Universal Design for Learning

Hello everyone,

First off, I couldn't figure out how to link my book to my blog, so...
When you are in book builder, go to Public Library Books and type in "Learning Vowels in American Sign Language" and my book should come up!

Based on my understandings of UDL, I would say my book qualifies as a Universal Design for Learning.  I chose to do a book on sign language because I find the topic to be fascinating.  I love learning new words and how to make sentences, and I wanted to share this passion with others.  I figured doing the whole alphabet may be a bit long, so I chose to just do the vowels.  For those of you who enjoy it, I encourage you to learn the rest of the alphabet! When creating my book I was trying to think of ways to keep students engaged as well as making it universal.  The book on "Designing for Student Engagement and Comprehension" was a big help.  First, I created a title page with a picture of the entire alphabet, for those who are interested in learning more after reading the book.  I then explained how when signing, your palm should actually face towards the person you are talking to. The pictures are backward in order to show you how to make the handshape.  I purposely put a couple words in red lettering to help readers remember the important parts.  When making the actual pages of the book I did several things.  I first put a picture of each vowel handshake on it's own page. This is great for visual learners in general, but is also necessary in order to learn how to sign each vowel.  Under each picture I told what vowel was being shown in the picture.  I used different color fonts to keep the readers attention, but made sure they were visible on the page. I also made sure I didn't have any hanging words which can draw the readers attention away. On each page, I also used a helper with audio for people that learn best in hearing what they see. I also tried adding questions to each page to keep the reader involved.  You can tell by the questions that I made this book for younger students; however, it may be helpful to anyone who is trying to learn sign. By using audio, pictures, and sentences, I think my book qualifies for Universal Design for Learning.

I hope you all enjoyed my book, and best of luck with signing!