WHS ASL 2 Curriculum Guide
Narrative: The purpose of this course is to help you develop basic proficiency in American Sign Language through a linguistic, communicative, and cultural approach. Emphasis is placed on the development of receptive and expressive signing skills and on the acquisition of the fundamentals of applied grammar. We will also be focusing on in-depth translating English to ASL and ASL to English (cultural adjustment). In ASL 2, you will be expected to dig deeper into the translation/cultural adjustment process.
Main text used: *Master ASL! Textbook & Student DVD, Jason E. Zinza. SignMedia. Master ASL! Student Companion, Jason E. Zinza. SignMedia. (Selected sections will be made available
*Additional teacher handouts.
Unit | Timeframe | Big Ideas (Statements or Essential Questions) | Major Learning Experiences from Unit |
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1 | Sept. | ASL Goals 1. Engage in conversations in American Sign Language to express feelings, ideas, and to exchange opinions. 2. Demonstrate understanding of expressive American Sign Language on a variety of topics. 3. Present information and ideas to an audience through expressive American Sign Language. 4. Demonstrate understanding of social interaction patterns within American Sign Language and Deaf Culture through participation in cultural activities in the classroom or in a virtual Google Meet class. 5. Demonstrate ability to prepare text, make cultural adjustments, and interpret ASL to English and English to ASL. | A review of ASL, parameters; name signs; fingerspelling, greetings; eye contact; definitions of: ASL, Deaf Community, Deaf Culture; getting attention; facial expression and body language; non-manual signs; Deaf Culture/History: the timeline of ASL |
2 | Oct. to Nov. | Getting to know you- Where ?, location vocabulary and grammar, narrating your life experiences in ASL, city/state signs, topic-comment structure, possession, interests vocabulary, talkin about the weather, glossing continued, storytelling in ASL, Deaf Culture/History: Is ASL universal? How is it the same or different from other sign languages? Special activity- Halloween story in ASL: “House of Fear” | |
3 | Nov to Dec. | ASL 2 Primary Indicators The students will demonstrate... conversational expression of feelings, ideas, and opinions in American Sign Language comprehension of American Sign Language signed presentation of information and ideas in American Sign Language social interaction patterns within Deaf culture communication patterns of American Sign Language when possible, sharing knowledge of Deaf Culture, its rules of communication, etc. with the greater Waltham High School community glossing ASL interpreting and cultural adjustments in ASL and English project work completion Expressive tasks will be scored by rubric. | Friends and Family-how to describe family trees in ASL, gender distinction in ASL, contrastive structures-shoulder shifting, conjugating the verb “to go”, pronouns continued, taking on character, describing qualities,glossing continued, Deaf Culture/History. (Person descriptions will build on work done in ASL 1.) Special topic- Hearing Loss- auditory anatomy, types of losses, cochlear implants, remediation and hearing aides, implications of hearing loss on communication, receptive skills, acceptance in the Deaf Community. This unit builds on what was learned in ASL 1. Students will be able to read audiograms, discuss case studies, and the impact of each hearing loss on what communication modes would be used. |
4 | Dec. to Jan. | What is the big picture? The students will.. -be able to interact with members of the Deaf Community in ASL -be able to support the standards of the Deaf Community -will be able to demonstrate understanding of the various kinds of hearing losses, amplification, etc. and how it will impact communication (total communication, ASL, PSE, lipreading, etc.) with members of the Deaf Community. -will be able to demonstrate connections to their own communities/cultures to the Deaf Community/Culture | School related vocabulary- vocabulary connected to school-activities, courses of study, and locations, the agent marker, introduction to classifiers (1 handshape, inverted V, 3 handshape, etc.), multiple means of signs, glossing continued, Deaf Culture/History Special activity-Children storytelling |
5 | Feb | Sports activities- use of EXPERIENCE, NOT-YET, and FINISH signs, continued work on classifiers (5 handshape, bent V, B and base-B handshapes, CLAW handshape, etc)., verb tensing/syntax of how to do that in ASL, duration, Deaf Culture/History. (Classifier work will be done in more depth than in ASL 1.) | |
6 | March- April | WHS Instructional Priority: Students engage in cognitively demanding tasks that promote evidence-based discussion Identities: You will learn something about yourselves and/or others who are different than you Skills: You will learn skills within the content that can be applied in multiple settings Intellect: You will gain knowledge and awareness about the subject throughout this course Criticality: You will engage with your classmates and me about your thinking about power, equity, and anti-oppression in course materials, in society, and in the world | Descriptions (in detail)- people, home, community- a focus on using classifiers to define space, how to explain directions in ASL. Possible preparation/review for the Seal of Biliteracy test |