This webinar will be hosted via Zoom for national and international attendees on Sunday, January 5th, 2025 from 1:30 - 3:30 pm ET.

Speaker Disclosures:

Financial disclosures: Dr. Di Perri is receiving an honorarium from Language First for presenting.

Nonfinancial disclosures: Dr. Di Perri is a part time instructor for the Boston University Masters program in Deaf Education, which uses a bilingual philosophy for education of deaf students.

Content disclosure: Dr. Di Perri will be discussing the Bilingual Grammar Curriculum (BGC).

Course Description:

Dr. Di Perri will share effective and developmentally appropriate instructional techniques for writing instruction, tailored to support the unique learning trajectory of deaf students. By understanding why traditional writing approaches often fall short for DHH students, the webinar will focus on strategies to foster meaningful concept development and skill-building. A key highlight will be a discussion of a daily writing activity that empowers students with the belief that they can write anything they think or express. A standout technique, the “Handshape Holder”, will be explored as a tool that parallels the Alphabetic Principle taught to hearing children. This method helps students encode their thoughts when they lack knowledge of English words, fostering independent writing development. Dr. Di Perri will also present data from pre- and post-assessment measures across the country, highlighting the success of these techniques in improving student writing. Lastly, the webinar will cover the Bilingual Grammar Curriculum (BGC), a specially developed curriculum designed to meet the grammatical needs of DHH students, providing a comprehensive approach to both language and writing instruction.

Agenda

1:30-1:35: Introduction

1:35-1:50: Challenges with Traditional Writing Instruction

1:50-2:05: Handshape Holder technique (aka “Secret Code”)

2:05-2:15: Discussion of the Daily Quick Write activity

2:15-2:30: Evidence from pre/post data collection of DHH writers across the US

2:30-2:50 Onto Grammar Instruction- Creating a new design

2:50-3:15 The Bilingual Grammar Curriculum (BGC) components

3:15-3:30 Q & A

Learner Outcomes:

Participants will be able to:

1. Identify challenges in traditional writing instruction and explain how these challenges can negatively affect the writing skills of Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) students.

2. Describe the "Handshape Holder" technique and how it supports independent writing for DHH students

3. Describe the key components of the Bilingual Grammar Curriculum and how it supports effective grammar instruction for DHH students

Registration information:

This is a digital purchase only; no physical ticket is provided. A form will populate for you to complete your registration and then your purchase will be added to your cart in the upper right-hand corner of the screen. You will receive an email with instructions on how to participate as well as a Google Calendar invite with the Zoom link one week prior to the event. Registration ends one day prior to the webinar. All registrants will receive a copy of the presenter’s PowerPoint, the presentation recording. Please email info@language1st.org with any questions.