Genius Hour Project- Movie Trailer

This week I was able to use the iMovie application on my Macbook computer to create a movie trailer for my genius hour project. I was able to include a movie title, film award nominations, annotations, quotations, and even a credits screen using the application. I also included photographs of both me teaching and of me researching and practicing the ASL alphabet. Finally, the app let me edit my trailer to include artistic transitions and add a song of choice to play in the background. This assignment not only gave me the motivation to continue working on my project but also introduced me to a great app that could be used effectively in the classroom as a learning tool.

Please check out my 'Learning ASL: A Journey to Knowledge' iMove trailer under the 'My Movie Trailer' tab above! :)

Genius Hour Project- Chunk 2

The past week I have utilized the American Sign Language App that I downloaded to my phone and have been using the charts under the alphabet section to learn the next set of letters. I have now learned, practices, and memorized up to letter 'O' in the alphabet. I think the visuals in the app have helped me with the practice and memorization aspects of my genius hour goal. By class next week, I hope to have learned the next set of letters up to 'T'. This will leave me ample time to learn the final set and have time to practice the alphabet in it's entirety. 

By continuing to research resources available to aid me in my progress of my Genius Hour project, I have found another useful ASL website. 'Sporcle' is a website that quizzes your knowledge on the ASL alphabet. I will use this website for the next few weeks of my porject to track and assess my progress at each point. 

Genius Hour Project- Chunk 1

I have spent a lot of time simply memorizing the first letters in the American Sign Language Alphabet. Using the video from my last post, I have been able to learn the first 12 letters of the alphabet in sign. I discovered that I learn best through repetition. So, I watch the video and learn a letter sign, pause the video and practice, and then press play to move onto the next. I do this cumulatively so that I do not forget the first letters that I learned. I do this routine at the beginning of the week and practice the week's letters for the remainder of the week so that I am ready to move add on to my learning the following week.

Genius Hour Progress- Research

So far for my genius hour project (learning the alphabet in ASL and becoming comfortable in using it), I have spent my time researching the best ways to go about learning ASL. I have found a few online apps that are helpful in teaching the ASL alphabet. The app that best matches my learning style so far is simply titled "American Sign Language". I am a visual learner and this app uses pictures of hands to teach each of the letters. It also has sections of the app to learn words that begin with A, B, C, etc. so that I can extend my learning past my genius hour goal. I also have found that I learn best by playing youtube videos such as the one below.