This week is my final blog post of my free inquiry project about the use of American Sign Language in the elementary classroom. Throughout the semester I had the opportunity to explore various resources that classroom teachers can use to teach ASL in their classrooms. I started this project by exploring resources that are helpful when learning ASL for the first time and used them to learn some of the basics of ASL for myself. As I worked on the basics, I learned to sign numbers, the alphabet, my name, colours, and some other basics!
Once I understood some basic signs, I started researching the use of American Sign Language in the classroom. I learned about situations where using ASL could be beneficial in the classroom and about techniques that can be used to teach ASL letters and numbers to elementary students.
One of the most interesting topics to research was ASL student projects. Through that weeks blog post I was able to explore projects that could be used to teach ASL. These could not only be used in elementary classrooms, but middle and high school as well (if changed slightly to be appropriate based on grade level). In the final weeks of my blog I explored books that can be used to introduce conversations about ASL and Deaf culture to the elementary classroom.
My biggest takeaway from this project is the way American Sign Language can be beneficial in the classroom. Using ASL can help with classroom management, teach students a useful new skill, and help them better understand deaf culture. I am so excited to continue working on this inquiry and to implement my findings into my teaching practice one day!
This week I decided to explore some children’s books that can help students learn about ASL and deaf culture. Using children’s books can be a great way to introduce a new topic to students. It keeps them engaged and excited to learn! Below, I have written a little bit about 5 books that could be used in a classroom!
My Language, Your Language by Lisa Bullard
Description: This is a book about Romelie, a student who makes a new friend in class. Her new friend Camila speaks Spanish with her family, so she teaches Romelie some Spanish words. After learning some Spanish words, Romelie become curious about different languages. Romelie realizes that at home, her family speaks English and American Sign Language. With the help of her mother, Romelie spends the weekend finding new languages that surround her in her town and neighbourhood. When she goes back to school on Monday she is excited to tell her classmates about all of the languages she learned. At the end of the story, Romelie teaches Camila the ASL sign for friend.
Uses: This book would be a great addition to a social studies lesson or unit about different languages in your community or around the world. This book explores not only Spanish and English, but sign language, Arabic, Somali, and French. It could also be used to teach students about diversity and inclusion. Romelie and Camila come from different backgrounds and speak different languages, yet their differences made them better friends and they were able to learn from each other. As well, this book has a question on each page that gets the readers thinking about different languages. I do want to mention that this book is from the United States, so one page uses American language to describe Indigenous languages. This is definitely something to be cautious of if you choose to use this book.
Where to Find: You can buy this book on amazon here, and you can find a read along of it on YouTube here from the Miji Lee Channel.
Hands & Hearts By Donna Jo Napoli
Description: In this book, a mother and her daughter spend a day at the beach where they swim, dance, and play together. Through the day, they communicate using American Sign Language instead of spoken language. This book teaches reader how to sign 15 words using American Sign Language, with the help of sidebars that have drawings of the signs. Each sign that you learn is used later in the book. For example, at the end of the book you learn how to sign the word sunset and on the next page the word sunset is used, highlighted in red. This makes it super easy for students to practice the signs they learn as they read the book.
Uses: This book is a great resource that can be used to teach students some ASL signs and teach them that not all communication is verbal. It gives teachers a great opportunity to teach students about deaf culture as well. This would be a great addition to a lesson or unit about inclusion, diversity, cultures, or languages.
Where to find: You can buy the book on amazon here, and you can find a read along of it on YouTube here from the Rebecca Knowles Reads Channel.
The Moses Books by Isaac Millman
Description: Isaac Millman has created three books about a student named Moses; Moses goes to a concert, Moses goes to school, and Moses goes to the circus. These picture books incorporate simple American Sign Language instruction into stories about a boy named Moses, who is deaf. The illustrations in the book are super engaging and very clearly show the signs, which are related to each individual story.
Uses: These books are awesome additions to a classroom library. They can be used to help students learn some ASL signs and information about the deaf community and the lives of deaf students at school. These books are great because students can connect with Moses and engage in his stories!
Where to Find: Moses goes to a concert can be found on amazon here and a read along of this book by the author Isaac Millman is available on YouTube here. Moses goes to school can be found on amazon here and a read aloud of the book with sign language can be found on the Alissa Amell-Postler YouTube channel here. Moses goes to the circus can be found on amazon here and a read along is available from the Lauryn Shreffler YouTube channel here.
