A Fun way to learn sign language St Patty's Style! and Sign: LUCK! Feel LUCKY?

With this new development of TeachersPayingTeacher (well, new to me), I decided to provide monthly thematic packets on sign language and as much as possible throw in freebies because one: who doesn't love freebies, but two (and most importantly): I have not forgotten my original mission of this site - which was to share my passion for ASL (I talked about this here). But ... Signing Simon does cost money so I do have to charge a little something for the larger packets. 

Sneak peak of the freebie discussed!

Recently I made a free Shamrock ABC flashcard/game packet which you can find more info (e.g. to get it on Google Docs and TPT) here And more recently I made a full St Patty's ASL packet with coloring pages, SINGO (BINGO), and other cool stuff! (Click here). 

Sign: LUCK! Say 'hi' Signing Simon! You're sure coming a long way :)

Feeling LUCKY? Enter our app giveaway ending tonight!! Low entry :) better odds :)

Click here!

My Smart Hands App Giveaway extended!

Since I went MIA (read "SURPRISE" blog post) on everyone during the last few days of the giveaway, I saved one of the codes for the free app for an extension!

Here's the original review (click here)

To Enter: comment below (that's it!) by the end of Monday 4th.

Good luck!

App Review & Giveaway: My Smart Hands Baby Sign Dictionary

I recently reviewed another Sign Language app ...

My Smart Hands Baby Sign Dictionary

This app was well organized into categories as well as alphabetized (and of course there's a 'search' feature so you do not have to scroll through the entire list). 

Other Features:

My Favorites List: The 'Favorites' list allows you to keep a list you'd like to focus on or have easy access to for a later date. It's good for those signs you can never remember!

Signs: To learn a sign, you simply click on the word you would like to learn, and a new screen pops up with Laura signing it. First without talking, followed immediately with the verbal instruction of how to produce the sign. This is the nice feature to walk you through any necessary steps to help you produce the sign.

Categories: There are over 15 categories (e.g. actions, animals, feelings, numbers, & foods) that allow you to learn categorically if that's what you are aiming for (e.g. 5 food items).

Quizes: The feature I loved the most was the quiz feature. The quizzes could be used for young children and others learning sign language. It lets you customize how many questions you want in your quiz and how many choices per question you see. It also gives you the great feature of using your 'favorites' list we talked about above.

                                               

You can also watch Laura sign the question again if need be. It provides you the results of how many you got right as well. 

Laura Berg, the owner, understands and believes in the idea of using actual American Sign Language -- though it's confusing to know with the title perhaps of 'Baby Sign Dictionary'. But I think the thought process is simply saying the signs in this dictionary are more geared to young learners. 

Years ago she enjoyed teaching her own children sign language when their were very little and now gets to share that joy with others. She was excited to build the great curriculum found in her My Smart Hands programs utilizing ASL. But we'll share that for another day. For more information about Laura and her awesome program, check her out at My Smart Hands.

She has other great apps as well such as ...

Sound like something you may be interested in? Of course! So ... I've partnered up with Laura for a great giveaway for you guys (for the iPhone app version). I am giving away THREE copies of the Baby Sign Dictionary! Enter below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Need a resource?
American Sign Language Dictionary-Flexi (3rd Edition, Revised)

"ASL Baby Sign" iPad App review & giveaway

Sign Language App Review & Giveway!

"ASL Baby Sign"

I had the opportunity of reviewing a great app!

"ASL Baby Sign" application on the iPad is definitely under estimated by being called “ASL Baby Sign.” This app clearly has the capabilities of helping educators, parents, and other individuals desiring to learn sign language. "ASL Baby Sign" has awesome features unexpected in an ASL app – especially named “ASL Baby Sign.”

What I expected:

• Simple basic signs that can be taught to an infant, toddler, and young child.
• Basic flashcards child-friendly.

What I saw:

• An experienced interpreter signing 170+ signs
• Cute cartoons used
• The word presented with the sign and audio

What I didn’t expected:

• The awesome feature to edit the words on the screen (not that you want to edit them too much – I found the signs quite reliable but perhaps you wanted to put a capital letter versus a lower case or make it say “D for dog”).
• The ability to record your own voice so the person using the app hears that familiarity.
•  The ability to add pictures to the photo gallery for potentially better recognition of the sign (how cool!)
•  All this hard work you put into it can of course be saved (bonus) for future uses.
• The low price of $1.99

-       

I was highly impressed. My expectations clearly were not in the same mind set as this app. I was expecting something strictly young child friendly and that’s it but I guess the therapist and educator in me saw this app having so much more potential than it’s title leads it to believe.

