Sign language in the classroom

Sign language is something that people are interested in, but don't necessarily know very much about. Did you know that American Sign Language, or ASL, is not a form of English. It has a specific grammatical structure that a person must master in the same way as one must master the grammar of any other language. ASL is visual and composed of handshapes and movements rather than auditory language.

Sign language can be used in a classroom setting in a variety of ways. Elementary teachers can best use sign language with spelling units or with morning calendar time. Children absorb language very quickly and sharing the ASL alphabet is a great way to start. I have attached this link also helps to see the shapes of the signs and one for a sign language online disctionary. If you have access to a SmartBoard, this would work perfectly. http://www.terpnetwork.com/docs/abc_hands.pdf, http://www.aslpro.com/cgi-bin/aslpro/aslpro.cgi

Each day I will post different video clips, stories, games, and many other ideas for classroom sign language useage.  I hope you will find this useful.  You can come back each day, or once a week.