Category Archives: Signs n Storytime

Pets – Signs ‘n Storytime

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I just realized I had a bunch of storytime posts that I had saved in draft format and never published!  This is one of them.

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Disclaimer: I am not bilingual in ASL. I took some courses in college (which seems like a million years ago now…)  I know I am not going to teach anyone to be fluent in ASL – as a fully formed language, there is no way I could do this.  But I view this program as a way to teach parents signs that they might find useful to use with their babies, as children can sign before they can speak.  I am teaching words, not grammar or culture.  I mean no disrespect to the Deaf community, and I welcome comments/ways to improve this service in a culturally respectful manner.

SONG: “Hello Friends” in ASL
taken from Jbrary
I changed this one a little so instead of doing it time to “say” Hello, I sing, “it’s time to Sign Hello” and use the ASL word for sign

SIGNS USED DURING THIS PROGRAM:

BOOK:

The Birthday Pet by Ellen Javernick, illustrated by Kevin O’Malley

Signs used with the story:
Turtle 
Dog 
Cat
Rat
Bird

MOVEMENT: If You’re Happy and You Know It

I sung this one acapella, and when we clap our hands we do the ASL version of clapping, we stomp our feet, and we pound our chest.  Whenever there is clapping in this storytime (at the end of a book, etc) we always do it the ASL way.

FLANNELBOARD:
Pet Voices

(Flannelboard pattern & rhyme from 2’s Experience Felt Board Fun by Liz & Dick Wilmes. Art by Janet McDonnell)

For this I just put up the different animals, we named them, and then did the sign for each.  We also talked about what sounds they made (which seems weird to talk about sound during a Sign Language storytime, but…), and what color they were.

Signs used with this story:

Bird 
Fish 
Rabbit
Cat
Dog
Mouse

BOOK:

I Spy Pets by Edward Gibbs

Signs used with story:
Bird 
Fish
Turtle 
Rabbit 
Cat 
Dog

SONG: The Alphabet Song

We finger sign along to this one.  This was my second time adding this element in to the storytime, so I passed this handout out to the parents at storytime to help them follow along.

BOOK:

Fifteen Animals! by Sandra Boynton

Signs used with story:
Cat 
Dog 
Fish
Hamster 
Horse 
Pig 
Rabbit 
Mouse
Bird 
Turtle 

VIDEO:
“Iggy’s Pet Friends” from Baby’s First-Word Stories: Pets

Signs used with this story:
Pig
Hamster
Bird
Rabbit

 

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:

Book: Some Pets by Angela DiTerlizzi, pets by Brendan Wenzel
(signs to use with story: dog, cat, snake, rabbit, hamster, bird, friend)

Book: Pet this Book by Jessica Young & Daniel Wiseman
(signs to use with story: cat, bird, dog, horse)

Book: Emma’s Pet by David McPhail
(signs to use with story: cat, bug, mouse, bird, frog, snake, fish, dog, turtle, father)

 

PRESENTED: Thursday, March 14 at LM Branch

ATTENDANCE: 14 people (adults and children)

Manners – Signs ‘n Storytime

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Disclaimer: I am not bilingual in ASL. I took some courses in college (which seems like a million years ago now…)  I know I am not going to teach anyone to be fluent in ASL – as a fully formed language, there is no way I could do this.  But I view this program as a way to teach parents signs that they might find useful to use with their babies, as children can sign before they can speak.  I am teaching words, not grammar or culture.  I mean no disrespect to the Deaf community, and I welcome comments/ways to improve this service in a culturally respectful manner.

I thought some of these “Manners” signs would be useful for little ones to learn.

SONG: “Hello Friends” in ASL
taken from Jbrary
I changed this one a little so instead of doing it time to “say” Hello, I sing, “it’s time to Sign Hello” and use the ASL word for sign

SIGNS USED DURING THIS PROGRAM:

BOOK:

Suppose You Meet a Dinosaur: A First Book of Manners by Judy Sierra, illustrated by Tim Bowers

Signs used with the story:
Hello
Nice to Meet You
Excuse Me 
Thank You 
I’m Sorry 
Yes
Please 
No 
Goodbye

MOVEMENT: If You’re Happy and You Know It

I sung this one a capella, and when we clap our hands we do the ASL version of clapping, we stomp our feet, and we pound our chest.  Whenever there is clapping in this storytime (at the end of a book, etc) we always do it the ASL way.

