CONTACT: Dianna Cleveland
27702 Crown Valley Ste D-4 #165
Ladera Ranch, CA 92694
(800) 375-2926 Ext. 701
Email: dcleveland@playbooks.com
Playbooks(r) Publishes Unique Reader's Theater Story Teaching Sign Language
Ladera Ranch, CA - (December 2, 2010) – Playbooks® Reader’s Theater company announces today the publication of its new, unique reader’s theater story which teaches a basic introduction to sign language that students can actually use to communicate with deaf people they may meet. Based on a true story from the author’s childhood, the book also provides a vital lesson about respecting those who have differences, helping them feel comfortable and welcomed in social settings, and reaching across communication and other barriers to make way for friendships.
As Send Me a Sign opens, Faith approaches a new student on the first day of school. When she gets no response, she thinks she is being ignored, but as she soon finds out, Shanti is actually deaf, and is in the same class as Faith! Daily lessons in sign language and Miss Jennifer’s inspiring art projects launch a powerful friendship, as well as class-wide awareness on student diversity and how to make friends with the deaf. Readers will learn a series of words in sign language with instructional pictures throughout the story, and will also learn a poem at the end of the story teaching complete phrases in sign language they would wish to say to a deaf person they meet. The script includes six character reading roles with each targeting a specific reading ability level for students in Grades 3-6.
Reader’s theater is an approved form of “Repeated Guided Oral Reading,” a highly effective teaching method designed to improve reading fluency. The method works best when students read the same text four separate times, but keeping students’ attention for that long can be a difficult task! Not with reader’s theater as it truly engages students as they bring a story to life by reading a character role aloud with different creative expression each time. With the Playbooks® patented format, students each read a role fitted to his or her own reading level, yet can read the same story together with higher or lower level readers. Higher level readers effectively model fluent reading for less fluent readers, while lower level readers, who often have a better aptitude for dramatic expression, help other students come out of their shells and into the spotlight! Supported by scientific research, reader’s theater has quickly grown in popularity in schools and After School programs as a valuable tool that effectively improves a child’s reading skills and confidence while also encouraging a life long love of reading.
About the Author
Jennifer Magee is the founder of the Express Yourself Baby company (www.expressyourselfbaby.com). Jennifer started teaching sign language to her three hearing daughters when they were each about three months old. As an educator, an interpreter, and an entrepreneur, she was so amazed at the positive results that she decided to create sign language DVDs and other educational learning materials to share with other parents, teachers, and anyone interested in learning a second language. Express Yourself Baby’s two-part DVD, “Look Who’s Signing,” recently won the Dr. Toy’s Best Picks New Products award for 2009. Jennifer feels extremely fortunate to be part of her children’s lives on a daily basis watching them learn, grow and express themselves. Her love for her family, and her childhood friend who is deaf, inspired her to create products that promote communication, education, and self-expression.
About Playbooks® Reader’s Theater Company
Playbooks® Reader’s Theater company is located in Ladera Ranch, CA and is the leading supplier of reader’s theater scripts and classroom story sets to schools and families across the country. For more information, please call 1-800-375-2926 ext 701 or visit www.playbooks.com. written at multiple reading levels. Information about Playbooks, Inc. and reader’s theater titles can be found at www.playbooks.com or by calling 1-800-375-2926.
