Mrs. Janet Bonovich, MA Ed.

Temescal Canyon High School

Room 808

2018/2019

**Dates Subject to Change as Needed

*Fingerspelling *Numbers

*Signing Practice & quizzes and your MASL DVD

Name______Period____

1.Do the Right Thing / *We are an ASL Family and as such will treat each other as a family
*Remember the choices you make today will impact your tomorrow
*Think about who you want to be and how you can make a difference when faced with a choice
*We are on this journey together, let’s make it the best!
2. Assignments / *ALL projects are to be completed on time, every time!
*Your success depends on the completion of assigned work in a timely manner
*Late work: NOT Accepted, you have all the due dates now!
3. Absences / * If you know you will be absent or have been absent, look in your ProjectBooklet. See me for additional work.
*Signing Time: Tuesdays and Fridays Lunch & after school till 3:00
Yes, it is 20 minutes, but you will see a big improvement
* The time allowed for make-up work to be submitted is twice the number of days absent up to a maximum of ten (10) days.(1day=2days)
4.IC
Computer access
Office 365 / *Grades will be posted on Infinite Campus
* NOTE: If you do not have a computer/internet access at home, you are still responsible to complete the work. There are computers available in the Career Center, and Media Center which you may use. Each student has an Office 365 account, just set it up and you are able to access all your work from anywhere. See me if you have any questions!
5. Daily Drills / * There will be daily drills on the PowerPoint/White Board you are to complete the first 5 minutes of class. They will involve ASL, such as, fingerspelling, ASL war, partner dialogue, ASL GLOSS, History, stories…
6. Dress Code/Cell Phones / * I will follow the schools policy on both dress code and cell phone use
* I am aware emergencies do happen and for those times, please speak with me upon entering class.
7. Restroom Passes / * Students may use the restroom after the first 10 minutes of class and up until there are 10 minutes left.
*To go, you must sign your request to me, if it is okay to go you will sign out and in on the clip board near the door.
*If you are gone more than 5 minutes, you will lose restroom privileges one week.
8. Teacher Contact / You may contact me either through the district email or my personal contact

951-743-1815

To increase your language learning in the classroom, develop the following habits:

  1. Build a language community.

Try not to miss class. The more you are absent, the more you miss out on learning the language. Your class strives to form a language community: the cohesiveness of the group influences how rich the language exchange is in the classroom. Missing class makes it difficult to achieve this interactive environment. Maintain a signing environment in the classroom. Once you enter the classroom—during class breaks, before class begins, and whenever Deaf people are present—you should refrain from talking/using your voice.

  1. Minimize reliance on English as you listen or converse in ASL.

Leave English (and your voice) outside the door. Try not to translate in your head as you watch someone sign. At first, this will be difficult to do but as you become more fluent, the temptation should lessen. Do not worry about taking notes during class. Instead use class time to immerse yourself in the language by interacting with the teacher and other students using ASL. Do not ask others to “interpret” for you as the teacher is signing. Also, do not “interpret” for others. Either way, you are cheating yourself or someone else out of a perfect learning opportunity.

  1. Focus on meaning rather than individual signs.

When your teacher tells a story, gives instructions, or explains a concept, try not to worry about a sign you missed or don’t know. Instead, focus on the meaning of what’s being said. If a particular sign is repeated over and over, and you still can’t figure out its meaning, then ask the teacher. Try to avoid asking your classmates for an English translation. You would lose out on valuable communication experiences need to strengthen your comprehension skills.

  1. Focus on the singer’s face, not on the hands for two very important reasons.

First, a lot of grammar is in the facial express so to really know what is said, you must see both the facial expression and what is signed; secondly, it is considered rude to look away from (break eye contact) the signers’ face while they are signing to you.

  1. Show you understand the signer.

Nod to show you are following along; give a puzzled look when you are not. Develop active listening behaviors like nodding, responding with the signs “huh?” “wow,” or “really?” Listeners have very active roles in signed conversations. Actively listening increases your comprehension skills and optimizes your learning. Participate as much as possible by adding comments, agreeing or disagreeing, etc. Follow all conversations whether they are between teacher and class, teacher and student, or student and student. The more you participate, the more you will retain what you learn.

Using all of these strategies will enhance your ASL Acquisition and increase your level of understanding when using both your expressive and receptive skills!