BOOK:

Time to Say “Please”! by Mo Willems

Signs used with story:
Please
Excuse Me
I’m Sorry
Thank You 

BOOK:

Wave Hello, Wave Bye-Bye by Pamela Chanko

Signs used with story:
Hello
Goodbye

VIDEO:
4 Short Spots with Cookie Monster and Prairie Dawn from Sesame Street Monster Manners

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:

Book: Penguin Says “Please” by Michael Dahl, illustrated by Oriol Vidal
(signs to use with story: hungry, thirsty, no, please)

Book: Give Please a Chance by Billy O’Reilly & James Patterson
(signs to use with story: please)
I wasn’t going to read this whole book, but just some pages.

Book: Mealtime by Elizabeth Verdick, illustrated by Marieka Heinlen
(signs to use with story: thank you, please, all done)
I didn’t get to see a copy of Manners Time from this book series, but I think that would work as well.

Book: Yes, Please! No, Thank You! by Valerie Wheeler, illustrated by Glin Dibley
(signs to use with story: yes, please, no, thank you)

Book: Please Say Please! Penguin’s Guide to Manners by Margery Cuyler, illustrated by Will Hillenbrand
(signs to use with story: no, hello, please, thank you)

HOW IT WENT: This was nice storytime for signing, because the books gave lots of opportunities for kids to use the same words again and again.  Plus, while manner books may be kind of didactic, I think these are the kinds of signs that parents want their little ones to learn. I really liked the Sierra book, that one was perfect for this.  The books go back and forth in age because I started this storytime with an older audience (closer to 3-5), then had some toddlers join in.  The older ones still had fun identifying the animals in the board book, but it was good for the littles too.

PRESENTED: Thursday, February 14 at LM Branch

ATTENDANCE:

Things That Go! – Signs ‘n Storytime

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Disclaimer: I am not bilingual in ASL. I took some courses in college (which seems like a million years ago now…)  I know I am not going to teach anyone to be fluent in ASL – as a fully formed language, there is no way I could do this.  But I view this program as a way to teach parents signs that they might find useful to use with their babies, as children can sign before they can speak.  I am teaching words, not grammar or culture.  I mean no disrespect to the Deaf community, and I welcome comments/ways to improve this service in a culturally respectful manner.

It seems like 2018 year just flew by!   And that is also what happens with the vehicles in this month’s theme for Signs n’ Storytime – Things that Go! (Ok, so some fly.  Some speed.  Some chugga chug.  You get what I meant though.)

SONG: “Hello Friends” in ASL

taken from Jbrary
I changed this one a little so instead of doing it time to “say” Hello, I sing, “it’s time to Sign Hello” and use the ASL word for sign

SONG: The Alphabet Song

We finger sign along to this one.  This was my second time adding this element in to the storytime, so I passed this handout out to the parents at storytime to help them follow along.

SIGNS USED DURING THIS PROGRAM:

Airplane 
Boat
Bus
Car 
Fast
Fire Truck
Friend 
Rocket 
Slow
Train 
Truck
Tunnel

BOOK:

Train by Judi Abbot

Signs used with the story:
Train
Airplane 
Car
Tunnel
Friend

FLANNELBOARD:
Fast or Slow

(Flannelboard pattern & rhyme from 2’s Experience Felt Board Fun by Liz & Dick Wilmes. Art by Janet McDonnell)

Have the vehicles behind the board.  Put one vehicle on the board at a time, and ask the audience if it goes fast or slow.  With each vehicle I put on the board, I grouped them together fast vehicles with fast vehicles, slow with slow, and mid-range in the middle. I didn’t use all the pieces shown for this one, but I have all those made.

Looking over a different blog post where I used this flannelboard, I forgot this time to move them across the board at the correct speed.  That would have made this a little more fun.

Signs used with this story:
Fast
Slow
Boat
Car
Fire Truck
Rocket 
Bus
Train
Airplane

MOVEMENT: If You’re Happy and You Know It

I sung this one acapella, and when we clap our hands we do the ASL version of clapping, we stomp our feet, and we pound our chest.  Whenever there is clapping in this storytime (at the end of a book, etc) we always do it the ASL way.

BOOK:

Zoom, Zoom, Baby! by Karen Katz

Signs used with story:
Boat
Bus
Airplane
Train
Truck
Car 

VIDEO:
 
“Four Friends Take a Trip” from Baby’s First-Word Stories: We Go!

