I am thinking of using whole brain teaching combined with sign language to increase vocabulary among ELL students. Has anyone tried this?

I've thought about learning and using sign language (not just for ELLs), because it would give you a whole language's worth of gestures, and would definitely be something that, if the kids learned enough from you, would be useful for them for the rest of their lives.

I use S.E.E. - Signing Exact English (as opposed to American Sign Language) to teach my reading vocabulary words. I have a great S.E.E. dictionary I got from Barnes and Noble. I use this for 5th graders, but have a friend who has had the same type of success with 2nd graders.

I chose this type of sign language because you have to add on the prefixes and suffixes, change verb tense, form plurals, etc. with additional gestures. My kids are really getting word structure now and enjoy comparing and contrasting how these 'add-ons' change the meaning of words. It's great for my ESL kiddos and superb for my kinesthetic and visual learners. Also I love it because many related words have signs that are similar and the kids make some great connections between words when they see the relationship right before their eyes. Plus, they love that they are learning a new language.

I do use it as a go to when I am totally stumped for gestures in all subject areas. I would recommend trying it!