Story Telling

Watch the three stories posted here on the blog.  Consider the different visual modes of communication and the approaches to reading. 

1. Compare and contrast the different types of signing you see in each of the stories.  
2. How do you think this could impact students' comprehension of the story?
3. How do you think it could impact students' understanding of the printed text?

If you are not the first to post feel free to expand on the answers that others have shared.  Make sure your post and answers add new information to the comments.

Click, Clack, Moo - in SEE

ASL Storytelling - Is Your Mama a Llama?

The Very Hungry Caterpillar: Rochester School for the Deaf

This video has shed light to a lot of Thomas Gallaudet and Laurent Clerc. I never heard much of their story. I knew that Gallaudet University was named after Thomas Gallaudet by his son, but that’s the extent of the story that I know. Throughout my ASL classes my professors have told me about Alice, Laurent, and Thomas, but never really how their stories collided. I never knew that Thomas’s wife was deaf either.

1) I never realized how much Thomas accomplished before teaching Alice. I always knew he had done a bunch of little things, but I never put two and two together. I knew he had gone to school, but I didn’t know all the things that he had done before ever meeting Alice.

2) I didn’t know Laurent Clerc leaving France was a huge deal. In the video, it shows that when he was trying to leave, he was receiving a lot of backlash. I thought it was a one and done decision. I never knew he had doubts on coming to America. I also didn’t know that he only had a plan to be in America for three years, and ended up staying much longer.

3) I didn’t know Thomas Gallaudet had health issues. In the very beginning of the, they touched on Gallaudet having issues with his health. They touched on it every now and then throughout the video, but never quite explained beyond a cough.

America's Founders: Friends of the Deaf

This video offered minor details about the story of Laurent Clerc and Thomas Galluadet that made a major difference. Throughout my background in American Sign Langugae classes, I had always heard the story. It is one of the most popular stories- although, after watching this video, it may be one of the most misconstrued stories in Deaf history; I am curious to know why. After viewing this video I had grasped a much deeper understanding regarding their story, for example (1), I was completely unaware of Alice Cogswell and her family until this project, and then I learned even more details of her life after this video. Also, Thomas was a flighty fellow. He jumped from career to career, which is something I didn't know prior to this video. (2) He was a lawyer, a messenger, etc. and finally became an educator of the Deaf, which is what I thought he first began with. Although, being an educator is the career that he sticks with because, in my personal opinion, he felt that he was doing the most good for people in this profession. As he continued to grow he did as any people do, he created a family. (3) It is portrayed in the video that his wife was Deaf. Although, his son signed too. I am not completely sure if his wife was Deaf but it is absolutely something to research in more depth.

The video offered clarity and further developed my understanding of the story of Laurent Clerc and Thomas Gallaudet.