Instructional Strategies to Enhance Literacy Outcomes Through Fingerspelling

We have developed an evidence based intervention called Fingerspelling Our Way to Reading, that is specifically designed for deaf and hard of hearing students from kindergarten through second grade.  Fingerspelling Our Way to Reading is a literacy program that supplements a school’s literacy curriculum.  There are two components to this program:

  • The 3-day per week Fingerspelling program enhances phonological awareness of fingerspelled words, which increases expressive and receptive fingerspelling skills and identification of printed words.
  • The complementary 2-day per week Reading Comprehension program provides additional reading opportunities using fingerspelling words in sentences and stories that are developed through each unit.

Fingerspelling

Each level is divided into 12 units with each unit consisting of six 25-minute lessons. The first two lessons are focused on expressive and receptive fingerspelling and fingerspelling phonological awareness. Starting on the third lesson, fingerspelling of the target words is linked to print and analysis of the printed word. The final two lessons are focused on writing the target words and reading the target words in isolation and in connected text.