Level 1 baby sign language class
LESSON 4: animal SIGNS
signs taught in class: animal SIGNS
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Pets & Around the House
1. ANIMAL: pg 33 2. Cat: pg 33 3. Dog: pg 34 4. Bug: pg 33 5. Spider: not in book 6. Mouse: not in book 7. Bird: pg 33 8. Chicken: not in book 9. Duck: not in book Sea Animals 10. Fish: pg 34 11. Octopus: not in book 12. Shark: not in book 13. Whale: not in book Zoo Animals 14. Elephant: pg 34 15. Monkey: pg 34 16. Bear: pg 33 Farm Animals 17. Cow: pg 33 18. Horse: pg 34 19. Sheep: pg 34 20. Goat: not in book 21. Pig: not in book |
Signing songs from class
Old MacDonald Had a Farm (#9 on CD has words, #10 is instrumental)
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Lyrics:
OLD MacDonald had a FARM E-I-E-I-O and ON his FARM he had a ___________ E-I-E-I-O With a (animal sound + sign) here, and a (animal sound + sign) there, Here a (animal sound + sign), there a (animal sound + sign), everywhere a (animal sound + sign) OLD MacDonald had a FARM E-I-E-I-O |
Slippery Fish (not on CD)
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Lyrics:
(words we sign are capitalized) Slippery FISH, slippery FISH, Sliding through the WATER, Slippery FISH, slippery FISH, Gulp, Gulp, Gulp! (clap hands on "gulp") Oh, no! It's been EATEN by an... OCTOPUS, an OCTOPUS, Squiggling in the WATER, An OCTOPUS, an OCTOPUS, Gulp, Gulp, Gulp! (clap hands on "gulp") Oh, no! It's been EATEN by a... Tuna FISH, a tuna FISH, Flashing in the WATER, A tuna FISH, a tuna FISH, Gulp, Gulp, Gulp! (clap hands on "gulp") Oh, no! It's been EATEN by a... Great white SHARK, a great white SHARK, Lurking in the WATER, A great white SHARK, a great white SHARK, Gulp, Gulp, Gulp! (clap hands on "gulp") Oh, no! It's been EATEN by a... Humongous WHALE, humongous WHALE Spouting in the WATER, Humongous WHALE, humongous WHALE Gulp! ... Gulp! ... Gulp! ... BURP! Excuse me! (cover mouth) |
movement songs from CLASS
The Horses are Walking
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(video coming)
Click to set custom HTML
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Lyrics:
The Horses Are Walking, They’re Walking Along, Walking Along, Walking Along The Horses Are Walking, They’re Walking Along. Woah, Woah, Woah! Verses: Trotting, Galloping Horses Are Walking, They’re Walking Back Home, Walking Back Home, Walking Back Home Horses Are Walking, They’re Walking Back Home. Woah, Woah, Woah! Verses: Trotting, Galloping |
Let's Go to the Zoo!
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Lyrics:
1. Let’s go to the zoo And stomp like the elephants do, Let’s go to the zoo And stomp like the elephants do! 2. …jump like kangaroos do! 3. …swing like the monkeys do! 4. …waddle like the penguins do! 5. …swim like the polar bears do! |
book read in class
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Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr + Eric Carle
A classic!! Not only is it a great book to practice animal signs with, but the patterns and rhythmic nature of the book are great for helping children work on their prediction skills! |
research shows that teaching your child sign language as a baby may help to increase their iq scores later in life!
Linda Acredolo and Susan Goodwyn followed a group of children whose parents had taught them to use signs before they could talk, starting at 11 months old, and a comparison group of children whose parents did not teach them to use signs. They initially followed the children until they were 3 years old and found that the signing children had better language skills. [1] Then they contacted the same two groups of children when they were in 2nd grade and gave them an IQ test. The verbal IQs of the signing children were 12 points higher on average than their non-signing peers [2]. This is a remarkable difference and shows a long-term effect of using signs with preverbal children.
It should be noted that this was a small study, so results should be interpreted with caution. However, it is interesting! Hopefully additional research in this area comes out in time!
