1. A Meeting of Minds: Developing ASL Discourse Through a Morning Meeting
Or: Discourse Competency in 15 minutes a Day

2. Goals for the Morning Meeting
To modify existing morning meeting structures and events to specifically facilitate the linguistic growth of Deaf students in both ASL and English
To develop group communication skills and ASL discourse competence

3. Goals….
To increase students’ metalinguistic awareness of and skill in using ASL and English
To increase students’ identification with the culture of Deaf people

4. Why a morning meeting?
Students must develop conversational language in order to develop academic language
Deaf students from hearing families need support in developing conversational skills in ASL
After preschool, little instructional time is devoted to developing discourse competence

5. What is ASL discourse competence?
The ability to use eye gaze, tactile cues and visual cues appropriately
The ability to use ASL to converse, question, discuss, joke and obtain information

6. Why is ASL discourse competence so important?
The lack of sophisticated competence translates into limited academic achievement
Vital for full participation in class
ASL is a significant part of being Deaf

7. Features of the Morning Meeting
Greeting
Group Activity
Sharing
News and Announcements

8. Greeting Written message uses ASL and English
Co-operative and peer mediated
Practices ASL conversational skills
Builds metalanguage

9. Group Activity Builds community
Uses language based games to teach aspects of ASL poetry/storytelling
Develops knowledge of and skill in using ASL

10. Sharing Makes connections between home and school
Builds public speaking, listening and questioning skills
Language development—”I+1”

11. News and Announcements
Cognitively demanding—abstract
Develops academic language
Develops socio-cultural awareness
Engages the students in ‘real talk’

12. Learning Features Teacher modeling/scaffolding Peer-mediated learning
Reflective talk/self-evaluation
Real talk

13. Through the Morning Meeting, the students will develop the following:
Communicative Competence
Language competence
Group process skills
Ways of accessing the social world to get information