It started out as a topic for a college thesis: documenting the innovative use of American Sign Language (ASL) -- the primary form of communication for people who are deaf in the United States -- for young hearing students.
Kirsten Dennis, now a first-grade classroom teacher at Whitson Elementary School, produced the thesis while attending Pacific Oaks College in Seattle. The focus of her thesis was to describe how ASL can be used in classrooms with students who can hear, and for children with special needs.
Dennis' thesis has now become a book, Sign To Learn, which was published in October.
"After finishing the thesis, I said, `OK, I'm done,'" Dennis recalled. "But the professor said I should pursue publishing it. So there was another round of lots of work."
The book is essentially the thesis she wrote to obtain her master's degree in 2003.
"It's the thesis rewritten," she said, understating the amount of work required to turn the thesis into a book.
Dennis said the process of transforming her thesis into Sign To Learn took about 18 months. But she added that it was worth all the time and effort to get the information published.
"It's exciting. I'm just happy it's out there and available to teachers," she said. "It was written for educators, but can certainly be used by parents interested in ASL."
According to the publisher, Sign To Learn is "the first complete introduction to appropriate sign language curriculum for hearing pre-schoolers ... it gives you the tools to learn how to integrate ASL into your classroom in order to enhance the academic, social, and emotional development of children, and to respectfully introduce children to deaf culture."
In one chapter of the book, for example, Dennis explains how the use of sign language helps in early childhood literacy programs. Among the benefits: Signing allows children to use multiple senses to learn new information; the signs "look" like the letters and words being taught; creating signs helps children connect concrete objects to abstract concepts; and signing increases childrens' confidence to learn new skills.
Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of ASL is its apparent impact on learning, and Dennis said the results are significant.
"Kids who learn ASL score higher on I.Q. tests," Dennis explained. "Studies show it helps with academic skills. It's really interesting to them, and they want to learn it, too. It helps them academically, so I integrate it throughout the day."
Dennis said she first became interested in sign language while she was a kindergarten teacher on Vashon Island. The book's co-author, Tressa Azpiri, introduced ASL to the kindergarten students at the school, and the kids appeared to be very curious about it.
"It struck me, because I had a difficult class that year, but during the ASL activity they were quiet, focused, and interested," Dennis explained. "I thought, `wow, this can be a really good learning tool.' Kids watch interpreters because they are pretty captivating. The kids picked up the signs quickly and really used them."
Although Dennis has no deaf children in her first-grade class at Whitson, she finds unique ways to employ sign language as a path to benefit all of her students.
"I use it now as a classroom management tool, to sign directions to kids: line up, sit down, come over here," she explained. "The young children are really engaged. It holds their attention and gets them focused on you. You don't have to raise your voice to get them to `hear' what you're saying."
Dennis pointed out that ASL is especially effective to kids learning English as a second language.
"Most signs look like what you're talking about, so for kids learning English, it's a bridge between languages," she said.
Sign To Learn was published by Redleaf Press of St. Paul, Minn.
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