ASL Sizzling Summer Camp: 1 Week Beginner Sign Language Camp! (Ages 5-8)

Ready... Set... Summer Camp!! 
👋Welcome to this 4-day beginner summer camp for learners ages 5-8! This is an introductory beginner camp, no prior ASL experience is required. 


🤟🏽I love learning and teaching American Sign Language and look forward to sharing my passion with all my students!
This is an exciting and fun introductory course where your child will learn a basic overview of American Sign Language. Students will learn over 100 signs as well as over 10 sentences. 

These classes will be very interactive, we will have lots of time to practice and play many interactive games! Students will be encouraged to sign the vocabulary words and sentences as well as be given the opportunity to come up with their own sentences/ask questions to myself and other students during class.

Through videos, demonstration, games, participation, and hands-on learning, by the end of the course, each learner will be able to sign their alphabet, colors, numbers, family signs, summer signs, and simple sentences and phrases. The phrases that will be introduced will be phrases useful in everyday social situations. Each week, each learner will have ample time to learn and practice the signs.  Proper finger and hand formation will accompany each new sign.
I hope to see your learner in my classroom! 😊

The class time will go as follows: 
Introduction (3 minutes), Warm-Up/Review (3 minutes) Lesson (25 minutes) Game (6 minutes) Wrap Up/Practice with Others  (5 minutes), Closing/Homework / What's Next (3 Minutes). 

📅Class 1: 
-ASL Alphabet + Alphabet signing song 
-Fingerspelling our names
-Introduce ourselves
-Learn to sign the phrases "What is your name?" + "My name is ___". 
-Practice fingerspelling words
-Game: Guess the word

📅Class 2: 
-Numbers (1-30)
-Learn to sign the phrases "How old are you?" + "I am ___ years old")
-Game: Number hunt, count to 21, number codes 

📅Class 3:
-Family Signs (mom, dad, brother, sister, grandpa, uncle, aunt) 
-Learn the sign phrases "Who is in your family?", "My family has 5 people: my mom, my dad, my brother, my sister, and me"
-Common word signs (hello, sorry, please, thank you, bathroom, how are you? I understand, I don't understand, please, etc.)
-Game: Simon says + Guess the sign

📅Class 4:
-Summer signs: beach, sun, clouds, play, swim, summer foods, summer animals
-Review of our signs learned in previous classes 
-Games: ASL 21 questions, Simon Says, ASL bingo 

🧠Why learn ASL? Benefits of Learning American Sign Language 
•Develops gross and fine motor skills
•Foster early language development
•Assists with letter recognition
•Helps build vocabulary
•Promotes better awareness and sensitivity to the deaf and hard-of-hearing community
•Develops focus and concentration 
•Boosts self-confidence
•Supports letter and word recall
•Strengthen memory and problem-solving skills 
•Strengthen teacher/caregiver bonding
•Fosters a love of learning

📓Class policy: Since ASL is a visual language each student must have their camera on during this class so that I can help them with the correct hand forms and locations, this is an essential part of learning in this course. Students will also be engaging and practicing their ASL signs and their hands must be seen for this.

Additional Notes: 
Many signs have multiple versions, similar to regional words in English. In this class, I will teach the versions that I was taught, but you may see a different sign for the same word in classes with other teachers.
While I have significant knowledge of ASL, I am a part of the hearing community and have different experiences than those of the deaf community. If you are seeking a truly immersive ASL learning experience, I highly encourage you to learn with Deaf teachers on Outschool or in your community.