American Sign Language Series II Lesson 4: Grassland, Water and Zoo Animals
By Elaine Ernst Schneider
By Elaine Ernst Schneider
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Series II Lesson 4: Grassland, Water and Zoo Animals
| Signs | Description of Sign Action |
| alligator | Starting with open hands slightly curved like alligator jaws, move hands together, interlocking fingers when they meet. |
| elephant | Using a right curved “B” hand, trace an imaginary elephant’s trunk from your nose outward. |
| frog | Hold a closed right hand under the chin, palm facing down. Flick out right and middle fingers to indicate the jumping of a frog. |
| giraffe | Place a right “C” hand at the neck and then move it upward and outward as if tracing the exceptionally long neck of the giraffe. |
| hippopotamus | Using curved hands, left tips up and right tips down, place fingertips together. Open hands wide and then close again, to imitate the opening and closing of a hippo’s mouth. |
| kangaroo | Hold curved “b” hands slightly in front of the body, palms down. Then move hands up and down twice to imitate the jumping of a kangaroo. |
| lion | Hold a cupped open-fingered right hand at the forehead’s hairline. Then move the hand backward across the curve of the top of the head, illustrating the lion’s mane. |
| monkey | With curved hands, pantomime scratching sides as a monkey would. |
| shark | Place a right “B” hand between the fingers of theleft hand (two fingers on each side of the “B” hand). Hold hands in that position as you move them to the side. Hint: The right hand represents the shark’s fin that is visible above the water, which is illustrated by the left hand. |
| snake | With a curved “V” hand (illustrating the fangs of the snake) move forward from the chin, slightly rotating the hand. |
| tiger | Move open hands (fingers slightly bent) across the eyes and outward, illustrating the tiger’s stripes. |
| zebra | Place open hands on the center of the chest and move both hands outward simultaneously. |
Time for a review quiz: Animals and Fingerspelling printable worksheet – click here
Continue on to Lesson 5: Food – Fruits – click here
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