Constructivism

I once did a lesson on George Washington for fourth graders, so I will discuss the sequence of skills necessary for ultimate mastery of the content. In terms of constructivism, they should be exploring and discovering information about him for themselves.

First I would ask them  if they knew anything about George Washington. I would include vocabulary and new signs into this step. After making sure they know that he was the first president of the united states, I would ask them why he is important to history, and why we should learn about him in school. Then I would give each of the students a sheet with information about him on it, and they will share with the class what they learned about George Washington. After this activity, I would ask the students to write down what their favorite thing about George Washington is.

I think this activity is good for the group, since they have to pay attention to learn trivia about the first president. Below, I just found a little site that has information about GW.

http://thelongestlistofthelongeststuffatthelongestdomainnameatlonglast.com/trivia93.html

Chapter 6

The essential skills I would like for my students to have is proper communication, and intellectual skills.   Since my students are simultaneously learning two languages, I think memory and organization is crucial for learning. Maybe by having them learn words by what they look like on the mouth, and what the sign is in relation to the word. Then this can contribute to learning materials and topics. Like with math, memory is essential in order for students to understand it. 

I think a teacher's knowledge of the memory process is very influential for giving instructions to students. I think learning is best when it can be connected to something personal. So when I'm teaching, I might try to connect it to my students, then explain it piece by piece, and let them do some exploring of their own, like constructivism. 

Assessments

I think assessments are a very effective way to gage how much the students are actually learning. It's very important to ensure that my students are learning not only the information, but also the new vocabulary. It's important that they understand the vocabulary, know the signs for it, and are able to read and write it. Since deaf students tend to want to write the ASL translation of whatever they are working on, it is important that they learn the correct way to use their new information in english.

As a informal assessment, I would probably give them spelling tests. I could sign a word, and have them write down what that sign is. This helps with their vocabulary and spelling skills. I could also have them write a little journal about the subject. That would help their ASL to english grammar, and use of their new vocabulary.

As a formal assessment, I might have them do projects where they get up in front of the class and present. This would be a good way to grade them based on their use of the material. I could also give them a test like any other teacher would. I could do half be based on signing aspects, the other half on the english vocabulary of what we covered.

This website sort of shows how many other aspects of assessments can be used for deaf students. It goes beyond just educational assessments for the students.
http://www.ohioschoolforthedeaf.org/assessment.aspx