Discussion #4 Culture Awareness: ABC stories!

CULTURAL INFORMATION: ABC AND NUMBER STORIES
A treasured part of the heritage of the Deaf Community is their language, ASL. It is, as with any culture, an important part of their identity. One of the fun and special traditions enjoyed and shared by the Deaf Community is signing stories using Number or Alphabet hand shapes. In these stories, various hand shapes do not stand for the numbers and letters themselves, but are used as signs or gestures to convey concepts. They are signed in alphabetical or numerical order, and used in amazing ways to sign or act out a story.

I want you to watch these ABC stories that I have chosen for you. The first story that I have selected shows how each letter is used to develop the story and you can see on the screen the letter as the signer uses it. Keep in mind these handshapes represent things, not the letters! The other two clips you must follow on your own. On Monday I am going to ask you to create your own ABC story! Story telling is a huge part of the culture and I wish to expose you to the many ways story telling is used. This will also allow you to learn how to better incorporate body langauge, mime, and facial expressions into your signing which are all important in your development of learning ASL. Not only that, you will be able to participate in a special fun tradition shared by Deaf people.

After you have viewed the videoclips, I want you to discuss these amazing stories with your ASL sisters and brothers (classmates). What did you think of them? What was easy for you to understand? Difficult? What fascinated you? What was inspiring? What can you compare this to in English?

Now think about traditions in your own families (think about your hertiage, culture, religon etc.)that are important to you and why. Also, what traditions are important to the American Culture? Compare and Contrast this to ABC stories in Deaf Culture.

Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qj1MQhXfVJg&feature=related


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Iv8a299bQE&feature=PlayList&p=91196F2C6E7FD521&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZl9k3h0Glo&feature=related

Discussion #3: Programs Made For Children

Take a moment and think about all the programs you watched as a child. Weren't they great!? Ahh those were the days. Don't we have fond memories of the days of Cookie Monster shoving cookies into his mouth, counting with the Count, and of course who could forget Elmo's pet fish Dorthy and singing little jingles to the tune of "Jingle Bells"? Or wasn't it fun to figure out all the clues in our handy dandy notebooks? And Barney, who could every forget that lovable, yet somewhat annoying dinosaur that taught us to play nice and always share through great songs and dance! Okay, come back to the present! I want you to specifically, think about all the programs that were educational based (Sesame Street, Magic School Bus, Blue's Clues, Liberty Kids, Between the Lions, Arthur, Wishbone, Clifford, Barney, just to name a few!) How did they teach you? What did they teach you? Why did you enjoy them? Why did you (or still do!) want character pj's?

Now how many programs do you know about that were created specifically for Deaf children? Think of any? I have selected two shows that I would like you to watch. The first one is "Signing Time" that can be found on PBS in the mornings and is very popular program. The second one is called, "DeafPlanet" this can be found on the web at http://www.deafplanet.com/en/deafplanet/
Please blog about how beneficial you found these programs to be for Deaf children. What did you find beneficial, entertaining, fun, educational, and cultural? Which one do you think is best suited for Deaf children and why? What audience did these programs have in mind? I have included what I would like you to watch below but feel free to explore the DeafPlanet Website and view Signing Time on PBS for more information. Feel Free to share ANY thoughts, comments and questions with your fellow students other than what I asked you to discuss.

I would like you to watch "Caterpillar Dreams" on Signing Time at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGF3iC0o_1s
I would like you to watch "What Goes Up" on DeafPlanet at
http://www.deafplanet.com/en/deafplanet/
To get to this show you must click Shows and then select "What Goes Up"

Discussion #2: Enable

Deaf people and sign language are sometimes displayed by the media. For this blog posting, I want you to view how the media protrays Deaf people. I have selected three commericals. These commericals all use sign language as their primary communication method. I want you to watch there commercials and think about what message they are sending about Deaf Culture and Deaf people. Do you feel these commericals show the strengths of Deaf people and their language? Who were these commercials for? Did they reach both the hearing world and deaf world? Which commerical do you think protrayed the best image of Deaf people and their culture? Which do you think protrayed the worst? Support your responses. Watch the Pepsi commercial "Bob's House", the Chinese Pantene Commercial and the Thailand Toothpaste commerical (located on the youtube links to the right). For the Thailand Commerical view http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeAhnagJdcA and for the Chinese Pantene Commerical view http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opOQlA0LVqo Which of these commercials do you feel are based on Deaf folklore. In Deaf folklore being deaf allows the person to triumph or succeed. As a result of their deafness they are able to overcome an obstacle. How does this commercial portray that being Deaf allows triumph rather than defeat?

Discussion: Audism

Have you ever wondered why a Deaf person wouldn't want to hear? Have you thought, given the opportunity, they should do whatever they can to become hearing? Did you know that this is called "audism," and is considered a form of discrimination? Audism can be placed with sexism and racism, among others. Watch the PBS clip entitled, "Audism" (use "Through Deaf Eyes" web link provided on blog, after accessing that link, click on "video clips." It is the last clip on the video clips list). What can you do to change your thinking and not engage in audism? Most importantly, now that you are aware, how can you educate others about audism?

Discussion: Deaf Art

Read this quote a couple of times and reflect on what the author's message is. After you ponder on what the author's message is, think about what the quote means to you. Express your thoughts and ideas.

Blog Discussion #1-Music Videos with ASL Translations

For this blog discussion, listen to the songs, "Waiting for the World to Change" by John Mayer and "Beautiful" by Christina Aguilera. Think about your feeling of the message being sent. Now watch and listen to the music videos, Beautiful and Waiting for the World to Change, by Deaf Performing Artist Network. ("Waiting for the World to Change" can be accessed directly on the right through the YouTube link.  To access "Beautiful," you will need to click on the D-Pan weblink to view it through their homepage.) As you watch these videos look for the cultural message that the signers and the Deaf community are trying to portray. Why do you think that this song was selected to be sign language interpreted? After watching the interpretation, how has the song message changed for you? What other culture could use this song to send their message to the majority and why?