SignWriting List Forum| Message 5046 | Previous | Next [ Up Thread ] | Message Index |
|
SignWriting List Forum |
|||
|
|
From:
"Judy A. Kegl" Date: Sun Jun 3, 2001 7:01 pm Subject: Re: Nicaragua | ||||||||
|
Hi, Valerie, I don't think that any of our stories are long enough for a reader to become "engrossed" with them. On the other hand, students do practice the material quite a bit. Volume I, which I sent you, is a collection of just some of the stories we have written in SW over the years in Bluefields. Most of the students in Bluefields are already familiar with the material. This is just the first time we have published many stories in one volume and, more importantly, made copies for distribution. We have also made changes from the original versions to reflect corrections both in vocabulary and grammar. Some of the pictures are different, as well. On the other hand, we have new students all the time and for them this collection is their first time seeing some of the material. Then there is the school in Condega. For these students, all this stuff is new -- and they are now just beginning to learn to read (I watched a class of very young children working with one of the stories just the other day.) In Bluefields, we commonly teach a story first by illustrations only. I relate the story and a Deaf teacher translates my pidgin into sign language and then each student practices narrating the story, using the illustrations as cues. Later, in some cases, we then write the story. The Deaf teachers then take the story to Condega where they must again teach it, but this time without the benefit of my commentary or background explanations. So, if the teacher cannot remember an important component of the narrative, the teacher is at a loss BUT FOR HIS OR HER ABILITY TO ACCESS THE NEEDED INFORMATION VIA PRINT. This is one of the reasons SW is a godsend for the students. While we produce some of the translations in Bluefields either at our dorm or as an in-class project, we also each year bring a couple of teachers to Maine to work on translations here in the USA. We then mail this material to teachers remaining behind in Nicaragua (Bluefields and Condega). So, for some stories, teachers are reading to students fresh material without the benefit of my on-the-spot commentary. -- James, Ps, One student has been sending amorous letters to a romantic interest in SW. Thought you might get a kick out of that. (She's out of his league, I am afraid.) ---------- >From: Valerie Sutton >To: SignWriting List >Subject: Re: Nicaragua >Date: Sun, Jun 3, 2001, 11:04 AM > >>I have just returned from Bluefields and Condega, by the way, where I >>distributed Volume I of our SW story collection. >>-- James Shepard-Kegl > > >SignWriting List >June 3, 2001 > >Great, James! The thick book that you sent me...is that "Volume 1"? > >The kids in Nicaragua certainly have plenty to read in SignWriting... > >Do your students sit down and read SignWriting stories for pleasure? > >You know how some hearing people will become "engrossed in a >novel"...totally caught up in the story of the book...and they forget >they are reading because they are so interested in how the story will >end...I am wondering if reading SignWriting is at that level of >fluency yet for your students? >-- > >Val ;-> > > >----------------------------- > >Valerie Sutton > > >SignWritingSite: >https://www.SignWriting.org > >SignWriting List Archives: >https://groups.yahoo.com/group/sw-l/ > >To post a message to the SW List: > | ||||||||
|
|