American Sign Language

By the end of each marking period, students can perform the following functions:

Marking Period 1

Unit 1: Welcome to the Conversation

I can…

• Summarize the history of ASL
• Generalize the history of ASL education in the U.S.
• Identify causes of deafness.
• Recognize fingerspelled letters in ASL.
• Understand common signed greetings.
• Describe how I am currently feeling.
• Comprehend and sign numbers from 1 to 20.
• Fingerspell my own name.
• Understand when someone is asking for a name.
• Identify the signed names of my classmates and other proper nouns.
• Recognize expressions of thanks in ASL.
• Follow classroom instructions signed in ASL.
• Distinguish between similar and different descriptions.
• Describe basic shapes using ASL.
• Give commands involving objects and the body.
• Indicate where to place secondary items.
• Convey common classroom requests.
• Use appropriate facial expressions and head positions to ask WH-questions.
• Introduce myself and share basic personal information.
• Respond appropriately to someone else's introduction.
• Answer questions about my likes and dislikes.
• Identify a person by gender and provide a brief description.
• Recognize features of visual language, including eye contact, facial expressions, and specific body movements.
• Identify colors.

Marking Period 2

Unit 2: Personal Identity

I can…

• Discuss views on deaf people.
• Answer questions about my likes and dislikes.
• Identify a person by gender and age and provide a brief description.
• Ask yes/no questions using correct non-manual markers.
• Identify a person by body position and/or action.
• Ask a question or make a statement about a person.
• Sign and understand numbers from 20 to 66.
• Correctly acknowledge information signed by another person.
• Narrate my language background using transitions (raised brows) to signal a new time frame.
• Narrate information about a person and use transitions (raised brows) to move between topics.
• Affirm or negate a sentence (e.g., “Yes, it’s true” or “No, I am not…”).
• Sign and understand phone numbers and email addresses.
• Describe how I am currently feeling.
• Describe someone’s physical appearance using descriptive classifiers.
• Use shoulder shifting to compare and contrast people.
• Discuss how name signs are used.
• Describe one or two features to successfully point out a person.
• Describe personal items (hats and scarves).
• Use the correct sequence to describe people that are not present.

Marking Period 3

Unit 3: My Life

I can…

• Produce rocking numbers between 67 and 98.
• Practice cardinal numbers 1 through 100.
• Ask “how many” questions.
• Sign clock numbers and use them to discuss schedules.
• Describe living arrangements, including types of roommates.
• Describe pets.
• Indicate duration by incorporating numbers with basic time signs.
• Sign modes of transportation.
• Practice maintaining agreement between two locations.
• Modify the movement and orientation of agreement verbs to match the subject and object of a sentence.
• Talk about everyday activities and household chores.
• Use POSS to indicate a person’s household chores.
• Ask “Have you done…?” questions and respond with FINISH or NOT-YET.
• Learn and discuss typical errands.
• Ask wh-word questions about daily routines.
• Ask how often an activity occurs.
• Sign and confirm the current date.
• Sign year numbers.
• Fingerspell the lexicalized forms of the months.
• Sign parts of the day.
• Sign plural nouns for two or three people, and for four or more people.
• Use the appropriate sign to translate English sentences that include “have.”
• Review number types using numbers 1 through 15: cardinal, clock, and lengths of time.
• Sign a dialogue on a specific topic.
• Ask questions using the phrase MUST fs-DO
• List errands on the weak hand.
• Express willingness and reluctance to complete chores.
• Modify the movement and orientation of agreement verbs to match subject and object in a sentence.
• Use agreement verbs effectively in narratives.
• Translate sentences with “drive to”, “take”, or “pick-up”

Marking Period 4

Unit 4: My Family and Friends

I can…

• Communicate about family and relationships.
• Talk about immediate family and friends.
• Identify and use basic family vocabulary.
• Ask and answer questions about relationships.
• Talk about siblings.
• Talk about extended family.
• Use family, extended family, and relationship vocabulary in context.
• Talk about how family members are related.
• Discuss family variations.
• Create a fictional family and answer questions so others can guess relationships.
• Identify and use the signs for family occasions.
• Ask questions and make comments about family members
• Produce the number forms for giving ages.
• Use contrastive structures to show relationships.
• Apply listing techniques for family members.
• Use ranking and contrastive structures in context.
• Use possessive adjectives and contrastive structures to describe relationships.
• Reply with a negative statement and/or corrected information by using NO, NOT, and NONE.

