American Sign Language Course Descriptions:

American Sign Language 1:
(3 hours per week for 6 weeks)

This beginner-level American Sign Language (ASL) course is designed for students who have little or no prior ASL learning experience. Students are introduced to manual and non-manual ASL communication skills, and ASL culture. Students will learn basic ASL conversational skills. Units 1 – 2 of textbook will be covered. Students who successfully complete level 1 should be able to:

• Use proper greetings and farewells in ASL
• Fingerspell the alphabet with clarity
• Introduce oneself and other individuals by name and hearing status
• Ask and answer simple yes/no questions
• Express day of the week and date
• Use basic ASL sentence structure and grammar
• Interact appropriately with Deaf people
• Use facial expressions and non-manual signals to modify meaning
• Ask for help and clarification
• Use classifiers to describe objects
• Engage in basic conversation about activities
• Ask questions using WH-signs and WH-face

Textbook: Master ASL! Level One by Jason E. Zinza
ISBN: 978-1881133209

American Sign Language 2:
(3 hours per week for 6 weeks)

The American Sign Language (ASL) 2 course builds on the skills learned in ASL 1. Students will further develop their expressive and receptive skills, apply and expand their vocabulary, and learn more about deaf culture. In this hand-on course, students will perform learning tasks that will be fun and engaging. Units 3 – 4 of textbook will be covered. Students who successfully complete ASL 2 should be able to:

• Sign about where you are from, favorites, family, friends, and relationships
• Use ASL sentence structure more fluently
• Use topic-comment structure
• Sign selected songs
• Incorportate numbers into conversation
• Understand how ASL name signs are made
• Describe objects in more detail
• Use possesive signs and deixis
• Recognize and use gender distinction
• Use contrastive structure
• Use pronoun signs

Textbook: Master ASL! Level One by Jason E. Zinza
ISBN: 978-1881133209

American Sign Language 3:
(3 hours per week for 6 weeks)

The American Sign Language (ASL) 3 course builds on the skils learned in ASL 2. Students will further develop their expressive and receptive skills, apply and expand their vocabulary, and learn more about deaf culture. In this hand-on course, students will perform learning tasks that will be fun and engaging. Units 5 – 6 of textbook will be covered. Students who successfully complete ASL 3 should be able to:

• Describe where things and places are in relation to a specific point
• Sign using the past, present, and future tenses
• Improve ASL narrative skills specifically with classifiers
• Converse about common places, professions, sports, coursework, and school
• Use agent markers
• Tell time and sign about time-related issues including duration
• Identify the five parameters of ASL
• Discuss an event and your impressions of the event

Textbook: Master ASL! Level One by Jason E. Zinza
ISBN: 978-1881133209

American Sign Language 4:
(3 hours per week for 6 weeks)

The American Sign Language (ASL) 4 course builds on the skils learned in ASL 3. Students will further develop their expressive and receptive skills, apply and expand their vocabulary, and learn more about deaf culture. In this hand-on course, students will perform learning tasks that will develop their fluency in ASL and will be fun and engaging. Units 7 – 8 of textbook will be covered. Students who successfully complete ASL should be able to:

• Sign about daily routines and activities
• Sign about the frequency of events and activities
• Identify and use noun-verb pairs
• Describe clothing, personality traits and characteristics
• Use spatial organization
• Apply turn-taking strategies in conversations
• Narrate a story
• Discuss health issues
• Describe the natural world and environment

Textbook: Master ASL! Level One by Jason E. Zinza
ISBN: 978-1881133209

American Sign Language 5:
(3 hours per week for 6 weeks)

The American Sign Language (ASL) 5 course builds on the skils learned in ASL 4. Students will further develop their expressive and receptive skills, apply and expand their vocabulary, and learn more about deaf culture. In this hand-on course, students will perform learning tasks that will develop their fluency in ASL and will be fun and engaging. Units 9 – 10 of textbook will be covered. Students who successfully complete ASL should be able to:

• Describe food, your home and community, and animals
• Sign money using the Money Spot and Dollar Twist
• Describe objects using spatialization techniques
• Give and understand street directions
• Apply non-manual signals
• Converse about occupations and fields of study
• Use 'become' and 'to be' in conversation
• Express plans and give recommendations

Textbook: Master ASL! Level One by Jason E. Zinza
ISBN: 978-1881133209

American Sign Language - Conversations and Presentations:
(3 hours per week for 6 weeks)

The American Sign Language (ASL) Conversations and Presentations course is designed for students who have completed ASL 5. Students will expand their ASL vocabulary and develop fluency by having discussions and doing presentations about topics of interest in current events, popular culture and their professional lives. The teacher will provide corrective feedback and guide the discussions.