All images come from the above Amazon links
So far I have found resources to teach the ASL alphabet and numbers as well as projects for students to learn more about ASL. I have also explored Handspeak, the ASL dictionary, and books to use when teaching ASL I am excited to continue exploring ASL and ways to teach it to students! If you are looking to learn more as well, come back next week! Thanks for reading 🙂
This week I have decided to write about Handspeak, the ASL dictionary. Handspeak is a website that provides an online ASL dictionary with videos and definitions of words in American Sign Language. As I have been working on this inquiry project I have used a few different ASL dictionary resources, but I think this one has been the most helpful to me! Below, I have outlined my favourite features of the Handspeak website.
Sign of the Day
Every day, Handspeak posts a video of a new sign. The videos don’t have a definition with them so you can try and guess the word they are signing. After you try to figure out what word they are signing you can hit the ‘take me to the word in the dictionary’ link to see what the word was. This feature could be a great addition to a morning routine in the classroom. Trying to figure out what the new sign is every day would get students thinking right away and help them learn new signs over the course of the year!
Language/Cultural Fundamentals
The Handspeak website has a section called ‘Language/Cultural Fundamentals’ that has links to lots of different resources. The pages I found most useful in this section were ‘What is American Sign Language?‘, ‘Deaf Culture and Sign Language’, and ‘Audism: a form of discrimiation’. These pages were very helpful to learn about deaf culture and the history of American Sign Language. A lot of the information provided on them could be useful when teaching students about deaf culture.
Basic Stories and Poems
This section of the Handspeak website provides a description of a story or poem and a video of someone signing the story. When watching these stories, I try to pick up on words I already know or patterns of language. Each story/poem page also offers points of the story and grammar sections.
So far I have found resources to teach the ASL alphabet and numbers to students as well as projects they can do to learn more about ASL. I am excited to continue exploring ASL and ways to teach it to students! If you are looking to learn more as well, come back next week! Thanks for reading 🙂
This week I am going to outline two projects that students can do to deepen their knowledge about ASL. These projects can be adapted to be easier or harder depending on the grade level being taught. Both of them will deepen students knowledge around ASL while allowing them to develop competence in other areas.
Visual Dictionary
In this project, students can work alone or in small groups to create a visual dictionary related to a topic of their choice. For example, students may choose to explore signs related to animals, sports, or school. Once they have chosen a topic, students will create a dictionary containing vocabulary related to their topic. Detailed steps to complete this project are listed below.
Provide students with a list of possible topics, brainstorm topics as a class, or have them choose their own in small groups.
Once they have chosen their topic, give students time to brainstorm and record vocabulary words in their topic they could include in their dictionary.
Provide students access to technology and and ASL resources. Students should have access to online ASL dictionaries as well as deaf community reference sites related to their topic.
Now, students will begin to create their visual dictionary. There are a few different options for this depending on the grade level:
a) Have one student sign a vocabulary word while another student take an image or video of them. All of the images/videos of their vocabulary words can be compiled and made into an online dictionary using an online content creator such as google slides or google docs. These dictionaries should be able to be shared with the class.
b) Give students a blank, printed dictionary with multiple pages. As they find the signs for their vocabulary words they can draw and describe them in their dictionaries. When students create their dictionaries this way you will end up with multiple physical ASL dictionaries that students can have access to in the classroom!
5. Once their dictionaries are finished, have students share their work with the class. They can teach their peers some of the signs from their dictionaries.
The Learn How To Sign YouTube channel has a lot of great video tutorials that students could use as starting points when creating visual dictionaries. I have linked a few examples below!
Story Telling
In this project, students will create their own story and tell it to their peers using ASL. This project gives students the chance to work on their writing, verbal, presentation, and listening skills. Detailed steps to complete this project are below.
Have students write, edit, and ‘publish’ a story. This story can be about a topic of their choosing or something the teacher wanted them to write about.
Once their stories are polished, have students draw out their story using a storyboard or graphic organizer.
Have students find a sign for each section of their storyboard or graphic organizer. The sign they choose should sum up the key point of that section of story. Students will record each sign they would like to use.
Have students practice telling their story verbally while signing.
Once they feel confident, have students present their stories and signs to the entire class or small groups.
Showing students examples of ASL storytelling could be very helpful while they are working on this project. I have linked an example of ASL storytelling from the Statewide Center Outreach Videos YouTube channel below.
So far I have found resources to teach the ASL alphabet and numbers to students as well as projects they can do to learn more about ASL. I am excited to continue exploring ASL and ways to teach it to students! If you are looking to learn more as well, come back next week! Thanks for reading 🙂
This week I am going to explore ways to teach numbers in ASL to elementary and middle school students. Numbers are a great next step after introducing students to the ASL alphabet. ASL Numbers can be used in the classroom when giving an amount or a time. For example, students could hold up an ASL number as an answer to a math question or teachers could use all numbers to tell students how much time is left in an activity. There are so many ways ASL Numbers can be beneficial in the classroom!