By the end of each marking period, students can perform the following functions:

Marking Period 1

Unit 1: School and Sports

I can...

• Review numbers.
• Use numbers up to 999.
• Discuss the classes I am currently taking.
• Locate places using real-world orientation techniques.
• Talk about various locations around the school.
• Ask and answer simple questions related to school life.
• Ask and answer questions about school schedules and events.
• Describe a person’s level of knowledge or ability, including areas where they may need support.
• State my major academic area of interest.
• Sign vocabulary related to sports.
• Express the sports I like to watch, play, and/or participate in.
• Discuss similarities and differences between the Olympics and the Deaflympics.
• Explain how technology supports Deaf and Hard of Hearing athletes.
• Share accomplishments of Deaf and Hard of Hearing athletes based on biographical research.

Marking Period 2

Unit 2: Locating things around the house

I can…

• Identify the rooms of the house.
• Describe the layout of each room in a house.
• Use classifiers to describe furniture and the layout of a room.
• Identify and describe the materials objects are made from.
• Use descriptive classifiers to describe personal items and household objects.
• Give and understand directions for moving from room to room within a household.
• Use locative classifiers to indicate the specific location of items.
• Explain the unique accommodations and technologies found in Deaf households, highlighting how they create a visual environment and address sound-based alerts and notifications compared to Hearing households.

Marking Period 3

Unit 3: Occupations

I can…

• Tell what I do, did, or want to do for a living.
• Use signs I have learned, acted out, or described to help others understand my job.
• Sign and understand jobs by job title, name of their location, or tasks involved.
• Use target vocabulary to describe my knowledge and abilities.
• Talk about different areas of study.
• Use signs to talk about knowledge and ability and make complete sentences.
• Make statements comparing my knowledge of a subject matter with someone else’s.
• Tell about activities where I have developed skills.
• Share some unusual skills and abilities I have.
• Suggest what others should or should not do when they lack a certain ability or talent.
• Discuss my personal goals.
• Share goals related to travel, lifelong learning, adventure, and community service. (my ‘bucket list’).
• Count by hundreds, including numbers ending in 01–09.
• Sign multiples of 100 accurately.

Unit 4: Deaf

I can…

• Examine the historical development of ASL first.
• Explore the evolution of Deaf education.
• Differentiate types of Deaf Education.
• Explain the effects and significance of the “Deaf President Now” movement.
• Research the evolution of technology for the deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals.
• Identify influential Deaf figures across history and contemporary society.
• Discuss the origin of Black ASL.
• Reflect on Audism and its impact on the Deaf community.
• Define De’VIA and its guiding principles.
• Analyze art created by deaf artists.
• Create art that demonstrates my understanding of Deaf culture.
• Discuss art in the target language.

Marking Period 4

Unit 5: Food

I can…

• Identify various food items such as fruits, vegetables, meats, dairy, sweets/desserts, meals, etc.
• Respond to questions about my food preferences.
• Create a grocery list.
• Sign how much food costs.
• Understand common food measurement terms in ASL (e.g., cup, tablespoon, teaspoon, ounce, liter, etc.)
• Follow a signed recipe and correctly measure ingredients using ASL classifiers.
• Explain a recipe to a partner in ASL using proper food measurement signs and sequencing.
• Express my opinions about food, including likes, dislikes, favorites, “kiss‑fist,” hate, detest, and more.
• Order food.
• Ask for food substitutions.
• Understand the proper etiquette when going out to eat with a deaf person.
• Research famous deaf chefs.