Term / Explanation
  1. Eye-Contact
/ *This is a major component of ASL
*Not maintaining eye-contact is considered rude
*Your eyes are now your ears
*Breaking eye-contact signals you are not paying attention, day dreaming, or that you don’t want to participate in the conversation
  1. Sign Space
/ *Refers to the area in which most of your signs are made during a normal conversation
* It is a comfortable signing space
* Generally, as if you draw a box in front of you from the top of your head to the outside of your shoulders and down to your waist
  1. Which Hand Do I Use?
/ *The hand which you write with is your dominant hand, this is the one which you will use for fingerspelling and signing
*The other hand is referred to as your non-dominant hand
*Switching back and forth is a common error and very hard to watch
*Ensure you use your dominant hand when signing
  1. Facial Expressions and/or Non-Manual Signals (NMS)
/ *Without this your signing becomes very monotone and meaning is difficult to determine
*Facial Expression conveys emotion, meaning, and ASL Grammar
*Match your expressions to the overall meaning of what you are signing
*There are two general types of NMS they are:
1. WHQ(vv): Who, what, where, when, why, how, which
2. Y/NQ(^^): For questions which require a yes or no response
  1. Precision
/ *Signing clearly is the same as speaking clearly
*If not signed clearly errors may change the meaning: dry, ugly, summer
*Close enough is NOT good enough
*Practice often to improve your skills and gain confidence
  1. ASL is Not English
/ *Signing and talking at the same time is NOT ASL
*ASL has a different syntax than English. It is NOT universal
*Other types of sign (Signed Exact English; SEE and Pidgin Signed English; PSE) are NOT a language, only ASL is a real language
  1. Fingerspelling
/ *use dominant hand only
*It has an important role, but is not a substitute for signing
*Hold hand comfortably in the fingerspelling space
*Palm faces out, and spelling is to be done smoothly, without bouncing or jerking the letters
  1. 5 ASL Parameters
/ *All 5 must be used correctly for the sign to be accurate, they are:
Handshape, Palm Orientation, Location, Movement, and Non-Manual Signals (NMS)
Project One:Expression Book
Assigned: ______
Due: ______
Expression Book/PowerPoint/DVD/Video…must contain the following:
1. Cover page/slide
2. Table of contents
3. At least 10 emotions
4. A picture of you making each emotion (These must be current photos) Be sure you LABEL each emotion
5. End Page
*You may create this as a book, PowerPoint, slideshow, or video. If you have another method let me know.
*If you do not have access to take pictures, please see me. You still will be expected to complete this assignment.
Standard: Communication: Stage 1, 1.1 Students engage in conversations in ASL to provide and obtain information, express feelings and emotions,and exchange opinions. Asking for and giving names and ages
Who is
Thomas Gallaudet?
What did Thomas Gallaudet do?
Who is Laurent Clerc?
What did Laurent Clerc do?
Who is Alice Cogswell?
Who is Dr. Cogswell?
Where was the First Deaf School Established? When was it established?
What was the first name of this school?
What is the story of Martha’s Vineyard?
What is Old Kentish Sign Language and where was it used?
Which sign language influenced the signs deaf people were using here?
Why is the history of ASL not recorded?

ASL GLOSS: TRANSLATE INTO ASL GLOSS

Topic-Comment (what are you talking about? What about it?)

S-O-V (If there is time, it comes first)

  1. English: The gardener planted the flowers.

ASL:

  1. English: The pilot flew the airplane.

ASL:

  1. English: The little puppy barked all night long!

ASL:

  1. English: The barber cut the boy’s hair

ASL:

  1. English: Are you from California?

ASL:

  1. English: What are you doing this weekend?

ASL:

  1. English: Would you like to go to the movies Friday?

ASL:

  1. English: I would love to go to the movies. But, Friday won’t work.

ASL:

  1. English: That’s fine. What day will be best for you?

ASL:

Sign Language Continuum

ASLSEE

PSE

American Sign Language (ASL)

“American Sign Language (ASL) is a visual language. With signing, the brain processes linguistic information through the eyes. The shape, placement, and movement of the hands, as well as facial expressions and body movements, all play important parts in conveying information.

Sign language is not a universal language -- each country has its own sign language, and regions have dialects, much like the many languages spoken all over the world. Like any spoken language, ASL is a language with its own unique rules of grammar and syntax. Like all languages, ASL is a living language that grows and changes over time.

ASL is used predominantly in the United States and in many parts of Canada. ASL is accepted by many high schools, colleges, and universities in fulfillment of modern and “foreign” language academic degree requirements across the United States.” Taken from NAD Website

Pidgin Signed English (PSE)

“Anytime speakers of two languages come together and try to communicate over time, a mode of communication based on compromise is born. It contains aspects of both of the original languages, and it isn't a language at all. It is referred to as contact language, and is more commonly known as Pidgin.
In the case of sign language, here in America, we often see the use of Pidgin Signed English (PSE) as a compromise between ASL and English. PSE will generally have the sentence structure of English, but will incorporate aspects of ASL. You may also see this spelled as Pidgin Signed English; however, this spelling is not accurate.

PSE is used quite often in the work environment. When the Deaf work with non-Deaf, they tend to communicate with their peers using PSE. This makes it easier for the Deaf person to keep up with the specific terminology that is being used in the workplace.” Taken from Signing His Praises Website

Signing Exact English (SEE)

“Signing Exact English is a sign language system that represents literal English. To make visible everything that is not heard, S.E.E. supplements what a child can get from hearing and speechreading.” Taken from The S.E.E. Center Website

5 ASL PARAMETERS:

COMPLETE GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS FOR YOUR VOCAB THAT YOU ARE STRUGGLING WITH TO ENHANCE MEMORIZATION AND RECALL

  1. Palm Orientation: PO
  2. Handshape: HS
  3. Movement: DM
  4. Location: LOC
  5. Non-Manual Signals: NMS

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