Explore and Play: No Talking!

Materials

• diagrams of American Sign Language (ASL), showing a few simple examples.
• photos of people using their hands to sign in ASL.

Key Science Concepts

• Sounds have a source.
• An action has to take place in order for a sound to occur.

Directions

Ask children, did you notice in the video that Quack was able to communicate with Peep and Chirp without speaking? How did he do that?

1. Tell children that for the next few minutes, they are not allowed to say anything, just like Quack. You’re going to ask them all to communicate silently, without speaking or making sounds.
2. Ask, how would you silently communicate these messages?

            Yes

            No

            Stop!

            Go!

            I’m sleepy.

            I’m mad.

            I’m sad.

            I’m excited!

            I’m scared.

            That smells funny!

            Be quiet!

Reflect and Share

Ask children if they’ve known someone who is deaf or hard-of-hearing. Have they ever known or seen someone who uses a hearing aid to help them to hear? Tell children that some people who are deaf or hard-of-hearing use American Sign Language. Show them the photos of people signing together and use the diagrams of ASL to demonstrate one or two examples of how to sign, having them imitate your gestures.