ASL Rose Newsletter
Vol. 1 No. 12
December 2007
It’s that time of the year. Seeing our breath in the cold air outside. Long nights and tucking tight under blankets. Steaming hot chocolate with marshmallows floating on top. Warm smiles shared with family and friends. Looking back on the year that has passed and remembering all the things we are grateful for.
As 2007 comes to a close, ASL Rose has been thinking about the quality of deaf education, and wants to show appreciation for individuals who have never wavered from their goal to enhance deaf education. ASL Rose would like to thank Steve Nover for his work in language planning in ASL and English, Cynthia Bailes for the promotion of ASL-English whole language instruction, Laurene Simms for the establishment of a formal bilingual teacher preparation program, Eddy Laird for his deep involvement in ASL assessment and evaluation, and Lon Knutze for his steadfast belief on the importance of ASL as a first language for Deaf learners in our country. These individuals have made continuous progress possible in the area of Deaf bilingual [ASL-English] and bicultural [Deaf-Hearing] education. For the holidays, ASL Rose wants to say many thanks to these wonderful individuals for working to advance Deaf bilingual and bicultural education and, at the same time, create a treasure that we hold in our hearts.
What would be perfect under a tree?? A big box of comfortable, natural and accessible Deaf bilingual and bicultural education, with enough to share with everybody!
If we were to get Deaf bilingual and bicultural education as gifts, what would it look like? Here are some possibilities…
A Huge Pile of Precious Gifts in ASL Language Arts for Deaf Learners in K-16 Educational Settings
- ASL literary clubs and societies in K-16 educational settings
- Translation of English language arts books into ASL to build world knowledge
- Development of ASL language arts books/DVD to build a stronger L-1 foundation in Deaf children
- National ASL creative presentations contests
- ASL television channel
- Thousands of ASL storytelling DVDs
- Thousands of ASL DVDs about Deaf heroes
- More entertainment, educational and documentary films in ASL
- More ASL shown in De’VIA artwork
- More characters seen using ASL in stories
- ASL theatrical productions on DVDs for distribution and preservation
- Expansion of ASL literature through a systematic collection of works in ASL
- Series of children DVDs/books introducing the structure of ASL
- E-books in ASL
- Website with a capability to handle two languages: ASL and English
- Deaf-friendly ASL activities in the internet
- Pen-pal vlogs between deaf students from different schools
- More ASL-English bilingual materials for Deaf children
- More ASL L-1 teachers and specialists in K-16 educational settings
- Widespread availability of K-16 ASL L-1 curriculum: processes and practices
- Higher credential expectations of ASL specialists, such as requiring licensure or certification
- Emergence of ASL pathologists/professionals
- ASL writing system for the promotion of emergent literacy in Deaf children
- ASL benchmarks to be recorded in all IEPs
- Assessments to measure ASL cognition, comprehension, and production
- Offering of ASL linguistics classes (similar to English grammar) to strengthen one's ASL usage skills
- More specialized conferences relating to ASL topics (i.e. ASL testing, ASL milestones)
- End of forbidding Deaf babies and young children to be exposed to ASL
The last one would be the sweestest gift of all, wouldn’t you agree?
For the holidays, ASL Rose has three different activities that are immediately available to enjoy by clicking on the following links, but first ASL Rose must thank Yiqiao Wang for her beautiful artwork showing the holiday celebrations of different groups! Try out these activities:
Color Your Favorite Deaf Hero
Pair-a-Handshape
Puzzle Funshape
The holidays may be almost over, but it’s not too late to buy gifts! January is the time of the year for ‘fresh starts’ and Have You Ever Seen…An American Sign Language (ASL) Handshape DVD/Book (HYES) will be a perfect way to start the New Year. It has thrilled readers of all ages and is a great addition to any classroom, library, school, hospital, or your own bookshelf. Buy HYES and give the irreplaceable gift of ASL and Deaf Culture- the anytime and anywhere gift!
And from ASL Rose: “May you find yourself energized for ASL language arts in 2008! Happy Holidays!!!”