By the end of each marking period, students can perform the following functions:

Marking Period 1

Unit 1: Navigating Communities

I can…

• Describe my neighborhood using a clear narrative structure and rhetorical questions as transitions.
• Give directions to a location in my neighborhood by applying horizontal map orientation, reference points, and perspective shifts.
• Identify correct word order when translating yes-no questions.
• Review modes of transportation.
• Discuss how people travel locally from place to place using transportation signs and by applying spatial awareness with classifiers.
• Describe activities that can be done in specific locations.
• Discuss weather conditions.
• Use Element Classifiers to describe weather conditions.

Unit 2: Future Travel Plans

I can…

• Ask and answer questions related to future travel plans.
• Discuss how people travel internationally from place to place using transportation signs and spatial awareness.
• Sign and understand the names of U.S. states and Canadian provinces.
• Sign and understand the names of various countries around the world.
• Discuss the cost of items and services using a combination of dollars and cents.
• Talk about departure and arrival times.
• Describe how long it takes to travel from one location to another.
• Plan and describe activities that can be done in specific locations internationally.
• Invite others, accept or decline invitations, cancel plans, and narrate about canceled plans.
• Research communication accommodations that Deaf individuals may need while traveling.
• Describe and understand cultural customs that travelers should be aware of when visiting other places.

Marking Period 2

Unit 3: Making suggestions and requests

I can…

• Make and decline requests.
• Agree with a condition.
• Translate to English sentences using appropriate negation sign(s).
• Identify time, location, topic, and appropriate negation sign(s) to translate sentences.
• Explain a problem and ask for advice.
• Modify movement of the agreement verb to indicate the subject and the object of the sentence.
• Explain a situation: Incident involving liquids.
• Describe an awkward conversation.
• Describe what one’s not supposed to do.
• Translate sentences with negation signs and tag questions.

Marking Period 3

Unit 4: Attitudes and Opinions

I can…

• Give opinions about tendencies.
• Talk about my tendencies and compare them with other people’s.
• Describe other people’s tendencies.
• Use attributive and predicative adjectives correctly to describe personality traits.
• Describe other people’s personal qualities.
• Talk about desirable and undesirable personal qualities.
• Give opinions about a person.

Marking Period 4

Unit 5: Sharing Interesting Facts

I can…

• Share interesting or humorous information I have heard or read in a clear and engaging way.
• Organize essential information to highlight its relevance and importance.
• Analyze factual information to understand its meaning and significance.
• Accurately convey facts by explaining, rephrasing, demonstrating, or drawing logical conclusions.
• Interpret written information into ASL using appropriate ASL structure without relying on English word order.
• Categorize facts using four ASL organizational types: Whole–Part, Listing, Comparisons, and Illustrating a Fact.
• Use increasingly complex combinations of classifiers to describe actions and events.
• Describe an accident or incident involving a horse.
• Describe an incident involving a bicycle or a car.
• Time my reactions and facial expressions to coincide with key moments such as impact, falls, or accidents.

Unit 6: Social and Game Rules

I can…

• Give clear instructions or explanations using classifiers and conditional sentences, rhetorical questions, and relative clauses.
• Sign rule-related vocabulary.
• Develop strategies for explaining rules while playing a game.
• Set attention-getting behaviors to manage a group during a game.
• Determine appropriate rules for different groups and contexts, including:
  • Classroom Rules
  • School Rules
  • Family Rules
  • Cultural Norms (of different cultures)
  • Driving Rules
  • Weird Laws
  • Group Games
  • Board Games
  • Card Games
• Use signs to tell a person what they should or should not do.
• Use signs to describe appropriate and/or inappropriate behavior.
• Explain a card game.
• Explain a group game.