Program Name: Use of Sign Language as an Early Literary Strategy
Nominator's Name: Wendy R. Crawford
Title: Principal
Address: 64 Hillside Road
City/State/Zip: Turnersville NJ 08012
Nominator's Telephone Number: 856-582-8630
Organization: Grenloch Terrace Early Childhood Center
Address: 251 Woodbury-Turnersville Road
City/State/Zip: Sewell NJ 08080
List of Community Partners: Marilyn Daniels, Professor at Penn State University, and the Grenloch Terrace Early Childhood Center, Washington Township
The nominated program focuses on the following grade level or area: Kindergarten
District:  Washington Township
County: Gloucester
Address: 206 East Holly Avenue
City/State/Zip: Sewell NJ 08080
District Superintendent: Thomas Flemming, 856-589-6644 ext. 6401
District Telephone Number: 856-589-8500 ext. 4401
Date of Program Initiation: September 9, 1999

Area 1: Goals:

• To integrate the use of American Sign Language in our early literacy program as a tool in developing letter recognition, sight words and basic vocabulary development.
• To assess the impact of the use of sign language on the instructional program.
  

Area 2: Activities:

The use of sign language as an instructional strategy was implemented in our early childhood center three years ago, after our principal read an article written by Laura Felzer on the use of ASL with hearing children.

Working with Marilyn Daniels, a researcher and professor at Pennsylvania State University, the staff at our school learned to incorporate signing in our daily lessons to support the district curriculum. This was accomplished through several sessions in which Dr. Daniels met with the staff and presented her research. This was followed by mini courses on signing offered through our adult school and return visits by Dr. Daniels to visit our classes, teach our children and observe our staff in action.

Signing uses visual and tactile modalities as well as provides a mnemonic reference to the meaning of many basic sight words. As a result of integrating this practice in our regular classroom practices, we have become more aware of the importance of using different modalities in conjunction with print in order for our students to learn letters, sounds and sight words. Since we began using sign, we have also become more conscious of combining the print message with the sign This combination has resulted in increased literacy success for our students in keeping with:

• Standard 3.1 Reading All students will understand and apply the knowledge of sounds, letters, and words in written English to become independent and fluent readers, and will read a variety of materials and texts with fluency and comprehension.
• C. Decoding and Word Recognition
• F. Vocabulary and Concept Development

Area 3: Outside Resources:

Local staff development money, Goals 2000 money and a grant secured by Dr. Daniels through the Pennsylvania State University provided the financial support for the program.

Area 4: Evaluation:

Students in our center are assessed as part of our local effort to monitor individual progress and plan programmatic changes. The graph below shows the results of our two year study.

Area 5: Stability:

Our school began reading about the use of sign language with hearing children in the summer of 1999. Now, in the year 2003, sign language is embedded in our daily instructional activities. The program has been recognized by NJASCD and has been published in Principal Magazine. Outside interest in the program from those who have read about it in the magazine continues, with a student from West Virginia recently visiting our campus to see it for herself!

Area 6: Endorsements:

"Since incorporating sign language as an integral portion of the curriculum at GTECC, the students have demonstrated an increase in their English vocabularies, acquired more sight words and gained higher scores on their reading readiness measures. These young learners have become metalinguistic through the sign language intervention and their communication skills are advanced. In classroom interaction among students there is little conflict, and awareness and understanding of the rights of individuals is displayed."

Marilyn Daniels, Researcher and Partner

"Sign language is a very rewarding and fun experience for kindergartners. At this age, they are very receptive to learning sign language. We use it daily in our classroom. Our children are very proficient at signing our morning story, the date and the weather. They have all learned the alphabet and read with ease classmates' names when they are finger spelled. They all enjoy sharing their sign with parents and siblings. They all seem to have a favorite sign and are very willing to share it with you. We do our Pledge of Allegiance every day in sign and at the same time we read the words so that we are learning words in conjunction with our signing. The children have told me that they like learning another language. I totally enjoy teaching sign language in kindergarten and I feel that it is very beneficial to help us to get to higher levels in reading and literacy."

Judy Rolando, Kindergarten Teacher

"The use of American Sign Language (ASL) as a means to support the literacy development of the kindergarten children in the Washington Township School District has had tremendous benefit. Learning to read has become a motivating, enjoyable, multi-sensory experience for our district's kindergarten children. Students consistently demonstrate their ease in signing to represent the alphabet, sight words, and other new vocabulary. Using muscle memory as another pathway to the brain aids in the retrieval of vocabulary for many children. Using sign language creates a calm ambiance in which classroom management is expertly maintained, whereby the teachers sign to communicate simple classroom commands and directions. Our district's success with using sign language is attributed to the visionary leadership of the principal, Mrs. Wendy Crawford and her ability to establish a rewarding partnership with Dr. Marilyn Daniels from Penn State University. This partnership has resulted in the supportive school culture and expertise among the staff, which enabled them to embrace the use of sign language and value its success. Dr. Daniels has established herself as an expert among the staff, parents, and administrators with whom she has worked in Washington Township. The use of sign language has become an exciting and rewarding change in the kindergarten program."

Barbara E. Marciano, Director of Elementary Education, Washington Township Public Schools