FL 5990: American Sign Language I

Essential Question: How does communicating in more than one language create opportunities to connect with people from other cultures? 

Unit Title and Time

My Identity

Quarter 1

My Free Time

Quarter 2

My School Life

Quarter 3

My Community

Quarter 4

Image Cue

Focus of the Story

Everyone has a story to tell about our lives, our families, and our culture. We  will begin our language learning journey by learning how to introduce ourselves  to others and describe what makes us unique. We will explore how we are similar to and different from our peers and those who live in places where the language we are learning is spoken.

Our identity often connects to what we like to do with our free time. Culture shapes how we spend our free time and what we do for fun. We will continue to build our language skills as we identify and describe what activities we like to do in our free time. We  will also explore how people who live in other parts of the world spend their free time and how it compares to the things we like to do. 

Going to school is a huge part of a teen’s daily life. As we build our vocabulary and learn to understand and express more complex ideas in the language we’re learning, we will discuss what school is like for us and explore how it compares to students in other cultures. 

In the final unit, we  will turn to the wider world to explore what it means to be part of a community. We  will identify and describe our favorite places and people in the local community and consider how communities are similar and different in other parts of the world. We will also reflect on how far we have come on our language learning journey and evaluate our progress toward reaching our goals for language proficiency. 

Transfer Goals

• Interact with others in spoken, signed, or written conversations both within and beyond the classroom to share information, reactions, feelings, and opinions. (Knowledgeable, Communicators and Collaborators)
• Comprehend, analyze, and interpret what is heard, read, or viewed on a variety of topics. (Knowledgeable, Thinkers and Inquirers)
• Present information and ideas on a variety of topics and in a variety of media formats to audiences of listeners, readers, or viewers. (Knowledgeable, Communicators and Collaborators)
• Explore the practices, products, and perspectives of a given culture to understand what makes it unique, special, and vibrant. (Cross-Culturally Competent, Thinkers and Inquirers)
• Analyze diverse perspectives to develop an understanding that there are multiple ways of viewing the world. (Thinkers and Inquirers, Cross-Culturally Competent)
• Set goals and reflect on my progress in using languages for enjoyment, enrichment, and advancement. (Balanced, Resilient Learners)

Learning Targets

• I can talk  or write about myself and my family, including basic biographical information, physical appearance, and personality traits. 
• I can understand when I listen to or read about others describing themselves and their families. 

• I can talk or write about what I like and do not like to do in my free time.
• I can give reasons for why I like the activities I like or dislike.
• I can understand when others tell me about what  they like or do not like to do. 
• I can ask for and give information about where people go to do different activities. 

• I can talk or write about my daily school life, including activities and classes.
• I can understand when I read or listen to others sharing about their daily school life. 
• I can identify some differences and similarities between my daily school life and that of the target language culture. 

• I can identify popular places in my community and can write or talk about what people do in those places. 
• I can understand when others share about their communities and ask me about mine.