV> <DIV><FONT class=Apple-style-span color=#0000ff>On Oct 6, 2006, at 2:12 PM, Andrée Gagnon wrote:</FONT><SPAN lang=EN-CA><FONT class=Apple-style-span face="Times New Roman" size=6><SPAN
class=Apple-style-span style="FONT-SIZE: 24px"><FONT class=Apple-style-span color=#0000ff><B></B></FONT></SPAN></FONT></SPAN></DIV> <DIV><SPAN lang=EN-CA style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 24px; FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman"><FONT class=Apple-style-span face="Times New Roman" size=6><SPAN class=Apple-style-span style="FONT-SIZE: 24px"><B><FONT class=Apple-style-span color=#0000ff>As the level of grades seems important for deaf children to acquire the symbol of rotation, my question is : should it be in grade 2 or in grade 3? As far as I am conserned I do not know. </FONT></B></SPAN></FONT><SPAN lang=EN-CA><FONT class=Apple-style-span face="Times New Roman" size=6><SPAN class=Apple-style-span style="FONT-SIZE: 24px"><B><FONT class=Apple-style-span color=#0000ff>André Thibeault</FONT></B></SPAN></FONT></SPAN></SPAN></DIV> <DIV><FONT class=Apple-style-span face="Times New Roman" size=6><SPAN class=Apple-style-span style="FONT-SIZE: 24px"><B><BR
class=khtml-block-placeholder></B></SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT class=Apple-style-span face="Times New Roman" size=6><SPAN class=Apple-style-span style="FONT-SIZE: 24px"><B>----------</B></SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT class=Apple-style-span face="Times New Roman" size=6><SPAN class=Apple-style-span style="FONT-SIZE: 24px"><B><BR class=khtml-block-placeholder></B></SPAN></FONT></DIV> <DIV>Hello Andre! <DIV> <DIV> <DIV>Is there a teacher in your school, who would like to try SignWriting with young Deaf students? Is so, go to these web pages:</DIV> <DIV><BR class=khtml-block-placeholder></DIV> <DIV>SignWriting Teachers Forum</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://www.signwriting.org/forums/teachers/teachers.html">http://www.signwriting.org/forums/teachers/teachers.html</A></DIV> <DIV><BR class=khtml-block-placeholder></DIV> <DIV>Learn About the SignWriting Literacy Project</DIV> <DIV><A
href="http://www.signwriting.org/forums/teachers/teach001.html">http://www.signwriting.org/forums/teachers/teach001.html</A></DIV> <DIV><BR class=khtml-block-placeholder></DIV> <DIV>1. Write Teachers Report 1</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://www.signwriting.org/forums/teachers/teach002.html">http://www.signwriting.org/forums/teachers/teach002.html</A></DIV> <DIV><BR class=khtml-block-placeholder></DIV> <DIV>2. Write A Letter on School Letterhead</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://www.signwriting.org/forums/teachers/teach005.html">http://www.signwriting.org/forums/teachers/teach005.html</A></DIV> <DIV><BR class=khtml-block-placeholder></DIV> <DIV><BR class=khtml-block-placeholder></DIV> <DIV>Send Number 1 and 2 to me:</DIV> <DIV><BR class=khtml-block-placeholder></DIV> <DIV>Valerie Sutton</DIV> <DIV>SignWriting Literacy Project</DIV> <DIV>Center for Sutton Movement Writing</DIV> <DIV>P.O. Box 517, La Jolla, CA. 92038-0517, USA</DIV> <DIV><BR
class=khtml-block-placeholder></DIV> <DIV>or email it to me:</DIV> <DIV><BR class=khtml-block-placeholder></DIV> <DIV><A href="mailto:Sutton@SignWriting.org">Sutton@SignWriting.org</A></DIV> <DIV><BR class=khtml-block-placeholder></DIV> <DIV>Then I can send you books and DVDs and software for the children in the classroom. Once you get them, you can see through experience what seems to work for Deaf children...I would welcome your feedback about the SignWriting Levels already published to see if they work for your classrooms...</DIV> <DIV><BR class=khtml-block-placeholder></DIV> <DIV>Val ;-)</DIV></DIV></DIV><FONT class=Apple-style-span face="Times New Roman" size=6><SPAN class=Apple-style-span style="FONT-SIZE: 24px"><B></B></SPAN></FONT></DIV></DIV></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE><BR>