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Title: American Sign Language Title: American Sign Language Description: Sign language throughout American history and how it impacts 21st century life Grade Level : 9-12 Curriculum: English/Language Arts Keywords: Sign language, 21st century, History. Introduction
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Title: American Sign Language Title:American Sign Language Description: Sign language throughout American history and how it impacts 21st century life Grade Level: 9-12 Curriculum:English/Language Arts Keywords:Sign language, 21st century, History
Introduction Many of you are familiar with what sign language is, but you may not know how sign language came to be or how it changed over time. During this web quest, pretend you have a time machine and can travel through sign language history in America. Your job is to discover the impact sign language has on the 21st century. You will learn much about sign language's history. By the end of this web quest you will be able to answer some questions and maybe some of your own.
Task • (Choose one of the following tasks.) • Write a short letter to your principal of why it would be beneficial to have a Sign Language Class in your school. • Make a timeline of important triumphs in Sign Language throughout the language world. Pick three events from the time line and explain how they impact today's deaf life. • Pretend to interview a deaf person. Pick five questions and give detailed answers for each question.
Process • Task 1: A Short Letter To Your Principle • Research why you think it is beneficial to have a Sign Language Class in your school. • Write a brief letter, no less than five paragraphs, to your principle explaining how • a Sign Language class would be beneficial to your school. • Persuade your principle that is is important to know Sign Language today. • Also explain why you, the student body, would enjoy this class. • Make sure to use proper letter format and grammar. • Remember: This letter could be going to your principle! • Resources: • Proper letter format: • http://www.chebeague.org/powellmcgillicuddy/socialstudieslinks/penpal/letterformat.htm • Benefits of knowing sign language: • http://www.lifeprint.com/asl101/topics/benefits_of_learning_how_to_sign.htm • http://deafness.about.com/cs/signfeats1/a/foreignlanguage.htm • http://drdeborahserani.blogspot.com/2006/08/sign-language-benefits.html
Process • Task 2: Timeline • Pick eight facts/years you think are important in sign language history from the resources provided. • Construct a typed/handwritten timeline including the eight facts you have chosen. • Give a brief description of each fact in about one or two sentences. • When you are finished making your time line, pick three facts/years that interest you. • Explain why you think each fact/year is important in today's deaf community. • Make sure to include an MLA heading and a title. • Resources: • How to make a timeline on Microsoft Word: • http://www.ehow.com/how_4777777_make-timeline-word-document.html • Sign Language history: • http://www2.uic.edu/stud_orgs/cultures/daa/ASLHistory.htmlhttp://www.start-american-sign-language.com/history-of-sign-language.htmlhttp://www.handspeak.com/byte/h/index.php?byte=signhistory
Process Task 3: Interview • Imagine you are interviewing a deaf person. • Pick five questions from the list: Is the effect of deafness similar to blindness? What causes deafness? Do all deaf people have the same experience of hearing loss? How is deafness measured? What is the incidence of deafness? How do deaf people communicate? Is deadness a disability? What is the "deaf community?" How do people who are both deaf and blind cope? How do deaf people manage at work? Are deaf people most likely to have other physical or mental health problems? • After you have picked five questions, research your answers. • Answer each question in about three sentences. • Make sure to include an MLA heading and title. Resources: http://www.aadb.org/FAQ/faq_DeafBlindness.html#resources http://deafness.about.com/od/hearingbasic1/a/faqindex.htm http://www.snappyfingers.com/faq/health/deafness/ http://www.hayfield.org.uk/content/general/deafinformation.htm
Writing Rubric for Letter 3 2 1 Persuasive Letter somewhat persuades principle to start a sign language class. Format Letter is written in correct letter formal including heading. Letter does not follow proper format. Content Letter is five paragraphs containing a good amount of information. Letter is four paragraphs or does not contain enough information. Letter is less than four paragraphs or does not contain any relevant information. Facts Letter uses specific facts from the website so prove/explain their reasoning. Mechanics All words are spelled correctly and grammar is used correctly. Some grammar or spelling mistakes. Too many spelling and grammar mistakes. Evaluation Task 1 Letter is not persuasive. Letter completely persuades principle to start a sign language class by using persuasive language. Letter is somewhat in correct format. Letter does not use any specific facts. Letter does not use enough specific facts or does not use reasoning.
Rubric for Timeline 3 2 1 Facts Timeline includes eight facts. Timeline includes five to seven facts. Timeline includes less than five facts. Description Each fact includes a description, one to two sentences long. Not all facts have descriptions. None of the facts have descriptions. Timeline Timeline is constructed properly. Timeline is somewhat constructed properly. Timeline is completely wrong or there is not a time line. Facts that Interest you Three facts are chosen and explained why you think they are important in todays deaf community. Less than three facts are chosen or not explained well. No facts are chosen or not explained at all. Evaluation Task 2
Rubric for Questions 3 2 1 Five Questions are Picked All five questions are answered. Less than three questions are answered. Research and Correctness All answers provide a good amount of research and have correct answers. Not all answers are researched or correct. None of the answers are researched or correct. Content All answers have at least three sentences. Most answers have less than three sentences. Evaluation Task 3 Three or four questions are answered. Some questions have less than three sentences.
Conclusion Congratulations! You have officially conquered this web quest!Now that you are finished, I hope you have more knowledge and a better understanding of the deaf community.
Teacher Page • The purpose of this activity is to show students how important sign language is today. • To understand sign language's effects on the 21st century, students need to know the history of sign language. • By creating a time line students discover sign language's history and it's way • of impacting 21th century life. • By writing a short letter to your principle, students research facts about sign language to persuade their principle on why a sign language class would be beneficial to their school. Students learn why sign language really is important. • By interviewing a deaf person, students discover real questions they would like to ask a deaf person. Students research correct answers and discover what it can really be like to be deaf. • For this activity students should work alone and have one class period to complete their activity. • Students may also trade papers to revise and edit.