ASL Numbers puzzle activity
Once students understand the basics of numbers in all, they can practice them with number puzzles. I have created an example of an ASL number puzzle where students have to mach the sign for a number, the numeric number, the written number, and the number of dots. This allows student to practice numeracy skills as well as ASL. This activity could be done individually or in small groups and be used as an assessment tool if students glued pieces together on a paper or in a notebook. The PDF of my ASL Numbers puzzle is attached below if you would like to download or view!
Another method to teaching numbers in ASL is to sign the numerical days of the month. For example, on the 1st of October students would learn the sign for one. As the moth progresses, students can count up to the day they are on. For example, on the 12th of October students would sign the numbers up to 11 and then learn the sign for 12. This way, students get a little bit of practice with ASL Numbers every day and continue to learn new ones!
ASL Numbers Bingo
Using Bingo to practice numbers in ASL can be fun and engaging for students! Students will get a bingo sheet and fill it with numbers they have already learned in ASL. If a number gets called that a student has on their sheet, they will show the sign for that number and then cross it off! Below is an image of a sample ASL bingo sheet I created. The PDF version is available as well!
So far I have found resources to teach the ASL alphabet and numbers to students. I am excited to continue exploring ASL and ways to teach it to students! If you are looking to learn more as well, come back next week! Thanks for reading 🙂
This week I have decided to look more into strategies teachers are using to teach the ASL alphabet to their students. The alphabet is a foundational skill in ASL and is a great place for teachers to begin introducing ASL into their classroom. Using ASL alphabet cards or alphabet puzzles could be a great addition to learning centres as well!
ASL Alphabet Cards
Using printable cards with depictions of each letter in ASL is a great way to introduce the ASL alphabet to students. If teachers introduce a new letter each day (or even each week!), students will get a great handle on the ASL alphabet and eventually be able to sign the entire alphabet on their own! Once students have learned how to sign each letter they can move on to sign their names or simple words, using the alphabet cards if they get stuck or forget a letter. A free printable version of these ASL alphabet cards are available on the Look! We’re Learning website.
ASL Alphabet Puzzles
Once students have learned some (or all) of the ASL alphabet we can check their understanding using alphabet puzzles. These puzzles are simply pictures of both a letter and its sign for students to match up. This is a great way for students to show what they have learned and work in small groups!
ASL Alphabet song
Singing the alphabet song while signing is a great way to both learn and review the ASL alphabet. Below is a slow version of the alphabet song from the Laura Berg Life YouTube Channel. It is perfect for students who are just starting to learn the ASL alphabet because it is slow and the hand placements are very clear. This channel has other videos teaching the ASL alphabet without the song that could be very beneficial as well.
Thanks for reading, come back to follow my progress!
Now that I know some of the basics of ASL, I thought it would be a good time to explore the ways teachers use it in their classrooms. In the classroom, ASL can be used as a method of nonverbal communication between a teacher and their students or between students. It is a tool that can be used throughout the school day to enhance communication and allow students to indicate they need something like to go to the washroom or need help with their work without disrupting a lesson or other students.
Most of the links provided below come from the Baby Sign Language website. This is a website designed for parents to learn and teach signs to their young children, however, I find the images and videos of the signs very helpful for learning the basics. The other links come from Lingvano website (also available as an app) and the Handspeak website. These are all awesome resources. If you are looking for more ASL resources check out my
Greetings
Greetings are an awesome place to start when using ASL in the elementary classroom since we greet our students each morning and say goodbye to them at the end of every day. Having students greet you and each other in a nonverbal way in the morning can help them practice their basic signs and start the day off calmly.
ASL can also be used in the classroom to allow students to express their feelings. If students learn the signs for different feelings, they gain the ability to respond to greetings or questions with their feelings.
Teaching students basic manners in ASL can allow students to communicate with teachers in a nonverbal manner that doesn’t disrupt a lesson or distract other students. It can be helpful to have students use signs when they are raising their hands so you know what type of support they need before you ask them verbally.
This YouTube video from the Learn How to Sign channel provides instructions on basic greetings, farewells, and introductions. It provides in depth instructions on how to perform these signs so it could be showed to students who were learning to use ASL in their classroom.
This video from the Patty’s Primary Songs YouTube Channel is a song that teaches and demonstrates to students how to sign please and thank you. This would be an excellent video to use to teach younger students these important signs.
