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From:
Akehurst Date: Wed Aug 25, 1999 12:18 pm Subject: SWLProject | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hello Valerie, a MILLION pardons for not having responded MUCH earlier to this post. I was away for two months and had misfiled it as well so I had to search the archives to get it back up! I'm so sorry not to have responded earlier... Anyway, with reference to the advanced SW materials and the effects on our group, I wanted to address this question... Valerie wrote... It seems that for children or beginners the color coding helps, which is great news, and I know others agree. This is my question... Do you think I should have carried the color coding over to the Goldilocks storybooks? As you noticed, I only used the color coding in the instruction book, but I made the REAL storybooks black text, like most books are. I was trying to "move them into reading normally", without the color. Do you agree with that decision, Kathy, or do you think the color coding should have been used in the Goldilocks Intermediate storybook as well? I can change that, if you think I should. My reply... I think the colour coding is a wonderful thing but I do not think it should be carried over to the Goldilocks storybooks for the very reasons you mentioned. The idea is to try to get this into the 'mainstream' and, as with newspapers, etc., it will (more than likely) be used in black on white when it becomes more common to see SW all over. I know everyone would ENJOY the colour, because it does add to the overall impression of the piece, but to work at this becoming a regular tool for everyday communication, I think it's best to leave it as it is - like most books are, as you mentioned. (My little ones had fun anyway, they just coloured in the bits of Goldilocks that they wanted coloured!) The next point you mentioned was this (and sorry to clip so much of the older posts, folks, but I'm assuming some would be lost in this conversation without the lengthy clips...) I wrote, >We're still having a 'thing' (amongst the adults) with facial expressions >(the children are great at drawing the faces) and, to be honest, I'm >beginning to believe that - for some - having facial expressions in or >leaving them out may be akin to the way some people use (or don't use!) >punctuation in written English. Some are more precise in their writing and >others just put in enough (in their opinion) to get the message across. >Personalities prevail, I guess. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Valerie replied... I think this makes perfect sense. I probably wrote too many facial expressions from the video - they were so much fun to write I couldn't stop myself - ha! So here is my question - forgetting writing (for the moment) - could everyone READ the facial expressions? If they could read them, even if they could "take them or leave them" - if they were readable that means something to me. Yes, Valerie, they were very readable. In fact, I pointed out to one of the older students (the least compliant of the group when it comes to facial expressions!) that he was able to pick them up quite easily even though he didn't want to write them himself. Again, I'm really thinking this has to do with the personalities coming out in the writing (and since I'm a certified Graphoanalyst this is an important aspect of this project for me). I think it will be like most things, some people will be very precise and include all or most facial expressions, some will slip by with as few details as they can to make themselves understood. Kind of like in all written languages (and 'kind of' like this sentence. I could write "It is kind of like..." but I'm trying for brevity (believe it or not) so just dropped off the bits I didn't feel necessary to make myself understood. Proof positive that SW is a living, growing thing!!) I haven't had a chance to document which facial expressions they really feel are necessary but, as discussed earlier on this list, the ones which indicate change of content seem most valuable to all right now. Finally, Valerie asked... Have they learned any spoken language from this, do you think? What do you think the children are gaining from learning to read advanced-level SignWriting? My reply... I think that question about spoken language is most interesting and, unfortunately, I don't have an answer really! I haven't actually noticed anything that would necessarily suggest this, however, I'm wondering if I were to be sitting with them and going through an English book - would I notice they were able to 'read' it with more ease? Not sure, but I'll keep an eye on this and let you know. As far as what they are gaining from learning to read advanced level SW? They feel great about themselves. They know this is a major project and they are part of it and they feel proud of their accomplishments and delighted with their abilities. It's wonderful to see and it's giving them a REAL tool to use in their life. As well, they'll be good and ready to read the barrage of SW materials which will be flooding the planet VERY SOON, right Valerie??! Hope this answers some of the questions, APOLOGIES AGAIN for the horrible delay... all the best, Kathy Akehurst private tutor Ontario, Canada | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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