So with that being said, its negative:

•    The title!

Why?

It clearly doesn’t portray all the great things this ASL app can do with a title like “ASL Baby Sign.” So many of the apps geared towards babies and sign language are so basic. This was not! 

I highly recommend this app for parents and educators. If you didn't previously check out our ASL Dictionary app review (from the same company, AppSavers), click here!

Here you go! Good luck to the FIVE lucky winners of this great ASL Baby Sign app redemption code!! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

You can check them out on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ASLdictionary

Giving Thanks Giveaway Wednesday and Thanksgiving Thursday

Today's the 3rd day of our Week of Thanks. Being the nation's busiest travel day I thought it would be best to combine the two giveaways (today and tomorrow) so both end Friday night (give one extra day to participate!) due to the holiday.  

We've heard some great things people are thankful for and awesome traditions for this blessed holiday.
Today I'd just like to say I'm thankful for you - my reader, those with the same passion for sign language for whatever the reason. Thank YOU, truly Thank you!

My mini-vacation has started for this holiday. I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!

TWO WINNERS will be selected!! 

(one for the stuff on the Left, 

one for the stuff on the Right!)

How to enter: 

1. Go to our Facebook page (and like us)

2. Under this thread on Facebook, simply write "Happy Thanksgiving".

3. You will automatically be entered into our Wednesday and Thursday giveaway starting 9pm EST 11/21/12 and ending 11pm EST 11/23/12.

4. The first winner will receive the Sign With Your Baby book by Joseph Garcia AND the Signing Time Story Time DVD. The 2nd winner will receive the Super Baby Book, "more" bib, set of 3: 100 signs for parents, emergencies, and traveling, AND the cute "I love you" ASL snowman ornament.

If you don't win, don't worry - these same products might be included in our sales next week or you might win something else tomorrow!

The winner will be announced here and on Facebook and will have 24 hours to email us their address for the winning products to be shipped.

Thank you for participating in our great Give Thanks Giveaway!

Tuesday's Giving Thanks - Sign language Giveaway

Today's day 2 of Week of Thanks.

Tuesday: I am thankful for my job. I am quick to realize no job is perfect but after all the recent devastation that has ran havoc through New Jersey the past couple weeks with Hurricane Sandy .. I found myself bummed that my husband was working so many hours as a result of the hurricane ... he is never home. Then I realized, I'm glad we both have stable jobs. There are so many people who may be struggling to find that job they don't mind going to, perhaps even enjoy, and most importantly, pay the bills!

Enough about what I'm thankful for - today's thing I want to hear, your favorite tradition during this weekend's festivities.  Me - it was when I was growing up & waking up to get ready to watch the parade on tv with cinnamon buns .. later in the parade watching, I would start putting up the window stickies for Christmas!

Today's Giving Thanks Sign Language giveaway is ...
Free Baby Signing Time FlashCard #1 & How-To Parent Guide

 

How to enter: 

1. Go to our Facebook page

2. Like us on Facebook

3. Under this thread on Facebook, tell us what your favorite Thanksgiving tradition is.

4. You will automatically be entered into our giveaway starting 11am EST 11/20/12 and ending 11pm EST 11/20/12.

If you don't win, don't worry - these same products might be included in our sales next week or you might win something else tomorrow!

The winner will be announced here and on Facebook and will have 24 hours to email us their address for the winning products to be shipped.

Congrats to Tina for winning Monday's giveaway. Go to our Facebook page for more info.

Monday's Giving Thanks - sign language giveaway

So this week I decided to give away some of my favorite sign language products during what I call the Week of Thanks.

Monday: I am thankful for my family... I know - cliche, right? My family has kept me strong during these crazy times, working full-time, having a 1 1/2 year old run around, finishing up my doctorate... I even have the dish fairy come over periodically to help me with dishes! (a.k.a my mother).  So Thank you to my family!

Today's free sign language products are:

Signing Time Board Book #2: PlayTime Signs
100 Signs for Emergencies (great small quick resource!)

