I got these questions:
Q. What do you think of the idea of teaching students the American Sign Language sign just for the structure words and not for all the other words that students offer when asking a story or otherwise? This way, they would be getting a lot of ASL words that they could use for their lifetime, as well as learning the expected target language. There is a cool link that shows the signs and this could be put in the teacher’s web site for vocabulary practice, etc.: For example:
http://www.signingsavvy.com/sign/SAY/369/1
A. Yes, I tried it and even bought two books to help me do that, when I first began. But I find that it removes some of the fun in that I like seeing what the kids might come up with. My own view of this method is about honoring, honoring, honoring every little thing they try to add in, however they say it or sign it. It is a great idea and i am just saying that I prefer this other more personal way.
Q. Also, I liked the idea that you shared for past tense verbs of motioning your thumb over your shoulder, but since many ASL words require two hands, what do you think of motioning the past tense with another part of the body, say, throwing your head backwards or looking over your shoulder?
I learned that thumb over the shoulder from Joe Neilson and Carmen Andrews-Sánchez. Again, I try to avoid complexities. You will find that, in a story, it is more fun to ask the kids to show you a target phrase for a story, or anything you choose to gesture during PQA, for that matter. The more it is of their own creation, the more they love it and pay attention. And when the kid who suggested that the sign for riding a bike should be his left arm out and his right arm imitating the motion of a bike wheel, that is when you glance in her or his direction, each time it happens in the story, with gratitude and acknowledgement that you remember that THEY and no one else added this to your class. We honor children in our classrooms. It is a new way of thinking, in my opinion, because it’s way of working is through the kids. So many are ignored by the significant adults in their lives, but not in our classes. It is good for both of us, because our hearts open up.