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HANDS-ON LEARNING
Onekama Kindergarten
Students Learn Sign Language
“Every class of students,” says
Onekama Kindergarten teacher James Kudlack, “provides a new set of
opportunities.”
This school year, the special
experiences of two Onekama School students provided a unique learning
opportunity for Kudlack’s class. Kindergarten student Hailey Sturgeon is
hearing-impaired. Onekama High School senior Rubee McCaslin has a
passion for sign language. Together, these two students have exposed
this year’s Kindergarten class to a whole new way of communicating.
Twice a week for the entire school year, Rubee McCaslin comes to the
Kindergarten classroom and teaches the students sign language. With each
lesson, she teaches a new set of signs related to a particular concept.
Students are invited to the front of the classroom in groups of two to
three. McCaslin first teaches a sign to these students. They, in turn,
perform the sign for the whole class. Students try to guess what the
sign means, and McCaslin then has the class perform the sign together.
The students’ learning of sign language is reinforced by Kudlack as well
as by the classroom aide. Additionally, finger signs are posted
throughout the classroom, showing students the finger positions for
objects around the room, such as “door,” “bathroom,” “water fountain,”
“sink” and other terms.
McCaslin’s grandfather is deaf, so she first became interested in sign
language at a very young age. When she reached high school, the Onekama
school counselor helped to enroll McCaslin in an online course in
American Sign Language. Through her studies, she quickly gained
proficiency in sign language.
This school year, through a partnership between Onekama High School and
the Manistee ISD, McCaslin is earning course credit through an
independent study which includes weekly sessions with Hailey and her
classmates. McCaslin’s supervising teacher is Adelle Falan.
“I think what I enjoy most about working with the children is that it
gives them a chance to learn how to communicate, how to speak with
people who do not have the ability to hear,” said McCaslin. “My plan for
the future is to continue my education in sign language at NMC and
eventually become an interpreter for the deaf.”
“It is fun learning sign language,” said Kindergarten student Sarah
Johnson. “I can use sign language to talk to people who can’t hear the
same way I do.”
“Did you know that things have two names?” asked Kindergartener Libby
McCarthy. “They have one name that you spell with letters and one name
that you say with your hands.”
Learning doesn’t get more hands-on, or meaningful, than this. |
