A great book to read to your students in the classroom or child at home is If you’ll be my Valentine by Cynthia Rylant. The text rhymes throughout the book, making it ideal for young readers, as it flows easily. On each page, a young boy asks different things he loves to be his valentine, including his teddy bear, sister, parents, and more. He tells them what he will do if they agree to be his valentine. The story will not only help with sign language, but also teach children how to be kind and affectionate this Valentine’s Day.

You will only need to learn and teach one sign for this story: Valentine. To do so, start with your hands open and palms facing toward you. Then, draw the outline of a heart starting at the top with your middle fingers. Every time you read the word valentine aloud, sign along as well. Teach the sign to your students or child, so they can sign with you when they hear the word. Valentine is repeated on each page, so this will keep them more engaged as they anticipate the next word and pay close attention to what you are saying.

Remember, you can find out more information about signing with your baby on my website. I have a free video where I reveal my #1 secret on how you can drastically reduce your baby’s crying and temper tantrums which you find at www.babysignlanguageonline.com.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

This entry was posted on Saturday, February 6th, 2010 at 6:25 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.