Publisher's Synopsis
Here is the companion DVD to the popular bilingual primer Handy Stories to Read and Sign. Written by renowned linguistics professor and author Donna Jo Napoli and certified interpreter Doreen DeLuca, Handy Stories to Read and Sign takes a fun, illustrated approach to help beginning readers, deaf and hearing, improve their comprehension of both English and American Sign Language (ASL). It presents five stories that increase in complexity as the children's vocabulary and reading skills grow during the school year. The Handy Stories DVD features Adrian Blue, a native ASL-signer and accomplished actor, signing each story exactly as depicted in the book. The 30-minute DVD also displays the full text of each story.
In the first story "School Signs," Blue clearly demonstrates its ASL rhymes and rhythm, which will enhance new readers' efforts to memorize and match the words they hear or the signs they see with the words printed on the page. Blue highlights ASL rhymes and classifiers in the second story, "Haunted House." In "Thanksgiving Soon," he adds refrains that divide the story into separate sections and shows the differences between the structures of the two languages. In the final two stories, "Winter Solstice" and "Class Pet," Blue reinforces the lessons on English articles and sentences to encourage young viewers to rely on their new skills.
After Blue's performances, student Janiah Mitchell signs all of the stories again in a more personal interpretation, showing that there are many ways to render these delightful tales in ASL. The Handy Stories DVD is an indispensable aid to learning and reading English and ASL for all students.