Signs used with this story:
Airplane
Bus

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:

Book: My Bus by Byron Barton
(signs to use with story: car, drive, boat, train, plane)

Book: My Bike by Byron Barton
(signs to use with story: bike, truck, bus, car, unicycle)

Book: Old MacDonald’s Things That Go by Jane Clarke, illustrated by Migy Blanco
(signs to use with story: bike, truck, tractor, combine harvester, bus, boat, digger, fire truck, train, plane)

Book: Who is Driving? by Leo Timmers
(signs to use with story: fire truck, car, tractor, convertible, jeep, airplane)

Book: Bedtime Blastoff! by Luke Reynolds, illustrated by Mike Yamada
(signs to use with story: fire truck, car, tractor, convertible, jeep, airplane)

HOW IT WENT: This was a fun storytime.  The group was really small, but since I had no one for the December Signs ‘n Storytime, this seemed like a good turnout.  I’m not sure the flannelboard was the best choice for this group though — both the kids were younger infants, and since you need to interact with the flannelboard, it seemed like it might have been too much.

PRESENTED: Thursday, January 10 at LM Branch

ATTENDANCE: 4 people (adults and children)

Feelings & Emotions – Signs ‘n Storytime

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It’s been a bit since I’ve posted a Signs n’ Storytime, because I had someone cover for me for last month’s program.

Disclaimer: I am not bilingual in ASL. I took some courses in college (which seems like a million years ago now…)  I know I am not going to teach anyone to be fluent in ASL – as a fully formed language, there is no way I could do this.  But I view this program as a way to teach parents signs that they might find useful to use with their babies, as children can sign before they can speak.  I am teaching words, not grammar or culture.  I mean no disrespect to the Deaf community, and I welcome comments/ways to improve this service in a culturally respectful manner.

This month, we focused on feelings.  In keeping what I did with my colors themed storytime, we reviewed a lot of the same signs over and over again with each story for lots of practice.

SONG: “Hello Friends” in ASL

taken from Jbrary
I changed this one a little so instead of doing it time to “say” Hello, I sing, “it’s time to Sign Hello” and use the ASL word for sign

SIGNS USED DURING THIS PROGRAM:
Happy
Brave
Mad 
Calm
Sad
Afraid
Proud
Friend 
Angry

BOOK:

In My Heart by Jo Witek, illustrated by Christine Roussey

Signs used with the story:
Happy
Brave
Mad 
Calm
Sad
Afraid
Proud
Grumpy
Silly

(Because this book felt a little long for the audience, I used the paper-clip trick to skip over some pages, and only used those ones for the signs above)


MOVEMENT: Hokey Pokey

FLANNELBOARD:
Old MacDonald Felt So Glad

I’ve done this flannelboard before, and you can see the original words to the rhyme here. But, it felt strange to be making the sounds at a storytime that is all about sign language, so I changed the words a little to work better.

(to tune of “Old MacDonald had a farm”)
Old MacDonald felt so glad (Happy)
HA-HA-HA-HA-HA
And when he’s glad we sign it like this:
Happy Happy Happy Happy Happy
With a Happy Happy here and a Happy Happy there
Here a Happy, there a Happy everywhere a Happy Happy
Old MacDonald felt so glad.
Happy Happy

Repeat this, substituting the following emotions and signs:
Grumpy = Grumpy
Sad = Sad
Silly = Silly


MOVEMENT: If You’re Happy and You Know It

I sung this one a capella, and when we clap our hands we do the ASL version of clapping, we stomp our feet, and we pound our chest.  Whenever there is clapping in this storytime (at the end of a book, etc) we always do it the ASL way.

BOOK:

My Friend is Sad by Mo Willems

Signs used with story:
Friend 
Sad
Happy

VIDEO:
  
“Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus” from Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!…and more stories by Mo Willems: The Mo Willes Cartoon Collection Vol. 1 based on the book by Mo Willems.

Signs used with this story:
Sad
Angry

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:
    

Book: How Does Baby Feel? by Karen Katz
(signs to use with story: hungry, happy, sleepy, sad, silly, love)

Book: Places to Be by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Renata Liwska
(signs to use with story: happy, mad, thirsty, brave, bored, sleepy, scared)

Book: The Pigeon has Feelings, Too! by Mo Willems
(signs to use with story: happy, no, angry, sad, happy)

Book: How Do You Feel? by Anthony Browne
(signs to use with story: bored, lonely, happy, sad, angry, guilty, curious, surprised, confident, shy, worried, silly, hungry, full, sleepy)

HOW IT WENT: I had a good turnout at this storytime, so that was nice.  Originally, I thought I would use How Does Baby Feel? with the group as my second book, but I had some older siblings in the group, so I thought the Elephant and Piggie book was a better fit.  Also, I realized after showing Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! I should have prepped the story by having the kids learn the sign for no and then they could have signed along with the film.

PRESENTED: Thursday, November 8, 2018

ATTENDANCE: 12 people (adults and children)

Colors – Signs ‘n Storytime

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This was my third Signs n’ Storytime.  As I’ve mentioned before, I approach this storytime as a way for parents to get exposed to some signs that they can use with their little ones.

