Games using sign language in your classroom

When my daughter was in kindergarten, I asked if I could help out in her classroom.  Her teacher was amazing, she taught the kids Spanish words to go along with the words she was already teaching in class.  Words like red, blue, family, grandma, etc.  I asked her if I could also teach the students sign language to go along with color and family words.  She thought it was an awesome idea!  So that started my 4 year run of teaching sign language at my childrens' school!  I loved it! 

Not only did I teach color and family words, but I branched out into animals.  Of course kids love animals.  I would sign a word and they would have to crawl around the classroom and walk, sound, and/move like the animal I was signing did.  It was a hit.  I also used these same methods at the local Montessori School for 2 years.  I'm not sure how old the kids would have to get before they would dislike mooing like a cow, or snorting like a deer with hands on their heads in the shape of horns....but it's worth a try.  If nothing else, it would be a really fun brain-break for kids after or even before a big test.

This website can give you some signs you can use in a variety of ways.  It has different units with colors, family members, and today/tomorrow/yesterday.
http://www.lifeprint.com/asl101/pages-signs/ or http://www.lifeprint.com/dictionary.htm

Some quick signs for you today:

deer: make both your hands into the number 5.  Put them on top of your head like deer antlers.  There you have it!  I would have the kids say "snort, snort", to sound like big, tough bucks.

dog: I do this in a couple of different ways, take your open hand and pat your thigh like you are calling a dog to come to you.  Or you can pat your thigh, then snap your finger.  Either way is fine.

cow: Make the letter "y" and bring it up to your head like you are making a horn on a cow.  Now twist it up and down.  You can even moo if you want!

You can have a lot of fun with animal signs, remember just try it.  Kids in 5th grade can learn a couple signs everyday and in fact, may look forward to your brain-breaks before big tests.

I found this cool download site that could be useful in a classroom.  Check it out, as it has many downloads to change pdf's to sign language to create communication boards, or BINGO.

http://www.freevector.com/sign-language-vector/