SignWriting in Sign Language classes

[Valerie Sutton]

SignWriting List
October 2, 2007

Dear SW List members!
Recently I have had several questions from teachers wondering how to  
teach SignWriting in their school...They have asked for "course  
outlines". I actually do not have a course outline for teaching  
SignWriting as a separate subject...I just follow the Lessons in  
SignWriting textbook format...

http://www.signwriting.org/lessons/lessonsw/

But that is the OLD way of teaching...

I would like to suggest a NEW approach as well as the old way...

Maybe it is time to start using SignWriting as a part of Sign  
Language classes, without necessarily having a separate course in  
SignWriting?...

Of course there is nothing wrong with a separate course in  
SignWriting! But separating it as a separate subject can confuse the  
students too...

When we learn French or Spanish in school, we learn to speak French  
or Spanish in class, and we also learn to read it and possibly write  
it in class too...all in the SAME class...

So when you are teaching Sign Language courses, provide the students  
with the signs they are learning in class, written in SignWriting on  
paper, which they can take home with them, to study with...

So although SignWriting can be taught as a separate subject, I am  
suggesting that it might be best to just use it during classes where  
students are using Sign Language...we write complete books in Sign  
Language now, in SignWriting...so what is really needed is more  
reading material in the Sign Languages of the world...

This week and I am putting a book together using SignBank DocumentMaker:

SignBank
http://www.SignBank.org

...it is the ASL Bible, Chapters 1-7...a very large document!

I hope different religions will also start writing translations of  
their religious texts into SignWriting too...

After the book I am working on right now, I will do the layout for  
Cat in the Hat and Sleeping Beauty...so we are slowly getting  
literature to read...

Many thanks to all of the writiers!


Val ;-)




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