Disclaimer: I am not bilingual in ASL. I took some courses in college (which seems like a million years ago now…)

This month, we focused on colors.  So instead of learning completely different signs with each book, we had a lot of time to review the same signs.

SONG: “Hello Friends” in ASL

taken from Jbrary
I changed this one a little so instead of doing it time to “say” Hello, I sing, “it’s time to Sign Hello” and use the ASL word for sign

SIGNS USED DURING THIS PROGRAM:
Color
Red
Orange
Yellow
Green
Blue
Purple
Pink
Brown
Black
White
Gray
Rainbow

This video from ASL That is a quick introduction to a bunch of color signs:

BOOK:

Knock! Knock!  by Anna-Clara Tidholm.

Signs used with the story:
Flash Lights (We used this sign when the Knock! Knock! sound happened, as doorbells are often connected to lights to signal their “ring” to a deaf person)
Blue
Red
Green
Yellow (thought the kids in storytime thought the Yellow door in this story was Orange, so we actually signed that instead…  It does look orange-y in the illustrations)
White 

MOVEMENT: Hokey Pokey

FLANNELBOARD:
I Went Walking
 
Based on the book by Sue Williams, illustrated by Julie Vivas

Signs used with story:
Black
Brown
Red 
Green
Pink (the pig is a light pink, even though it looks white in the photo)
Yellow

MOVEMENT: If You’re Happy and You Know It

I sung this one a capella, and when we clap our hands we do the ASL version of clapping, we stomp our feet, and we pound our chest.  Whenever there is clapping in this storytime (at the end of a book, etc) we always do it the ASL way.

BOOK:

Cat’s Colors by Airlie Anderson

Signs used with story:
Gray
Green 
Red 
Blue
Purple
Orange
Black
Yellow

VIDEO:
  
“Planting a Rainbow” from 20 Stories for Spring based on the book by Lois Ehlert.

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:

      

Book: Dog’s Colorful Day by Emma Dodd
(signs to use with story: white, black, red, blue, green, brown, yellow, pink, gray,             orange, purple)
Book: Butterfly Butterfly by Petr Horácek
(signs to use with story: pink, brown, green, red, orange, purple, blue, yellow, 
Book: Bear Sees Colors by Karma Wilson & Jane Chapman
(signs to use with story: blue, red, yellow, green, brown)
Book: Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes story by Eric Litwin, art by James Dean
(signs to use with story: white, red, blue, brown)
Book: Meeow and the Little Chairs by Sebastien Braun.
(signs to use with story: black, orange, green, blue, red, yellow)
Book: Blue Chameleon by Emily Gravett
(signs to use with story: blue, yellow, pink, brown, gold, green, gray, white)
Book: See the Colors: Sign Language for Colors by Dawn Babb Porochovnic, illustrated by Stephanie Bauer

HOW IT WENT: This was a nice theme, because it was easy to find good books to use.  I had a much smaller group this time.  I also learned that some of the handshapes (“g”, “p”, “k”) seemed to be hard for the little ones to make.  I need to do some research into how to explain them better.  I was ok with “g” (make a fist, point your pointer finger out, and point your thumb out too), but describing the others caught me off guard.  If anyone has a good resource for this, please share!

PRESENTED: Thursday, September 13, 2018

ATTENDANCE: 4 people (adults and children)

Food – Signs ‘n Storytime

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This is the outline of my second Signs ‘n Storytime!

For this storytime, I use a basic storytime pattern that my colleague created. I don’t sign the whole thing, or even a whole book.  I’m not fluent.  Instead, I first pick a theme I think would be useful for a parent and their child.  Then, I try to pick books that have words that would be useful for a toddler to know.  When I come across this word in the book, I show and describe the sign.  Then, if it repeats throughout we all do the sign together.  At the end of the book, we practice again all the words in that book.  Finally, at the end of storytime, we review all the signs we learned from all the books

SONG: “Hello Friends” in ASL

taken from Jbrary
I changed this one a little so instead of doing it time to “say” Hello, I sing, “it’s time to Sign Hello” and use the ASL word for sign

BOOK:

Brownie and Pearl Grab a Bite by Cynthia Rylant, illustrated by Brian Biggs

Signs used with the story:
cheese
apple
cracker
milk

MOVEMENT: Hokey Pokey

BOOK:

Who’s Hungry? by Dean Hacohen & Sherry Scharschmidt

Signs used with story:
hungry
fish
banana
cheese
chicken

MOVEMENT: If You’re Happy and You Know It

BOOK:

Lunch by Denise Fleming

Signs used with story:
hungry
corn
peas
grapes
apple
watermelon

VIDEO:
 
