Activities & Games

The Top 22 Activities & Games

Here are the most commonly used games and activities used in class.

Some of the activities have videos to help you get an idea of how it goes.

Spell Sign 1st period.MOV

#1 Spell Sign Drill

This is one of the best skill building activities students can do. The basic drill is one partner spells a word and the other one signs it. Students can also do more complex activities like describing the sign to their partner instead of spelling it and also have a brief conversation using the sign.

4 in a row.MOV

#2 Four in a Row

This is one of the best activities in ASL since everyone plays and uses a variety of skills with several partners. Each team sits 4 in a row, but each of 2 pairs on a team works independently to get all the answers. The 2 teams that get the answers first win that round. Each round can be a different kind of task. In general, 5 things are listed on the front screen. The partner facing the screen spells, signs, acts out or describes the signs listed to their partner, depending on what that round says to do.

4 in a row 2.MOV

4 in a row 3.MOV

IMG_0200.MOV

#3 Telephone

This activity has many variations to help develop a variety of skills such as:

Learning new signs
Spelling
Sentence Practice

Describe the sign.MOV

#4 Describe the Sign

This is a great activity to use all your skills, signing, spelling, acting out in order to communicate something, which is very useful in normal conversation too. This can be played in groups as seen in the videos or in pairs playing tournament style. It also can be incorporated in the game, "4 In a Row."

Describe the sign.MOV

Describe the Sign Tournament

Describe the Sign Tournament.MOV

IMG_1170.MOV

#5 Headbandz

This is a version of Describe the Sign and is great for practicing new signs at a more advanced level. One person from each group puts on the head band with a card/word on it. The other students in the group describe the sign to the person with the head band until they sign it. Students take turns wearing the head band and guessing the signs.

#6 Find Someone

This is a good activity for sentence practice using current vocabulary.

A sheet of sentences using new vocabulary is used to ask other students if that sentence applies to them. For example, find someone who . . . was sick last week. The sentences vary and are tailored to your recent vocabulary.

Find Someone.MOV

Pass the Sign Video.MOV

#7 Pass The Sign

This is a great activity for helping to remember new signs. Each student gets a sign and then they sign their own sign followed by someone else's sign (to pass it) meanwhile someone in the middle tries to catch the person who has the sign before they can pass it.

Pass the sign video 2.MOV

IMG_1127.MOV

#8 Suppose

This is a great activity for sentence practice using new vocabulary, which is projected on a large screen. Students sit in a horse shoe shaped formation. One student signs a sentence starting "SUPPOSE . . . then for the most part uses at least one sign from the screen . . . whoever that sentence applies to must find another chair while there is always one student left standing who must sign the next sentence. SUPPOSE YOU HEARING . . . would then result in all the hearing students moving to a new chair.

Macarena.MOV

Find New Seat Transition.MOV

#9 Musical Chairs Partners

This is a great activity for sentence and conversation practice and allows students to sign with a variety of students they choose. Sentences or conversation topics are projected on the board and when they hear the music, it's time to change sentences/topics and partners.

Find New Seat Conversation Kiara.MOV

#10 Near Far

It's the hot cold game using the NMS for near (SC) Medium (MM) and far (ahh)

No hands in this one, just those 3 NMS (Non Manual Signals)

Near Far Kate.MOV

Near Far Kiara.MOV

#11 Hot Cold/Eyebrows

This version of the hot cold game uses only eyebrows for clues.

Raised eyebrows means you're getting hotter.

Lowered eyebrows means you're getting colder.

This is a great way to practice and emphasize the use of facial grammar.

Round Robin Video 2.MOV

#12 Round Robin

This is great for sentence practice using a variety of partners.

Sentence sheets (all questions) are layed out on a table alternating asking to answering so that as students rotate around the tables, they ask or answer a variety of sentences using recently learned vocabulary.

This activity was borrowed from Dr. Bill Vicars the man who developed lifeprint.com when I first started teaching ASL.

Round Robin Jason.MOV

#13 Battle Ship

This is a good activity to practice new vocabulary.

You play it just like the game it's named after except you search for the opponents' ships by signing 2 signs that align to specific squares on the grid sheet.

#14 Draw My Picture

This uses a grid/sign sheet exactly like Battle Ship except in this game, you draw a picture on your grid sheet, then sign the coordinates to your partner who then draws your picture on one of their grids.

#15 Find The Penny

Great way to practice giving directions. Hide a penny (inside the classroom) and then have partners give directions (from outside the classroom) exactly where the penny is. First team to find the penny wins that round. This can be done outside and involve the entire class each round, otherwise inside, you may have to limit the number of teams playing each round.

IMG_1142.MOV

#16 Handshape Game

This is a good game to review signs, especially after a break or at the beginning of the year.

Separate into teams each having white boards, markers and erasers. They are given a handshape and the number of hands (1 or 2) to come up with as many signs as they can in the time given.

#17 The Sign is Right

#18 Fast Spelling

Teams get to choose the speed of the spelled word, fast (5 points), medium (3 points) or slow (1 point). They get one guess then the other teams get a shot, but the word is not spelled again unless no team guesses it right.

#19 Slingo

Playing Bingo using signs. Good way to practice new signs and numbers.

New Signwave video 2.MOV

#20 The New Sign Wave

This is a fun way to practice new signs when they are first taught.

New SignWave.MOV

New Signwave video.MOV

#21 Person Place or Thing Game

This game is based on an old game where you can only ask someone yes or no questions until you arrive at the exact person, place or thing they have chosen before you start. This can be a team game where each team signs questions to the 1 person at the front who is only shaking their head yes or no.

Fall 2023 Spell Sign Class Champions

#22 The Spell Sign Game

One partner spells to another across the room competing against other teams of 2. Can be a team or tournament game. Each speller has to decide how fast they will spell considering will their partner understand it.