One thought leads to another

Tonight, after I read through the article about how to tell stories to kids, I closed my computer and went away... Later, I found my mind wandering back to the ASL classes I took 10 years ago in community college. Much of what the author called good storytelling technique is also true in an ASL environment. The Deaf community is tightly knit and rooted in personal story. Animation and expression is mandatory because many signs have more than one meaning depending on placement (where they are signed in proximity to the signer's body). Even Deaf people use intonation and a vocal range to express their ideas. Whenever a student would begin a story, I was captivated. I remember being a tad envious of my Deaf friend because I saw then that his language was richer in its many layers of delivery than my usually flat, simple, spoken words.