“Duckling Gets a Cookie!?” from The Duckling Gets a Cookie!? …and More Stories by Mo Willems

Before watching, we learned the sign for:
cookie

 

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:
   

Book: Guess What? – Food by Yusuke Yonezu
(signs to use: bread, cheese, corn)
Book: Orange Pear Apple Bear
(signs to use: orange, pear, apple, bear)
Book: Guess What? – Fruit by Yusuke Yonezu
(signs to use: apple, banana, orange, grapes)
Book: The Big Blue Bowl: Sign Language for Food by Dawn Babb Prochovnic, illustrated by Stephanie Bauer (this would make a good flannelboard)

I also found this video from LifePrint useful when planning my program.

HOW IT WENT: I had a larger group for this program, so that was exciting.  Some patrons mentioned that they wish this was on a weekly basis, but it does take a while to prep for, and since I am not fluent, I don’t know if I would be able to sustain that many sessions.  We shall see how it progresses.

PRESENTED: Thursday, August 9, 2018

ATTENDANCE: 13 people (adults and children)

Clothes – Signs ‘n Storytime

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Working at a new location means I inherited some new programs, and I’m really excited about this one – Signs ‘n Storytime.  This was originally run by a bilingual English/American Sign Language (ASL) speaker, but she since she couldn’t get away from her usual site as easily, I got to take it over.  I’m not fluent at all.   I did take ASL eons ago in college, and I’m excited to get to use a little bit of that.

I approach this storytime as a way for parents to get exposed to some signs that they can use with their babies.  I think it’s important to use signs from American Sign Language.  I do disclose that I am not bilingual, nor a native speaker to the group.

For this storytime, I use the basic storytime pattern that my colleague created. I don’t sign the whole thing, or even a whole book.    As I said – I’m not fluent, so there is no way I could do that, and translating is an art.  Instead, I first pick a theme I think would be useful for a parent and their child.  Then, I try to pick books that have words that would be useful for a toddler to know.  When I come across this word in the book, I show and describe the sign.  Then, if it repeats throughout we all do the sign together.  At the end of the book, we practice again all the words in that book.  Finally, at the end of storytime, we review all the signs we learned from all the books

SONG: “Hello Friends” in ASL

taken from Jbrary
I changed this one a little so instead of doing it time to “say” Hello, I sing, “it’s time to Sign Hello” and use the ASL word for sign

BOOK:

Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons.  Created and Illustrated by James Dean. Story by Eric Litwin.

Signs used with the story:
Shirt
Button
Cat
No 
Song
Bellybutton

MOVEMENT: If You’re Happy and You Know It
I sung this one a capella, and when we clap our hands we do the ASL version of clapping, we stomp our feet, and we pound our chest.  Whenever there is clapping in this storytime (at the end of a book, etc) we always do it the ASL way.

BOOK:
 
Ooh La La Polka-Dot Boots by Ellen Olson-Brown, illustrated by Christiane Engle

Signs used with story:
shirt
boots
coat
hat 
pants

FLANNELBOARD:
How Do I Put It On?

I was all set to do this flannelboard story (which you can learn in its entirety in this post), but since I only had one little listener, I just sat with him on the floor and we dressed the bear, naming the different pieces of clothing.

Signs used with story:
shirt
pants
shoes
hat

BOOK:
 
Ella Sarah Gets Dressed by Margaret Chodos-Irvine

Signs used with story:
pants
dress
socks
shoes
hat

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL IDEAS:

    

Book: Have You Seen My New Blue Socks? by Eve Bunting, illustrated by Sergio Ruzzier.
Book: Baa, Baa, Black Sheep by Jane Cabrera.
Book: Freddie Gets Dressed by Nicola Smee.
Book: Hat On, Hat Off by Teho Hears, illustrations by Renné Benoit (Since this uses the word “hat” a lot I think it would take some practice to get the signing down, but it does have other clothing in the books, so I think it could work…)
Book: Wear a Silly Hat: Sign Language for Clothing by Dawn Babb Prochovnic, illustrated by Stephanie Bauer. 
DVD: “Let’s Play in the Snow” from Baby’s First-Word Stories: Get Dressed

HOW IT WENT: For my first Signs ‘n Storytime, it went pretty well.  I only had 1 child and 2 adults in the audience, so it was a really intimate and close up reading.  That may be because we had a bit of a break in this storytime pattern as we transitioned from the previous staff member presenting it to me.  Hopefully, the more month to month programs will get a regular crowd.

PRESENTED: Thursday, June 14, 2018

ATTENDANCE: 3 people (adults and children)