References:
1. Goodwyn, S., L. Acredolo, and A.L. Brown, Impact of symbolic gesturing on early language development. Journal of Verbal and Nonverbal Behavior, 2000. 24(2): p. 81-103. See study here.
2. Acredolo, L. and S. Goodwyn, The long-term impact of symbolic gesturing during infancy on IQ at age 8, in International Society for Infant Studies. 2000: Brighton, U.K. See summary of study here.
It should be noted that this was a small study, so results should be interpreted with caution. However, it is interesting! Hopefully additional research in this area comes out in time!
References:
1. Goodwyn, S., L. Acredolo, and A.L. Brown, Impact of symbolic gesturing on early language development. Journal of Verbal and Nonverbal Behavior, 2000. 24(2): p. 81-103. See study here.
2. Acredolo, L. and S. Goodwyn, The long-term impact of symbolic gesturing during infancy on IQ at age 8, in International Society for Infant Studies. 2000: Brighton, U.K. See summary of study here.
educational tip discussed in class + handout
Note: I tend to rotate through the educational topic discussed in this class between the 2 below.
Why Teach Animal Sounds?
Download this printable handout here. animal_sounds.pdf
First Speech Sounds.
Children usually develop the following speech sounds first and as they get older, they learn to produce new and harder speech sounds along the way.
First Syllable Shapes.
Syllable shapes refer to the way that we put consonants and vowels together to make words.
Note: we write C for consonant and V for vowel. So a "CV" word would be one consonant + one vowel, like the word "me," “do” or “go”. A CVC word would be "mom," “cat” or “dog.”
So - Combine This All Together and You Get: Animal Sounds!
Moo. Baa. Neigh. Meow.
Animal sounds incorporate children’s first speech sounds with their first syllable shapes. An easy, fun, and powerful way to help a young child start talking.
Once you realize the power of animal sounds, it's easy to integrate them into your day to help your little one start mooing, too. You can simply make the sound when you see an animal. Please say the word, too, of course (“Cow! Moo!” The sillier you make the sound, the better!). Do this while looking at books, coloring pictures, watching TV, or just playing around.
Your child is more likely to follow both your actions and your words when you put them both together.
So if you use the sign for each animal and do the sign while you say the sound, you are giving your child both an action to imitate and a sound that goes with it. If you have little animal toy figures around the house, you can pair your actions with words by making the animal walk while saying the animal sound repeatedly.
What's more, animal sounds are readily present in a number of repetitive books and songs. Old McDonald, of course, is an oldy but a goody.
Although animals sounds might not seem like actual words, they can help children learn to associate a simple sound with an actual object or picture. Because the sounds are easy to say, children are more likely to imitate them. This success, in turn, helps them make the jump to 'real' words. So don't hold back: moo, baa, and neigh away!
Download this printable handout here. animal_sounds.pdf
First Speech Sounds.
Children usually develop the following speech sounds first and as they get older, they learn to produce new and harder speech sounds along the way.
- Early speech sounds: Vowels + p, b, m, n, t, d, w, h
First Syllable Shapes.
Syllable shapes refer to the way that we put consonants and vowels together to make words.
Note: we write C for consonant and V for vowel. So a "CV" word would be one consonant + one vowel, like the word "me," “do” or “go”. A CVC word would be "mom," “cat” or “dog.”
- Early Syllable Shapes: V-V (“uh-oh”), CV (“me”), VC (“up”), CVC with the same consonant (“mom”) and CVCV with the same consonant (“daddy”).
So - Combine This All Together and You Get: Animal Sounds!
Moo. Baa. Neigh. Meow.
Animal sounds incorporate children’s first speech sounds with their first syllable shapes. An easy, fun, and powerful way to help a young child start talking.
Once you realize the power of animal sounds, it's easy to integrate them into your day to help your little one start mooing, too. You can simply make the sound when you see an animal. Please say the word, too, of course (“Cow! Moo!” The sillier you make the sound, the better!). Do this while looking at books, coloring pictures, watching TV, or just playing around.
Your child is more likely to follow both your actions and your words when you put them both together.
