HOME SCHOOL
ASL 101
Lesson 1-
Fingerspelling
LESSON 1
American Sign Language-
ASL
It is what most of the
North American Deaf use
to communicate.
LESSON 1
The Deaf
use their hands, face, and
body expressions to talk.
Why do they use face and
body expressions?
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You can hear the tones in
your voice to know how
you are feeling.
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You can hear the tones in
your voice to know how you
are feeling.
The deaf can not hear, so we
use our facial expression and
body language to know how
you are feeling.
LESSON 1
The deaf can not hear, so
we use our facial
expression and body
language to know how you
are feeling.
That is ASL.
LESSON 1
ASL is NOT English.
It is not in English order,
verbs, or making any
sense with the signing.
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Leave your English at the
door.
You can get it back when
the class is finished.
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ASL will be less confusing
if you do not think in
English.
LESSON 1
Fingerspelling
LESSON 1
Fingerspelling, what is it for?
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Fingerspelling, what is it for?
Words with no signs, IE:
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Fingerspelling, what is it for?
Words with no signs, IE: Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
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Fingerspelling, what is it for?
Words with no signs, IE: Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
You don’t know the sign
LESSON 1
Fingerspelling, what is it for?
Words with no signs, IE: Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
You don’t know the sign
If you don’t understand,
you can spell (clarification)
LESSON 1
Fingerspelling, what is it for?
Abbreviations/acronyms
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Fingerspelling, what is it for?
Abbreviations/acronyms
IE: F-L-A, Florida
Mrs.
Dr.
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Fingerspelling, what is it for?
Abbreviations/acronyms
Emphasis the word
LESSON 1
Fingerspelling, what is it for?
Abbreviations/acronyms
Emphasize the word
IE: W-H-A-T?!?!?!
or
N-O!
LESSON 1
Fingerspelling Rules:
LESSON 1
Fingerspelling Rules: Correct Hand Position:
Keep your hands forward to the reader.
Don’t bounce your hand Don’t change hands for one
word Comfortable position; hand
is not stiff
LESSON 1
Fingerspelling Rules: Correct Hand Position:
Held approximately
between the chin & the
shoulder level
LESSON 1
Fingerspelling Rules: Correct Hand Position:
Held approximately between the chin & the
shoulder level
Don’t spell in front of your face (blocking the
lip-readers)
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Fingerspelling Rules: Correct Hand Position:
Use your “dominant”
hand
LESSON 1
Fingerspelling Rules: Correct Hand Position:
Use your “dominant”
hand
(the hand that you use the
most)
LESSON 1
Fingerspelling Rules: Correct Hand Position:
Use your “dominant” hand
(the hand that you use the most)
I am right-handed, so I use my right hand a lot.
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Fingerspelling Rules:
Speed or Clarity?
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Fingerspelling Rules:
Clarity!
Be sure that your
fingerspelling is CLEAR
and understandable!
LESSON 1
Fingerspelling Rules:
Clarity!
Be sure that your fingerspelling is CLEAR
and understandable!
Speed is not important (not always)
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Fingerspelling Rules: Mouthing:
Mouth the WHOLE word,
not individual letters
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Fingerspelling Rules: Where to look?
Look at the signer’s face,
around the chin level and
the whole body.
Don’t look at the signer’s
hands
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Fingerspelling Rules: Double letters:
Vary depending on the
position in the word
IE: Pizza
Jazz
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Fingerspelling Rules: Double letters:
Typically double letters repeat at the beginning
(Aaron) and in the middle of the word (Miller) move laterally at the end of the
word (Bill)
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Fingerspelling Rules: Two words:
Pause between words
Move your hands over little
Watch
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Fingerspelling Rules: Two words:
If you don’t pause, it will
be like one long word.
It will look like this:
didyoueatmychickennuggets?
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How can I practice my
fingerspelling?
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• Look at the signs, road
signs, restaurants, store
names, books, listening to
songs/TV/radio, or
“thinking out loud”.
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There are fingerspelling
games on my blog: silentheartministries.wordpress.com
Under “Home School ASL
Lessons”
“Sign Language Practice
& Games”
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I will put a word on the
board and you fingerspell.
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Cat
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Baby
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Friday
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Bubbles
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Mommy
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Finger
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Purple
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Mississippi
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Kalamazoo, MI
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Do-Re-Mi-Fa-So-
La-Ti
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“That will bring us back to
Do (oh oh oh)!”
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I am sorry.
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Thank you.
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See you next week.
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See you next week.
Wow! That was hard?!?
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Find a partner.
Practice your
fingerspelling with
each other.
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Questions?
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Let’s play some
BINGO!
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PRACTICE!
Practice your
fingerspelling.
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I will know if you
didn’t practice.
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See you next
week!