

“Twenty Signs in American Sign Language You Should Know”
Lynn Granger, Karen Ralston, and Joe Smith, Itinerant Teachers for the
Deaf and Hard of Hearing
October 21, 2013
20
S.A.S.L.Y.N.2.K!!
Common Board Configuration
Date:
October 21st, 2013
Bell Ringer: Brainstorm words that every TA
Common Language: Vocabulary, Facial
expression, ASL, interpretive dance
might benefit from knowing in ASL! Avoid
p p nouns or names of your
y
g
proper
dog.
Agenda:
Learning Goals: Individuals will have a
basic working vocabulary, or, at least,
resources for ASL signs and usage.
*)Just some things about Deafness and ASL!
*) Those awesome signs (I sign, we sign, y’all
sign!)
*) Dance break
Benchmarks: Planning and Preparing to
meet the communication needs of
students.
Objective: Awesome Teacher Assistants
will be able to communicate and receive
basic needs of students with
communication discrepancies.
p
Essential Question: What is life about?
Why are we here? And how can I use ASL
to the benefit of others?
*) Bell Ringer Signs!!
Summarizing Activity: “Ticket Out!”
Can you sign one sign you didn’t know
before coming in here?
Next Steps: Generalization with
students and monitor success rates; 20
page dissertation over jet engines.
Bell Ringer: Brainstorm words that
every TA might benefit from knowing in
ASL! Avoid proper nouns or names of
your dog.
Vision Statement
 A dynamic, progressive and collaborative learning community embracing
change and diversity where every student will graduate with the skills needed to
succeed in postsecondary education and the workplace.
Mission Statement
 The mission of the Lake County Schools is to provide every student with
individual opportunities to excel.

Lake County Schools is committed to excellence in all curricular opportunities
and instructional best practices. This focus area addresses closing the
achievement gap, increased graduation rate, decreased dropout rate, increase
in Level 3 and above scores on the FCAT, achieving an increase in the number
of students enrolled in advanced placement and dual enrollment opportunities
and implementing the best practices in instructional methodology.
1. Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
2. Collaboration and Leadership
3. Agility and Adaptability
4. Initiative and Entrepreneurialism
5. Effective Oral and Written Communication
6. Accessing and Analyzing Information
7. Curiosity and Imagination


ASL stands for American Sign Language.
It is an actual language, so please be
respectful as such!
o Use when appropriate.
o Most use it without voicing, however, due to many situations, mouthing and
voicing are fine. (Most students are not native signers!)
 Facial expression is crucial to meaning!
 You are increasing immediacy in language-but it can
only increase when you increase your knowledge!
 Dialects abound (it’s not a written language), so be open!
 Today’s signs are most interjections and don’t constitute depth—but a beginning!

We’re focusing on signs—the manual alphabet and numbers
are very, very easy to come by. However, I’ll include them
here for reference, should you need a print copy.

Online:
o Lifeprint.com (still photos)
o ASLpro.com (flash drive, however, so can’t always work on iPads)
o HarrisComm.com

A Basic Course textbook
o Fantastic resource about sentences in ASL

Signs For Me
o Great for younger signers!

Memory aid: Think of the fist hand as representing your
head. When you raise and lower your fist, bending at the
wrist it represents your head nodding "yes.“

The sign "NO" can use either a polite double motion or a more
firm or definite single motion. It is also directional in nature-meaning, if I hold my hand off to my right and I point the palm
toward myself while doing the sign, it can mean "He told me
no."

The sign for "please" is made by placing your flat right hand
over the center of your chest. Move your hand in a
clockwise motion (from the observer's point of view, use a
circular motion towards your left, down, right, and back up)
a few times.

The sign for "thank you" is made by starting with the fingers
of your dominant hand near your lips. Your hand should be
a "flat hand." Move your hand forward and a bit down in the
direction of the person you are thanking. Smile (so they'll
know you mean it).

The sign for "bathroom" is made by forming the right hand
into the letter "t." The palm side is facing away from you.
Shake your hand side to side a couple times. Some people
use a twisting movement instead of the side to side shake.
Either is fine.

The sign for "finish" is made by placing both of your open
hands in front of you. Each hand should face you, with your
fingers pointing upward. Twist both hands quickly a couple
times ending with the palms pointing (somewhat) forward.
You can also do this sign with just a single twist which
makes it seem more "final.“



Indexing is when you point your index finger at a person who is or isn't in the
signing area. Sometimes we call that "present referent" and/or absent referent.
If the person is there, (present) you can just point at him to mean "HE" or "SHE."
You can point at an object to mean "IT."
If the person is not there, you can identify him by spelling his name (or some
other method of identification--like a "name sign," or maybe someone else has
spelled his name, or he was sitting in a chair and then got up and left), then you
can "index" him to a point in space. Now you have a referent for that person.
Once you have set up a referent, you can refer back to that same point each
time you want to talk about that person.

To establish that something belongs to someone, you can
aim the flat of your palm at the person or thing that is doing
the possessing



2 kinds:
Formal
Interjection

The general sign for "excuse" is made by extending your left
hand, palm up. Brush your right bent-hand fingertips
across the left palm starting with the pinky on your right
hand. Bend the large knuckles of the right hand slightly.
Keep the other knuckles straight.
Have you thought about a sign you’d like to use?

The sign for "stop" is made by extending your left hand,
palm upward. Sharply bring your open right hand down to
your left palm at a right angle.

The sign "come" uses a single quick movement:

Make the sign for "good" by placing the fingers of your right
hand against your lips. Move your right hand into the palm
of your left hand. Both hands should be facing upward.

Make the sign for "bad" by placing the fingers of your right
hand against your lips. Move your hand down and away. End
with your palm facing downward.

The sign for "read" uses the tips of your index and middle
fingers as if they were eyeballs. The non-dominant flat hand
functions as the "page" from which you are reading.

Draw the number 8 from the ‘heart’ outwards.

The sign for "nice" or "clean" is made by placing your left
hand in front of you, palm up and moving the flat palm of
your right hand across your left hand. (If you are right
handed).


To sign "slow," slide the dominant hand (right hand if you are right
handed) up the non-dominant forearm a short distance--starting at the
back of the base (left) hand. You only need to go a few inches.
Usage note: If you do this sign "very fast" it means "very slow." If you
start the sign and hold it in place for a moment, then roll your eyes and
then finish it quickly it means very, very slow.

The letter “H,” shaken up and down.

Use a bent right and move it into the flat palm of the left.







“What is your name?”
“Are you okay?”
“Ready for _________?”
“Where do you live? Where is it?”
“Are you sick?”
“Are you hurt?”
“You should buy a pizza for the sign language teacher.”

What signs or phrases should the ENTIRE class know?

Ticket out when we’re done!
Please complete our course
evaluation.
Thank you for joining us today!