Songs with American Sign Language, ASL
10 Tips for Teaching ASL and Songs
Our Top 10 tips for teaching sign language songs featuring American Sign Language, ASL, makes it easy for everyone, with or without singing or signing experience to teach sign language songs to children. Children do not care about your singing abilities; they are more interested in interacting with you. Children of all ages, babies, toddlers, preschoolers, and elementary kids all enjoy sign language and song activities. Here are 10 easy-to-learn tips for teaching sign language songs to kids.
- Review and learn all the signs that will be used in the song prior to teaching the song.
- Choose your signs. Keep in mind that you do not have to sign every word that is demonstrated or used. You can choose to begin with just a few signs and add more as you become more comfortable.
- Practice singing and signing the song until you can sing and sign it confidently before teaching any sign language song to kids
- Present the signs clearly and slowly to your children, helping them to learn to sign each word correctly before you sing it.
- Attention. Always have your children's attention and be encouraging and supportive and never coerce.
- Sign the song slowly at first. Talk the words to the song as you sign with the children signing and saying the words with you.
- Sing and sign the song slowly at first, a capella is best for this. Later with proficiency you and your children can sing and sign the song at the faster tempo of a recording.
- Praise all your children's efforts.
- Use the signs found in the song with your children at other times during the day, in conversation or while reading a book. This reinforces their learning and strengthens memory and recall.
- Repeat and review often. Children love to sing songs over and over, especially fun activity songs. When singing the song again, review the signs before singing until you are sure the children know all the signs in the song. It's always great to get them participating by asking them how to sign each of the words that they remember.
Here is a demonstration on teaching a sign language song to children:
Signing and singing songs with kids is great a way to involve them in the learning process. The use of music as an instructional tool has been used by people and cultures worldwide for thousands of years. “Music is a vital part of our biological makeup and is one of the ingredients that make us human." (Habermeyer, Sharlene, Good Music Brighter Children, Prima Publishing, Rocklin, CA, 1999. p4). Researchers and teachers alike know that the combining of singing and movement is “one of the most important instructional tools available to the educator” (Taylor, Barbara J., A Child Goes Forth, Simon and Shuster, 1999. p200).
Teaching ASL Songs
TEACHING SIGN LANGUAGE SONGS is made easy with these products:
We Sign DVD’s and Play-Along Songs books are all supported by an instructor teaching all the signs for songs clearly for you to learn. You can choose to use all the signs or just those you want to teach.