How to enter: 

1. Go to our Facebook page
2. Like us on Facebook
3. Under this thread on Facebook, tell us what you are thankful for this holiday season.
4. You will automatically be entered into our giveaway starting 3pm EST 11/19/12 and ending 11pm EST 11/19/12.
If you don't win, don't worry - these same products might be included in our sales next week or you might win something else tomorrow!
The winner will be announced here and on Facebook and will have 24 hours to email us their address for the winning products to be shipped.

Stay tuned for our flashcard giveaway, parent guides, DVDs, and MORE!

Don't forget to ...

I is for IMPORTANT - IMPORTANT to remember the ASL Dictionary app giveaway!

I is for IMPORTANT

IMPORTANT for it's IMPORTANT to not forget our great app review/giveaway finishing tonight!

Click here!

ASL Dictionary App Review & Giveaway!

I work with so many students this year that I sign with daily. I am always seeking new resources for myself, the educational staff members working with the students, the students themselves, and even their parents. I always look for reliable dictionaries because my biggest pet peeve is entering a classroom seeing outdated or inaccurate resources that the students and/or teacher are relying on!

I found this app a while back and I love it! I now have it to share with you.
This app is for both the iPhone ($3.99) and iPad ($6.99)

The features on the iPhone app make it well worth it! This has become more than just an useful dictionary! Besides for the 5,200 + words, it's has ...

• common phrases & 450 + idioms
• the alphabet
• numbers
• dates, months, & years
• money

Now the iPad app does have more features, such as creating favorite lists (this could be great for those words you use often, perhaps forget often, or the week's vocabulary list ... there's tons of things you could do with this feature!), but the biggest difference to me is the ability to use the app without Wifi or 3G internet around. I'm not always able to get on the Wifi at the several schools that I travel to so this is a burden for me when on my phone using the app. 

A feature that I love is the developers' understanding and acknowledgement of multiple meaning words (e.g. LIKE). When you see the options for 'like,' you will see "Like (pleasing)" and "Like (similar)". There's so many times I have to teach that ASL does not have a word-to-word correlation with English and therefore the meaning of the sign is more important than the orthographic symbol (a.k.a the written word).

When you click the word, it reminds you which 'like' you are watching the sign production for (pleasing vs. similar). The ASL videos have great features such as the 'loop' to play again and again, 'replay' and 'slow'.

Appsavers.com and Software Studios, LLC have some other great app options for you too such as ...

• ASL Baby Signs

• ASL Emergency Signs

Ok folks, here's the best part, I  get to give FIVE iPhone ASL Dictionary apps away free to you! (They work on iPad too)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

SHOP - love the SHOP!

Today's sign is SHOP! (as in the noun)

We have a great giveaway going on that we mentioned last week at Dragonflies and Ladybugs. It's my favorite children's consignment boutique locally. But the great thing is - they ship nationwide. So now I can share my love for this SHOP with my friends nationwide.


So head to the SHOP and see what I'm talking about! First don't forget to participate in our contest!


The sign SHOP is the sign for STORE as well. Remember it's the noun, not verb (meaning it's not 'to shop' like buy, but to go to the SHOP). These things aren't the same ;)


Oh the link in case you forgot! http://hearmyhandsasl.blogspot.com/2012/03/25-gift-certificate-to-dragonflies-and.html

It's a two-part sign. STORE 

The fingertips swing forward and back a couple times. The thumbs are touching the fingers as if you were holding a piece of paper.

sign: RUN, Go Now RUN! Contest Almost Over!

RUN! Don't walk, RUN!  

SwankyBaby's contest over tomorrow night! HearMyHands is giving away the book Sign with Your Baby by Joseph Garcia and Baby Signing Time Volume 1 DVD!


Ok, so the sign RUN - it's truly the verb sign :)! So for all you teachers and parents out there, yes, you can use it to say "RUN" or "Stop RUNNING!" or "NO RUNNING in the hallways" (remember we learned NO already - psst check the old posts!) or when I'm in therapy teaching young kiddos to expand their language I might take their dolls or figurines and make them RUN and say RUN RUN RUN.

Sign: RUN
compliments of Super Duper Inc.
Disclaimer: I do not promote all Super Duper Inc sign language
products. You will hear more about me and my thoughts
on Super Duper Inc signing products soon in our
product review page.

Sign Language Giveaway!

Check out our first give away of the year at SwankyBaby! You can also see my guest blog post discussing the benefits of signing with your children. :)!


These are the two things we are giving away - go check out SwankyBaby for all the details!