Integrating ASL in the Classroom
Jenning Prevatte, M. Ed.
Learning American Sign Language (ASL) is easy, fun, and has multiple benefits for hearing children! Early childhood educators provide the gift of the third largest language in the U.S., ASL! Integrating ASL enhances your teaching practice and children’s language skills. This versatile teaching strategy supports whole-body learning with hearing children, English language learners, & children with exceptionalities. Not only are you supporting multilanguage education, but you are also supporting development in all other domains. Integrating ASL into your early childhood classroom is by far the best and most versatile teaching strategy, in my opinion.
A versatile teaching strategy supports whole-body learning.
So, where to start? I have created an eLearning course to support early childhood educators in integrating ASL into their classrooms. I provide the science behind why this strategy is so versatile, ways to incorporate it into your classroom and teach you 100 critical early childhood words in ASL! Sure, you can learn ASL by watching YouTube videos. Still, I’ve learned that just adding ASL into your teaching practice without genuinely understanding the why behind your choice is not always the best teaching decision, especially when families or administrators start asking questions. You need to understand and articulate the science behind your decision. That is what makes taking a course so valuable.
Taking the course Using American Sign Language in the Classroom can help you easily integrate ASL into your Classroom and have the fundamental scientific knowledge and understanding to communicate it to families and administrators to gain their support. Children learn ASL more efficiently and less frustrated when everyone is supportive and involved.
Plus, you can gain this quality understanding in as little as 6 hours.
Our eLearning course is at a 20% discount of $45. from our normal price of $57 for a limited time at Teach Brilliantly eLearning.
This includes three 2-hour professional learning certificates.
Still, looking for more? Here are five tips for integrating ASL into your classroom.
Provide visual resources – Use visual resources such as flashcards, posters, and videos to help students learn and remember signs more quickly.
Incorporate ASL into activities – Incorporate ASL into activities such as storytelling, nursery rhymes, and songs to make them more engaging and memorable. Producing a positive emotion with learning boosts dopamine in the brain. Dopamine is the “sticky” stuff in the brain that helps the building block of memory. Therefore, enhancing the retrieval of ASL vocabulary words.
Encourage language development through daily routines – Daily routines are essential for children learning ASL. The positive repetition and predictable routines support attention. Therefore, providing the brain an opportunity to build schemas and sense psychological safety. To integrate ASL into your daily routines, identify essential daily routines and support language development by teaching those keywords to support communication.
Incorporate tactile & kinesthetic learning – ASL, by nature, is tactile and kinesthetic. You can incorporate ASL into your lessons by using fingerspelling, teaching key vocabulary words in ASL, and playing games, like matching signs with objects, to enhance children’s learning. Recent studies have shown that movement enhances understanding. When we get the whole body involved, children’s comprehension increases. ASL creates opportunities for children to move while engaging in the learning process.
Download our free ASL Fingerspelling Poster
Signup for our FREE ASL Toolkit with lots of freebies and white papers to add to the fun
Make it fun – Make learning ASL fun and enjoyable for students. Use games, puzzles, and other activities to motivate students. Remember, producing a positive emotion with learning boosts dopamine in the brain. The more “sticky” stuff, the stronger the connection is in the neural pathway.
In my eLearning course, Using American Sign Language (ASL) in the Classroom, you will learn even more about why and how to integrate ASL into your classroom.
I look forward to seeing you in class!
Book, Book, Books!
Do you want to further your studies and learn to Teach Brilliantly? Check out our new recommended books for your teaching adventure.
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Are you looking for ASL resources to add to your classroom?
Our sister company, Sprouting New Beginnings, has over 70 American Sign Language resources designed to support teachers in providing fun and engaged learning opportunities.
Our resources are on Teachers Pay Teachers; many are under $7!