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Video Image Description:

Italian, Mexican woman in a white blouse signing in front of a dark blue background.

Video Transcript:

Growing up, I had access to language. I had the freedom to think, to imagine and to tell stories. How did that happen? By attending with my eyes, interacting with my mom, signing back and forth with our hands. Whole language method is a powerful tool. Whether a story is told live or in media. Time and again, after my shared stories, teachers were shocked to see children picking up the books to read, wanting to experience the story again. The children wanted to know did the book in English said what they saw signed? Teachers wanted to know how were the children engaged and motivated to read.

Title card: “Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills BICS = Social Language”

By the age of 5, a child needs the basic social language skills for kindergarten readiness and academic learning.

Title card: “Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency CALP = Academic Language”

And by the age of 8, to have the skills of dual language foundation. A child-centered learning approach creates authentic playful interactive learning environment. A whole Language taken apart in topics every child must know. The alphabet, the number, the colors, the shapes, the hand-shapes, the grammatical topicalization, and the movement parameter. Learning the four parameters of producing the signs while honoring the dual development of signally and orally. These knowledge and academic skills expand child’s vocabulary bank. This lexical process invites child to connect linear or the spatial use of dual language to the images, the phrases, the words, fingerspelling, the signs. With all these connection, a child is motivated to read, to retell his/her story. Creating his/her whole language expression. To access a language is any child’s birthright. A solid language foundation provides a life-long learning. Let the children attend with their eyes, so they may think, imagine, and tell his/her story.