Michelle Francis, a teacher in Layton, Utah, posted this video  to the Signing Time Facebook page the other day and asked if we recognized the song her students were singing – and signing – in the video. Do you recognize it? (Hint: It’s a really “silly” song!)

Michelle is making a difference in her students lives with the help of DonorsChoose.org, an online charity that helps teachers get donations for specific classroom resources. She asked for – and got – an amazing collection of Signing Time materials, including most of the Series 1 DVDs, all of the Series 2 DVDs, the Practice Time DVDs and get this, the Classroom Edition, too!

Here’s the letter that Michelle sent to her donors after she received the Classroom Edition:

This project was my dream project. In the weeks since I’ve received the Signing Time Classroom Edition and the other movies, I have been impressed with how much the 125 students in 2nd grade are able to remember from week to week. When I come into their classroom, they know they are going to be learning something fun.
I watched as one little boy was signing to another little boy across the lunchroom to see if he had remembered a ball for recess. Instead of resorting to yelling, they used their newly taught signs to ask questions. The games, activities, and flash cards are so helpful in helping my students learn and remember the signs.

So far this year, we’ve learned about eating, drinking, and basic food. We’ve also learned fruits and vegetables. The goal is to have them learn emotions, colors, days of the week, family words, school words, and a lot more. At the rate they are learning, we will have time to get through all of these.

Thank you, I honestly was struggling to come up with fun, meaningful activities to support their learning in sign language.

With gratitude,
Mrs. F.

We are sending Michelle a $25 SigningTime.com gift card to thank her for making a difference with Signing Time. We invite you to share your Making a Difference story. If we publish your story, we’ll send you a gift card, too!

P.S. Did you guess the song? It’s the Silly Pizza Song from Vol. 3 DVD: Everyday Signs!

This idea is SO much FUN, we just HAD to share it with you:

We DVR certain shows on Nick Jr. for our daughter. One day the TV was still on after the show and we heard the song, “In a House” and started dancing to it. We played it over and over. She loved it! So I bought the song online for $0.99 and created a slide show of our family. I put the video on my USB drive so I can show it to her on our car DVD player. It’s a special treat for her. - Jocelyn

Watch Jocelyn’s Slide Show:

MAKE YOUR OWN SHOW and WIN!!

1. Choose a Signing Time song (from a CD, iTunes, Amazon, Napster or Rhapsody)
2. Make your own slide show with family photos
3. Upload video to Facebook, YouTube or other site
4. Email the video link, name, address & phone number to contest@signingtime.com by 2/28
5. Get a second entry when you post your video on the Signing Time Facebook Fan Page

Randomly-selected winner will receive:

It’s Tuesday… here’s your sign of the week!

This Week’s Featured Sign: All Done/Finished

Watch the Video (Click the Image Below to Play) Free QuickTime Player required

Download the Flashcard (click on the image. The file contains a few color and black-and-white options. Print according to your needs.)

This week’s sign comes from: Baby Signing Time Vol. 1 – It’s Baby Signing Time

Baby’s first step into signing! The Baby Signing Time Series combines clever songs, animation, and real signing babies – all age two and under – to make signing easy and fun. This is the first DVD in the Baby Signing Time series.

Buy Now

It’s Tuesday… here’s your sign of the week!

This Week’s Featured Sign: Dog

Watch the Video (Click the Image Below to Play) Free QuickTime Player required

Download the Flashcard (click on the image. Print in color or black-and-white and adjust the print size according to your needs.)

Signing Time Volume 1 – My First Signs

The very first DVD in the Signing Time Series! From their magical animated treehouse, Alex (age 3), his cousin Leah (age 4) who is deaf, and host Rachel Coleman (Leah’s mom) teach beginning American Sign Language (ASL) signs with your child in a fun and playful way.

One review from teechrmom7 reads: Volume 1 is still a favorite in my classroom even after the kids have seen it dozens of times. One student with Down Syndrome has been watching it for over 4 years and always picks this one when he gets to choose. My students love to sign and sing along with Rachel, Alex and Leah.

Earlier this month, we announced a Facebook Giveaway contest for a FREE  Flash Cards Set 4-6.

Almost 100 of you entered the contest by “Liking” this new product. The stories and comments that you added to our blog were incredibly fun to read and downright inspirational, too!

And our lucky winner is…

Bari Hyatton
06 Jan 2011 We have been signing with our 17 month old deaf daughter since birth and have relied on the Signing Time videos and products to help teach her sign language. She has close to a 100 word vocabulary now and communicates much more than her hearing peers do!

Congratulations, Bari! To claim your prize, please email your name, mailing address and phone number to leeann@signingtime.com.

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Didn’t win? No worries! You can still save 15% with promo code flash15
Promo code expires January 31st