Thanks for reading, come back to follow my progress!
Before I dive in to why and how ASL can be used in a classroom setting I decided to try and learn some of the basics for myself. This week I tried to learn the alphabet, numbers 1-10 and colours. I still don’t know all of these things from memory, but I have made lots of progress.
Alphabet
My first step to learning the alphabet was watching and following along with the Know Your ABC’s video on The ASL App. At first I had to play the video in slow motion to practice and get to know the letters, but eventually I was able to follow along at full speed and even remember some of the letters without having to watch the video! Once I had a bit of a grasp on the alphabet I decided I wanted to learn how to sign my name. To do this, I turned to the Marlee Signs App. Using the spelling feature on this app I followed along with a video to learn how to sign my name. Below I have attached a video of myself signing my name!
Numbers
The second thing I wanted to learn were numbers 1-10. To do this, I found a video from the Learn To Sign YouTube channel called Learn How To Sign Numbers. Initially I was only planning on learning to sign numbers 1-10, but I felt like I understood them fairly quickly so I continued up to 20. My biggest challenge in learning the numbers was remembering when you need to face your hand towards you and when you need to face it away from you but after lots of practice I think I have them down.
Colours
To learn some colours in ASL I once again used a video from the Learn To Sign YouTube channel. I found this video especially helpful because after you are showed the sign for a specific colour the spelling of the colour is also shown. This helped me practice my alphabet while learning the colours. I found it interesting that some of the signs for the colours use the first letter of the colour. For example, the sign for the colour blue is made by forming the letter B with your hand and then twisting/shaking your hand from the elbow.
Thanks for reading, come back to follow my progress!
For the first week of my inquiry I have decided to look into some resources that can help me start developing my ASL skills. I am so excited to use all of these new resources to start my learning journey!
Apps
The first place I chose to look for resources was the App Store. After looking into the different apps a little bit I chose to download three that I felt would best help me start learning ASL.
1. Lingavano→ This is an interactive app that is accessible across all of your devices. It aims to teach ASL in small lessons so that you can build your knowledge by learning for just a few minutes at a time. This app is structured similarly to DuoLingo with its small lessons, reviews, and quizzes. So far I have only tried the introduction module, but this app seems like it will be very helpful.
2. The ASL App→ This app was created to teach conversational ASL. It is full of videos that are organized by category so it is super easy to find information on whatever you want to learn. In the app you are able to control the speed of the videos and save signs that you may want to review again. I have just looked through this app a little bit, but I am excited to explore it more, I think using the videos will be super helpful.
3. Marlee Signs→ In this app, deaf actress Marlee Matlin teaches ASL fundamentals. The app has an awesome spelling feature where you can type in a word and it will show you how to spell it in ASL. It also includes a slow motion feature on videos so you can see all of the details. I have tested out the spelling feature of this app and it has worked great.
YouTube Channels
Another great resource for learning ASL is YouTube videos. There are a lot of videos out there that can be used to learn ASL, but I have found a few channels that I think are going to be especially helpful.
1. Learn how to sign → This channel is full of ASL lessons. They have posted videos on ASL basics, number signs, food signs, school signs, and many more. The first video I watched from this channel was the Learning ASL? Learn This FIRST!!! (10 Things You Need to Know About ASL) video.
2. ASL Meredith→ This channel is a great starting resource. It is meant for people who are just starting to learn ASL. The videos feature basic vocabulary, phrases, and grammar. The first video I watched from this channel was the Channel Intro – Welcome to ASL Meredith!
Websites
The last resource I found was the LifePrint website. This website features many lessons for ASL beginners. Most of the lessons are 20-45 minute videos guided by Dr.Bill who is a Professor of ASL and Deaf Studies at California State University. This website also includes many other resources for people who are learning ASL.
Thanks for reading, come back to follow my progress!
When I first started trying to choose a topic for this inquiry I was feeling fairly uninspired and couldn’t think of any topic that I wanted to commit to. Eventually I turned to the We Are Teachers website in hopes of finding a topic that sparked my interest. After scrolling through a few articles I came across one about using ASL in classrooms. This immediately caught my eye and I began to dig a little deeper into the use of ASL in the elementary classroom. I had finally chosen my inquiry question: How can ASL be taught to elementary students and used in the classroom in a meaningful way?
How will I Explore This Inquiry Topic?
Since I have no previous knowledge of ASL I will be trying to learn simple things such as the alphabet, colours, numbers, and important words. Along with this, I would like to learn how and why ASL is used in classrooms by teachers. I am excited to start exploring my inquiry and learn a skill that I can take into my teaching practice in the future!
