You can sign with your child to support early literacy, create more productive communication, and provide emotional security for your child all day long! Here’s a rhyme to sign using the signs from Nita’s Day: More Signs for Babies and Parents. Find this and other signing activities in the Nita’s Day Teacher/Librarian Guide.
This is the latest entry in my Little Hands Signing video series. See the whole series here and look for more videos to come!
When presenting storytime online, it’s best to choose picture books that have large, clear illustrations. Here are 25 of my favorites. Many of the authors and illustrators below have multiple books that would work well for online storytimes, but I only included one on the list as an exemplar. Look for other books by these authors and illustrators to round out your online storytime collection.
From Head to Toe by Eric Carle
Hair Love by Matthew A. Cherry and Vashti Harrison
Peek-a-Moo by Maria Torres Cimarusti and Stephanie Peterson
Maisy Makes Lemonade by Lucy Cousins
Peep and Egg: I’m Not Hatching by Laura Gehl and Joyce Wan
Little White Rabbit by Kevin Henkes
Sleepyheads by Sandra J. Howatt and Joyce Wan
I Just Want to Say Good Night by Rachel Isadora
I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen
I Kissed the Baby by Mary Murphy
How to Potty Train a Dinosaur by Alycia Pace
Whose Hands Are These?: A Community Helper Guessing Book by Miranda Paul and Luciana Navarro Powell
Not a Box by Antoinette Portis
Dinosaur vs. Bedtime by Bob Shea
She Leads: The Elephant Matriarch by June Smalls and Yumi Shimokawara
Little Blue Truck by Alice Schertle and Jill McElmurry
Mouse’s First Summer by Lauren Thompson and Buket Erdogan
Round is a Mooncake: A Book of Shapes by Roseanne Thong and Grace Lin
Little You by Richard Van Camp and Julie Flett
Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! by Mo Willems
Here’s NITA’S FIRST SIGNS, presented in American Sign Language, as part of #OperationASLStorytime and hosted by D-PAN.TV: The Sign Language Channel.
(English captioning coming soon for the signing impaired.)
There are SO many wonderful ASL story videos in this collection. Don’t miss my very favorite one: a retelling of PETE’S A PIZZA by William Steig in ASL, English voiceover, and dramatic pizza play.
With so many libraries closed to the public, it seems like everyone is offering online storytimes! I was asked to share my tips for keeping online storytimes interactive, so here you go!(This post has been cross-posted to StorytimeStuff.net)
Today I’m featuring a guest post from Dawn Babb Prochovnic, author of the excellent Story Time with Signs and Rhymes series (more about that here), about her upcoming releases and some exciting ways to use them in storytime!
Take it away, Dawn!
Hello Readers and Signers!
Kathy was kind enough to invite me to write a guest post on her blog to celebrate the upcoming release of my two latest picture books: Where Does a Cowgirl Go Potty? and Where Does a Pirate Go Potty? These new books are geared for young readers ages 3-8, but they will appeal to potty humorists of all ages.
Although these new books don’t incorporate sign language like my Story Time with Signs & Rhymes series, in my experience, most books can be enriched with sign language with just a little bit of advanced planning. For example, I recently developed a detailed sign language story time lesson plan for folks who are interested in some comic relief while toilet training. You can find that lesson plan here.
That said, these new books are more aptly categorized as potty-humor books, vs. potty-training books. Given that I’ve taught Sing and Sign workshops for the past twenty years, music and sign language are infused in just about everything I do. Over the past couple of months, I had the unique opportunity to work with two different musicians to create a children’s song for each of my new books. I couldn’t be more pleased with how they turned out.
For the Where Does a Cowgirl Go Potty? song, I worked with singer, songwriter and performing musician, Marshall Mitchell.
You can listen to our song here.
Kids of all ages love to sing and sign AND they love to laugh. Singing and signing along with the Where Does a Cowgirl Go Potty? song creates a perfect opportunity to incorporate all three of these fun activities.
I’ve included the song lyrics for Where Does a Cowgirl Go Potty? below, noting in bold some of the words you might consider signing along with. TIP: Don’t feel pressured to sign more words than you are comfortable with. It’s perfectly okay to start by signing only one or two key words, (for example, WHERE or POTTY) that repeat throughout the song. As your American Sign Language vocabulary (and your confidence) develops and grows, you can add more signs each time you sing. Rest assured, kids are likely to ask you to repeat the song again and again!
Here are the lyrics:
Lyrics by Marshall Mitchell and Dawn Prochovnic; Music written and performed by Marshall Mitchell
When she’s exploring nature…out west.
And her belly starts to feel somewhat distressed.
Out in the canyon or the brush…when she feels the need to rush.
Where does a cowgirl go potty?
When she’s out there on the wide and open range.
And her tummy starts to feel a little strange.
Because waiting is the worst…she thinks she just may burst.
Where does a cowgirl go potty?
Now she can’t go just anywhere…’Cause other folks go potty there.
She’ll find a place and then…it’s just beyond the next bend.
She knew it when she saw…then gave a big, “Yee-Haw!”
This is where a cowgirl goes potty.
Now, this is where a cowgirl goes potty.