So if you use the sign for each animal and do the sign while you say the sound, you are giving your child both an action to imitate and a sound that goes with it. If you have little animal toy figures around the house, you can pair your actions with words by making the animal walk while saying the animal sound repeatedly.
What's more, animal sounds are readily present in a number of repetitive books and songs. Old McDonald, of course, is an oldy but a goody.
Although animals sounds might not seem like actual words, they can help children learn to associate a simple sound with an actual object or picture. Because the sounds are easy to say, children are more likely to imitate them. This success, in turn, helps them make the jump to 'real' words. So don't hold back: moo, baa, and neigh away!
Your Mission: Imitate Baby’s Sounds and Words in a Back-And-Forth Manner
Download this printable handout here.
Why?
We are always teaching our babies about communication. When we respond to their cries by comforting them or feeding them, we are teaching that their cry (communication) causes a reaction from us.
As parents, we have the opportunity to reinforce actions, sounds and words – and when we imitate their actions, sounds and words, they are learning:
We can use turn taking and imitation to train skills by first imitating whatever actions we observe our babies or toddlers doing. By taking turns imitating him, he will eventually take turns imitating you and you will then be able to introduce more meaningful actions like signs, or more meaningful sounds, like words.
How Do You Do It?
Step 1: Make the same sounds and movements that your baby does. If he is saying “oooooh,” wait until he is done, then you say “oooooh.” If she is clapping, wait until she is done and then you clap! It’s really as easy as it sounds.
Step 2: Once your little one realizes that you are doing this, they will be interested! Continue to take turns talking/moving in a back-and-forth manner until they lose interest.
Step 3: After your kiddo has gotten the hang of this game (could be hours, days or weeks after you started, depending on their age), start by imitating them several times, then change up the sound/action just a little bit to encourage them to now imitate you.
Example 1:
baby: “babababa” you: “babababa”
baby: “babababa” you: “babababa”
baby: “babababa” you: “mamamama”
Example 2:
baby: bangs block on table you: bangs block on table
baby: bangs block on table you: bangs block on table
baby: bangs block on table you: bangs block on hand
Games like pushing cars back and forth, putting shapes in a shape sorter, or blowing bubbles are all great activities for implementing turn-taking and imitation. It is easy to manipulate those activities for “my turn,” “your turn,” as well as adding a sound to each part of the activity. When you add a sound or word like, “in” while putting a shape in the shape sorter, try giving your child a little extra time to imitate you before you take another turn. I sometimes cover the hole on the shape sorter and look at them expectantly until they make some kind of attempt at imitation, then I uncover the hole and reinforce their attempt by saying something like, “in, you said in!” Try manipulating your play a little to allow for more turn-taking and imitation and I’m sure you will be excited to find out what your little ones are truly capable of.
A longer example:
I was sitting with my 10-month-old son on the floor to play with a set of balls. He had a ball in his hand and he was shaking it while saying, “aaaah, aaaah.” I picked up a nearby ball and shook it in the same manner and made the same sound, “aaaah, aaaah.” He immediately looked up at me as if to say, “Hey, you want to play?” And we did.
As we played, he continued to make the “aaaah, aaaah” sound for his ball, and I continued to imitate him. By doing this, I was able to keep the interaction going which resulted in reinforcing the concept of turn taking in conversation. After awhile, he seemed to anticipate my turn by looking up at me and waiting for me to imitate him. When he did, I tried introducing a new sound to our play. I said, “ball, ball” for my ball and he in turn said, “ba, ba.” This exemplifies how turn taking and imitation can help our children learn new actions, sounds or words to improve their communication skills.
The same goes for teaching new sounds. Let’s say the only sounds your child makes are “Ooh” and “Ahh.” When he vocalizes “Ooh” you say “Ooh” when he says “Ahh” you say “Aah.” Then after awhile try introducing a new sound like “Eee” and see if he will try to imitate you. It is important to remember that by only changing the routine a little (adding one new sound or action) makes it more likely that your child will be successful in imitating you back. If we jump too far ahead (for example: going from “Oooh” to “juice”), your child may make no attempt at imitation. In this situation you would want to use turn-taking and imitation to teach new vowels and eventually new consonants.
