This technique connected the ASL with part of the text as well as provided the children with opportunities to benefit from the predictability of the story. In the example above, fingerspelling was used as a way to draw the children's attention to the print in the book. This appears to be a natural way to guide children towards print awareness and later, word recognition. Taking Time A theme running through this discussion relates to the issue of time. Repeated storybook readings take time.
Teachers often feel pressure to move too quickly in order to meet the demands of the curriculum.
Yet, children need time to absorb, process and notice elements of books. They need to spend time looking at and reading books as well as to make connections between ASL and English print. Last, teachers need to give the children time to respond to the stories, to ask their questions. Once the children have asked questions, the time spent in answering the questions, expanding on the ideas or clearing up misconceptions could be some of the most valuable moments of the school day. Future research could provide us with useful information about the benefits of repeated storybook sharing with deaf children.