Here are links to some reputable video-based resources for the bolded American Sign Language vocabulary , along with some brief reminder notes to help jog your memory as you are learning the signs:
As I mentioned above, I worked with singer, songwriter and performing musician, Marshall Mitchell for the Where Does a Cowgirl Go Potty? song. Marshall Mitchell is a frequent performer at schools and libraries around the country. He recently performed dozens of fun, educational shows for a variety of library summer reading programs. You can see snippets of his work here.
The story of how I met and developed a friendship with Marshall is here.
If you’re interested in bringing Marshall to your learning community, you can contact his booking agent here.
Thank you so much for inviting me to your blog, Kathy! I hope your readers have as much fun singing and signing along with this silly song as I had working on the lyrics and collaborating with Marshall Mitchell.
For those who can’t get enough of the song, keep an eye on my social media accounts about the release of the book trailer for Where Does A Cowgirl Go Potty? It’s in production now, and will be available to view, soon! Also, I’ll soon be making announcements about the song and book trailer for Where Does a Pirate Go Potty? ARRR!
Want an Advance Release copy of Where Does a Cowgirl Go Potty?Comment below, and/or share this post on social media, and tag @KathysQuill (FB and Twitter) and @DawnProchovnicAuthor (FB) / @DawnProchovnic (Twitter) for chances to win. I have two advanced copies along with classroom sets of bookmarks to share. I’ll give them away sometime next week!
Dawn Babb Prochovnic is the author of Where Does a Cowgirl Go Potty?; Where Does a Pirate Go Potty?; First Day Jitters, featured in the award-winning book, Oregon Reads Aloud; and 16 books in the Story Time with Signs & Rhymes Series, including one title that was selected as an Oregon Book Awards finalist. Dawn is a vocal advocate for school and public libraries and was honored as a 2015 Oregon Library Supporter of the Year by the Oregon Library Association. She is a frequent presenter at schools, libraries and educational conferences, and the founder of SmallTalk Learning, which provides American Sign Language and early literacy education. Dawn loves to travel and has visited thousands of potties across the Pacific Northwest and around the world. She lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband, two kids, two cats, and a feisty dog. Learn more at http://www.dawnprochovnic.com or find her on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.
I’m so excited to share with you this printable guide to using Nita’s First Signs in the classroom or storytime! Check it out for tips and tricks for sharing signs during the story, and following up with other fun ASL activities. Click here or on the picture below to download and print your own copy.
If you’re looking for resources to share American Sign Language with your students or storytime attendees, check out the Little Hands Signing Storytime & Craft Ideas board on Pinterest! It’s where I pin my favorite ideas from around the internet for sharing ASL with kids, and gather links to my own videos showcasing signing rhymes and songs. Check it out!
Published by Familius Press!
American Sign Language makes it easy to communicate with your child, and Nita makes it fun! Nita’s First Signs teaches ten essential signs for every parent and child to know, including eat, more, hungry, milk, all done, ball, play, love, please, and thank you. A simple story about Nita and her parents teaches each sign in context, and repetition throughout each story makes them easy to practice. Even better, each page slides open to reveal accurate instructions on how to make each sign, plus tabs on the side of each page make it simple to locate every sign for later reference.
Makes a great baby shower gift!
Order now from the Deaf Camps, Inc. Online Bookstore (autographed copies that support a great cause!) | amazon.com | barnesandnoble.com | indiebound.org or ask for it at your local library!
Deaf Ministry: Ministry Models for Expanding the Kingdom of God by Leo Yates Jr
This book is geared to those involved in Christian ministry who wish to create or expand ministry to Deaf people within their churches. Yates begins with an overview of deafness and Deaf Culture, with a particular emphasis on how both may impact a Deaf individual’s experiences of church. He then explores various models of Deaf ministry, ranging from the Deaf Church, where the dominant language is American Sign and the liturgy may be adapted for Deaf congregations, to Interpreted Ministry, where access is provided to hearing church services and certain activities via an ASL interpreter, to Hard-of-Hearing and Late-Deafened Ministry, which focuses on access for those who do not use ASL to communicate. Yates also offers information on Deaf-blind Ministry, Deaf Advocacy, Deaf Missions, and Disability Ministry (which may or may not include the Deaf community), as well as an excellent chapter discussing the idea of the Multicultural Church, which strives to integrate the needs of Hearing, Deaf, Hard-of-Hearing, Late-deafened, and Deaf-blind individuals, and brings both hearing and Deaf culture values into its services.
Yates gives an excellent overview of the different ways that Deaf individuals may be integrated into a church community, with lots of specific resources relating to provision of interpreters, accommodations checklists, and case studies showing how other churches have done it. This is a must-have resource for anyone looking to start a Christian Deaf ministry.
Want to learn some simple signs you can use to make serving Deaf patrons more successful? Check out these resources!
Practice Videos by Kathy MacMillan on YouTube
Manners Signs
Library Signs 1
Library Signs 2
Library Signs 3
Handouts to go with Practice Videos:
Library Signs (Vocabulary – Video 2)
Library Signs (Sentences – Videos 1 and 3)
Interested in more in-depth instruction on this topic? Check out my professional development eCourses from the American Library Association.
Stories by Hand with Kathy MacMillan 