Reading and Deaf Children

Reading and Deaf Children 

Signer: Dr. Ju-Lee A. Wolsey 

Maybe your Deaf child is struggling to read, not motivated to read, or
need to develop reading comprehension skills?

Two children's writers and former teachers developed 12 short stories that describe
the life cycle of a family of great egrets.  

Each story has a drawing, English sentences, and is translated in ASL.

Teachers and parents can encourage Deaf children to read, sign, finger spell, and
​practice writing words and sentences.

I hope you enjoy watching and reading 12 short stories!

Thank you!


Overview of 12 Short Stories:
The Great Egret Family on Ruby Lake is a set of 12 stories, which describe the life cycle of a family of great egrets.  These stories are based on three years of observations at Shangri-La Botanical gardens in Orange and High Island, Texas, conversations with biologists, and research about authentic behaviors of wading birds.  These nonfiction science stories are written for developing bilinguals in ASL and English who are 5 to 8 year old, but also include older struggling readers.  Each story consists of about 10 to 12 sentences and are illustrated by Jan Kellogg.  Each story describes one facet of the great egret’s life.  The stories follow events as mating, nest building, feeding, hatching of chicks, flying, becoming fledglings, and leaving the nest.  Each story stands alone but also forms a collective thematic whole. 

About the Authors:
The authors, Jean F. Andrews, Ph.D. and Jana M. Mason, Ph.D., are children’s writers, and former reading teachers and literacy researchers.  Jan Kellogg is an experienced children’s illustrator. The ASL and English Bilingual Literacy Lessons are written by Jean F. Andrews, Ph.D. and the speech and listening skills lessons are written by speech-language-pathologist Monica Harn, Ph.D. and audiologist Ashley Dockens, Ph.D., Au.D.
For more information, contact: Jean F. Andrews -- jean.andrews@lamar.edu

How to View Each Story on PowerPoint:

  • The main page with the number and title of the story will show the whole story in ASL.
  • To view individual sentences in English text and ASL, go to the next page.
  • Move the cursor to the picture of the signer(s) and you will see an arrow on the bottom left corner to view the video signing in ASL.
  • To go to the next page, use the arrow at the bottom left corner below the sentence.

Access the PDF of all stories. Access a page with the PPT for each story.