Signing Savvy for Libraries

When it was time for contestant Treeva Gibson to choose which coach’s team she wanted to be on, she responded, “I’m going to sign this, so my parents can see who I pick.”  She goes on to sign and voice, “I PICK” and fingerspell “C-H-R-I-S-T-I-N-A.”

The 16-year-old from Frederick, Maryland started singing when she was 11.  Both of her parents are deaf and Treeva learned to sign before she could speak or sing.  As a teenager, Teeva discovered she has a mild hearing loss.  She can not hear mid-tones, which makes it difficult for her to hear an artist singing on a track, yet she can hear the instrumental part.

Watch Treeva Gibson sing Lana Del Rey’s “Young and Beautiful” in her blind audition in the video below.  She’s officially made it onto Team Christina and into the next round, so watch for her on The Voice once the battle rounds start.

NOTE: This video is provided by NBC and, unfortunately, does not include captions.

One really fun idea for teachers to do for their students’ families for the holidays is to assemble a virtual cookbook filled with recipes to create at home.  We all know how important it is for children to be communicated with at home, as well as school, but many times parents are reluctant to do some activities at home because they don’t have the sign vocabulary to do so.

Like with any lesson plan or our favorite children’s books, teachers can create Signing Savvy word lists of their favorite, easy, sweet treats’ recipes.  After creating a word list for a favorite recipe, teachers can email the link to parents so families can checkout these recipes on Signing Savvy and be able to see the key signs to be able to recreate some great treats at home!

If you also make the goodies as part of a classroom activity, the children will be very excited to make something at home that they have already done at school.  It will give them the opportunity to become the expert and actually work as a teacher with their families.

One thing parents need to remember though, is that some of the actions that they will be doing while cooking or baking may be more miming rather than actual ASL signs.  One example of this would be the word SPREAD.  If you look at SPREAD in the Signing Savvy website, you'll find the sign for something spreading or spilling across a table or the floor, which would not be the same kind of action you are talking about when you are spreading the frosting on a cake.  Instead, to sign that you want to SPREAD frosting, mime the motion you would make in real life to indicate spreading. This is one of the most common mistakes non-fluent signers make.  They look for an exact sign to go with their English word when really they would just be better going with their instinct and miming the action of frosting a cake.

So dig into your favorite holiday recipes and start creating word lists that you can share with your families this holiday season. They will really enjoy them, I am sure!

I have included links below to word lists for two of my favorite recipes to get you started.

Word List for Angel Bark or Peppermint Bark Recipe

(Photo Credit: A Taste of Koko)

Word List for Christmas Wreath Recipe

(Photo Credit: Recipe.com)