Course Description

This is the first course of ASL courses that fulfill the A-G High School graduation requirements. Students must complete 2 years of the same language with a grade of C or better and to get into CSU & 3 years for UC. Everyday communication is the centerpiece of every lesson. Topics revolve around sharing information about our environment and us. Grammar is introduced in context, with an emphasis on developing question and answering skills. You learn conversational strategies to help you maintain a conversation. Interaction activities allow you to rehearse what you’ve learned. Course outline: introducing oneself, exchanging personal information, talking about where you live, talking about family, talking about everyday activities, and storytelling.

Approach

The curriculum parallels what we know about language development and second language learning. We focus on introducing language in context and reinforcing what is learned by engaging you into various interactive activities. A conversational curriculum requires you to be an active learner. You need to come prepared to sign with me and other classmates. Our classes are conducted in American Sign Language (ASL) from the very first day. You are immersed in the language for 2.5 to 4.4 hours a week (depending on two-by-eight block schedule that week) to maximize your language learning. The teacher will use gestures, signs, drawings, and act out situations to get the point across and your job is to keep trying. This may sound daunting at first, but trust me, it works!

No Talking Policy

We insist on maintaining a signing environment at all times in the classroom for two reasons: One, it is considered rude and insulting to talk in front of a Deaf person and not make the information passing between you and the other person accessible (the teacher is deaf). It is imperative that you develop the habit of signing when Deaf people are present. Secondly, this is an immersion class, which means only the target language is used. Using only ASL helps you to develop both your comprehension skills and your expressive skills quickly and effectively. Talking disrupts this process and delays your language development. If a fellow student asks you for help, feel free to help by using signs you have learned or by writing back and forth. In this way, I can see what is being said and can join in to help, if needed be.

Required Materials:

1. 3-ring one or two-inch binder (For ASL Class ONLY) with college ruled notebook paper.
2. 5 dividers labeled with the following tabs: Warm Ups, Workbook, Vocab Review, Class Exercises, Quizzes/Tests
3. Folder (For ASL Class ONLY) labeled ASL Homework to be brought to class DAILY!
4. Pens or pencils & Red pens (for peer grading) in a small pen pouch

Textbook: Smith, C., Lentz, E.M., & Mikos, K. Signing Naturally: Level 1 San Diego, CA: 2008 Dawn Sign Press.

Attendance

Participation in class activities is crucial to your success in this class. The class forms a small community and your effort or lack of impacts the success of the group. Please make every effort to come to every class with homework done and ready to learn and participate. If you come late or leave early this will be considered a missed class. If you think you will be absent from class make arrangements for a classmate to take notes and collect handouts for you. I do not always have extra copies with me for the next class.

Homework

You will have homework after every class, anywhere from ½ hour to 1 hour of work. It is important that you do the homework because the next class builds on the material covered. Because the Workbook cannot be written in, you will be taking home copies of the Workbook to complete and these must be brought to class daily in your Homework folder for in class completion and grading. Late work will not be accepted.

Warm Ups

A sheet is given every two weeks to complete at the beginning of class. They are stamped daily during the 10-minute freeze period at the start of each class and collected every two weeks for 10 points. Being absent or tardy will result in a zero that day.

Audiovisual Media

This class heavily uses audiovisual media including curriculum DVD & possibly video clips from YouTube or Vimeo sources relevant to the curriculum. Some videos are MPAA PG-13, PG, and G-rated. Video clips links shown in class will be posted on CCHS website. You will also be required to videotape yourself outside of class. You will need to have digital videotaping capabilities either on your iPhone or computer webcam and send me the .mov (QuickTime) file via email.

Deaf Events

You will be required to attend two deaf public events and write a reactionary paper based on your observation and experience. Approved Deaf events will be posted and announced in class periodically as well as posted on the CCHS website. You will write about what happened, how you felt, what you noticed. You must bring a dated receipt or picture of your presence there.

To obtain community service hours needed in order to obtain recognition at graduation by the ASL Honor Society you are required to attend two extracurricular activities per semester for at least an hour.

Grading Scale

Course Grading               Grade Distribution

A = 90 – 100%         Midterm/Final Exam = 35%

B = 80 – 89.9%         Unit Exams = 35%

C = 70 – 79.9%        Quizzes = 15%

D = 60 – 69.9%        Classwork/ Homework = 10%

F = below 60%         Deaf Events 5%

Unit exams are given at the end of the unit, which will be comprehensive exams. The Midterm and Final exam include a narrative, comprehensive and expressive component.

Narrative Exam: You will videotape yourself telling either the “Timber Story” or “The Gum Story.” You will get more information on which stories later in the year. You must have digital videotaping for filming. This is done on your own time and must be sent to me via email. You will also narrate about a memorable childhood incident, which will be told in front of a group. More specific guidelines will be given later in the course.

Comprehensive Exam: This is a comprehension exam covering each unit. The exam tests your ability to understand what is being signed to you. For the Final exam, you must pass with a C or better to advance to the Expressive exam.

Expressive Exam: You will prepare your own autobiography using the vocabulary and grammar structures learned in class. For the final exam, you will have a 10-15 minute signed conversation with an assigned partner.