Download this printable handout here.
Why?
We are always teaching our babies about communication. When we respond to their cries by comforting them or feeding them, we are teaching that their cry (communication) causes a reaction from us.
As parents, we have the opportunity to reinforce actions, sounds and words – and when we imitate their actions, sounds and words, they are learning:
- we are aware of them
- we will respond to them
- they can control our behavior (in a positive way, not in a “manipulative” way)
- turn taking is a foundational skill of language (conversations are really just a series of people taking turns talking)
- BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY: we are making imitation a “fun game” that they are interested in – which reinforces this skill in the future for learning language (which is learned through imitation)
We can use turn taking and imitation to train skills by first imitating whatever actions we observe our babies or toddlers doing. By taking turns imitating him, he will eventually take turns imitating you and you will then be able to introduce more meaningful actions like signs, or more meaningful sounds, like words.
How Do You Do It?
Step 1: Make the same sounds and movements that your baby does. If he is saying “oooooh,” wait until he is done, then you say “oooooh.” If she is clapping, wait until she is done and then you clap! It’s really as easy as it sounds.
Step 2: Once your little one realizes that you are doing this, they will be interested! Continue to take turns talking/moving in a back-and-forth manner until they lose interest.
Step 3: After your kiddo has gotten the hang of this game (could be hours, days or weeks after you started, depending on their age), start by imitating them several times, then change up the sound/action just a little bit to encourage them to now imitate you.
Example 1:
baby: “babababa” you: “babababa”
baby: “babababa” you: “babababa”
baby: “babababa” you: “mamamama”
Example 2:
baby: bangs block on table you: bangs block on table
baby: bangs block on table you: bangs block on table
baby: bangs block on table you: bangs block on hand
Games like pushing cars back and forth, putting shapes in a shape sorter, or blowing bubbles are all great activities for implementing turn-taking and imitation. It is easy to manipulate those activities for “my turn,” “your turn,” as well as adding a sound to each part of the activity. When you add a sound or word like, “in” while putting a shape in the shape sorter, try giving your child a little extra time to imitate you before you take another turn. I sometimes cover the hole on the shape sorter and look at them expectantly until they make some kind of attempt at imitation, then I uncover the hole and reinforce their attempt by saying something like, “in, you said in!” Try manipulating your play a little to allow for more turn-taking and imitation and I’m sure you will be excited to find out what your little ones are truly capable of.
A longer example:
I was sitting with my 10-month-old son on the floor to play with a set of balls. He had a ball in his hand and he was shaking it while saying, “aaaah, aaaah.” I picked up a nearby ball and shook it in the same manner and made the same sound, “aaaah, aaaah.” He immediately looked up at me as if to say, “Hey, you want to play?” And we did.
As we played, he continued to make the “aaaah, aaaah” sound for his ball, and I continued to imitate him. By doing this, I was able to keep the interaction going which resulted in reinforcing the concept of turn taking in conversation. After awhile, he seemed to anticipate my turn by looking up at me and waiting for me to imitate him. When he did, I tried introducing a new sound to our play. I said, “ball, ball” for my ball and he in turn said, “ba, ba.” This exemplifies how turn taking and imitation can help our children learn new actions, sounds or words to improve their communication skills.
The same goes for teaching new sounds. Let’s say the only sounds your child makes are “Ooh” and “Ahh.” When he vocalizes “Ooh” you say “Ooh” when he says “Ahh” you say “Aah.” Then after awhile try introducing a new sound like “Eee” and see if he will try to imitate you. It is important to remember that by only changing the routine a little (adding one new sound or action) makes it more likely that your child will be successful in imitating you back. If we jump too far ahead (for example: going from “Oooh” to “juice”), your child may make no attempt at imitation. In this situation you would want to use turn-taking and imitation to teach new vowels and eventually new consonants.
questions about animal signs
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Sign for LEOPARD
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Signs for CRAB and DOLPHIN
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