Auslan Report
Welcome to our last Auslan newsletter for Term 1! Grade Preps will be learning the topics Describing Animals and Numbers. Grades 1-6 students will learn about Size and Shape. When learning to describe Animals, Grade Preps will learn these words in Auslan: Fur, feather, smooth, rough, smelly, jumpy, slow and fast. The activity will involve the teacher and students sitting in a circle. The first person to start must sign an animal (eg. pig). The person next to them must try and sign a describing sign for that animal (eg. pink, smelly). Each student will have an opportunity to sign an animal and describe them as they go around in a circle. As an extra activity, Grade Preps will draw their favourite animal and describe it using the Auslan signs.
When learning about Numbers, Grade Preps will learn to sign numbers from 1 - 10. The learning activity will require the teacher and students to stand in a circle and play silent Buzz. This is played by the teacher picking a Buzz number between 1-10. On the Buzz number the student must not sign the number but sign anything else - like a letter of the Alphabet or a colour or any sign they remember. Grade Prep students will also learn to sign to the song “Once I Caught a Fish Alive”.
Grades 1-6 will learn about Size and explore the signs: small and big, and how to indicate size in Auslan. In a class group, Grade 1/2 students will discuss and practice what was taught in the video about indicating size in Auslan. They will consider the Goldilocks and 3 Bears story and indicate the sizes of the 3 bowls, chairs and beds. Students will return to their tables to draw the 3 bowls, chairs and beds and with their partner beside them, they will practise how they would indicate the size differences in Auslan, e.g. use hands to shape a small, medium and larger bowl or bed by moving hands further apart. Grade 3/4 students will do a similar activity but it will involve telling the story and enacting using constructed actions and depicting signs. Grade 5/6 students will do an activity that will involve dividing the class into 4 groups and doing assigned tasks. Group 1 will focus on Balls by indicating the size and how you would hold/play with a golf ball, tennis ball, basketball and beach ball. Group 2. will focus on Cups by indicating the size and how you would drink from a small coffee cup, teacup, mug or extra large mug. Group 3 will focus on Boxes and will indicate the size and how you would carry boxes of various sizes - tiny, small, middle sized and large. Group 4 will focus on Books and will be required to indicate the size and how you would hold and open the pages/read a very small book, a small, a middle sized and extra large/big book. Each group will work as a team to complete their task and return to the whole group to ‘report’ to the class.
When learning about Shape, students will practise signing the following words: shape, square, triangle, circle, cube, pyramid and sphere (3D circle). Grade 1/2 students will do an activity that involves The Triangle Game (3 Shapes - square, triangle, circle). To play the game, a picture of each Shape will be placed on various walls/ places in the room. The Teacher will give the Coloured Shape signs and the students have to move to stand near that picture asap. The last person (or two) to arrive are out and the game will continue until the last one or two students are left. The Grade 3/4 students will play the Make the Shape game. This will be played by the class being split into 2 or 3 groups. The teacher will choose one group and sign a shape. The group’s task is to make that shape using their bodies. Students will need to guess the shape and use Auslan to indicate. The game will continue until all groups participate. Grade 5/6 students will play Shape ‘I Spy’: A student will need to stand in front of the class and find an item in the room and sign the shape and/or size. The other students will raise their hands for a turn to guess and will be encouraged to sign or fingerspell which will give an opportunity for students to be challenged.
As our students build their repertoire of words, engage in conversations and enjoy practising signs together as learnt by our students! Please scan the QR Code below which will provide you with YouTube videos to assist in practising together at home.
Keep updated on learning Auslan each fortnight in our Partners in Learning Newsletter in Term 2! Well done to all students learning Auslan in Term 1!
Jess Pfister
