Words in English often have multiple meanings, causing concepts to be paired with incorrect signs when working with deaf students, such as the concept of "made up" meaning either "invented" or "decided." A method called "sentence chains" is recommended as a drill to learn to link concepts with their appropriate signs. (JDD)

A special set of skills is essential for interpreting for mainstreamed deaf preschool students. Eleven issues in clarifying the job of the preschool interpreter are discussed, such as whether hearing children should learn to sign and how to encourage communication among hearing and deaf children. (JDD)

Suggestions are offered for teaching young children with hearing impairments to read and write. The strategies emphasize the importance of making the sign-to-print relationship explicit, helping children understand that there is not always perfect sign-to-word correlation, increasing students' metalinguistic knowledge, and building comprehension.…

Applies principles of whole-language instruction to the teaching of sign language skills. Emphasis is on the holistic use of sign language in natural communicative situations. Some materials for this approach to sign language instruction are suggested. (DB)

A school for deaf and hard-of-hearing preschoolers organized and presented a circus, with the objectives of improving reading and writing skills, interaction and cooperation, math and science readiness, fine and gross motor skills, and self-esteem. The students performed as lion tamers, lions, tumblers, weight lifters, and clowns. (JDD)

Describes how teamwork, consistency, and use of sign language helped a child with Down Syndrome and deafness to increase her vocabulary from less than 20 words at the beginning of kindergarten to 228 words by the end of first grade. Six specific teaching strategies are outlined. (DB)

Interactive Drama for Education and Awareness in the Schools (IDEAS) is an artist-in-residency program designed for classroom use by deaf adolescents and their teachers in urban areas. Using dramatic role playing, sign language, and drama-based teaching methods, the program presents content and provokes discussion in three broad categories:…

Principles of "shared reading," in which a book is read by the teacher, then by teacher and students together, and then by the students independently, are discussed and applied to language acquisition and reading instruction of deaf and hearing impaired children. Students use the book to help them write and compare English and American…

This article describes "Hands On," a research project employing interactive computer/videodisc technology to teach English to deaf children with American Sign Language (ASL) skills. Elementary school students can read a story in printed English text, watch an ASL-signed version of the story, access a list of vocabulary words, or caption a story…