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ASL Time of Day

Fifth graders learn time-of-day signs in ASL — MORNING, DAY, NOON, NIGHT, SLEEP — many of which show the sun’s position with the arms. They sort them into daytime and nighttime.

Grade 5Time of Day45 minutes1 class periodACTFL / Visual LanguageExplicit teaching4 StandardsACTFL
Start the Lesson
Lesson at a Glance

Everything you need before the bell rings

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to…

  • ✓Sign time of day.
  • ✓See the sun-position signs.
  • ✓Sort day from night.
  • ✓Talk about the day.
Essential Question

ASL shows the time of day with the arms, like the sun rising and setting! Can you sort daytime from nighttime signs?

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Lesson Phases
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Vocabulary Terms
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Standards Aligned
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Interactive Task
Sort It · Interactive

Day or Night?

Project this and sort each sign into Daytime or Nighttime.

🌅 Sort each — a daytime or nighttime sign?Try it
☀️ Daytime
🌙 Nighttime
Tap a sign, then tap a box.
The Lesson · Visual-Language Flow (Warm-Up · Present · Practice · Sign · Reflect)

45 minutes, five moves

Tap any phase to open the teacher moves and student actions.

1

Warm-Up — The Sun’s Position

5 min

ASL shows time of day with the arms, like the sun — can you sort them?

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Show MORNING (sun rising).
  • Ask what time it shows.
  • Set the goal.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Look.
  • Guess.
  • Get ready.
2

Present — Time of Day

11 min

Students learn.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Model each sign.
  • Note the sun’s position.
  • Have students copy.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Watch.
  • Note it.
  • Copy.
3

Practice — Sort Them

12 min

Students practice.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Send students to Day or Night?
  • Sort each one.
  • Sign along.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Sort.
  • Sign.
  • Explain.
4

Sign — Sign

11 min

Students sign.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Sign MORNING and NIGHT.
  • Sign the time now.
  • Sign to a partner.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Sign it.
  • Sign it.
  • Sign.
5

Reflect — Reflect

6 min

Students close.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Sign a time of day.
  • Say day or night.
  • Complete the exit ticket.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Sign one.
  • Say it.
  • Complete the exit ticket.
Standards Alignment

Built to the standards you report on

Aligned to the ACTFL World-Readiness Standards for Learning Languages (Novice-Mid).

ACTFL
Communication 1.2

Interpretive: understand time signs.

ACTFL
Connections 3.1

Connect to the day and time.

ACTFL
Comparisons 4.1

Compare iconic signs.

ACTFL
Communication 1.1

Interpersonal: talk about the day.

Differentiation

One lesson, every learner

Multilingual Learners

ELL / EMERGING READERS
  • Time-of-day sign cards.
  • Model the arm positions.
  • Use a mirror.

Support & Access

IEP / 504
  • Start with MORNING and NIGHT.
  • Sort one at a time.
  • Copy together.

Stretch & Extend

GIFTED / EARLY FINISHERS
  • Add TODAY and TOMORROW.
  • Sign your daily routine.
  • Draw the sun’s path.
Materials

What to gather

  • 📽️Screen / board
  • 🌅Time-of-day cards
  • 💻Day or Night?
  • 🪩A mirror (optional)
  • ✏️Pencils
  • 🎫Exit-ticket slips
Vocabulary

Key terms — hover for a quick definition

time of daymorning, noon, night, etc.MORNINGarm rises like the sunDAYarm sweeps the sun’s pathNOONforearm straight upNIGHThand bends down, sun settingEVENINGhand tilts lowSLEEPhand pulls down the faceTODAY“NOW” + “DAY”
Evaluate

Exit Ticket

Preview the three formative checks. Tap “Sample answer” to see what mastery looks like — hide them before you print for students.

QUESTION 1
How do you sign MORNING?
One arm rises like the sun over the other arm.
QUESTION 2
Is NIGHT a daytime or nighttime sign?
Nighttime — the hand bends down like the sun setting.
QUESTION 3
How do you sign NOON?
Hold your forearm straight up (sun at the top).

Reflect: time of day.

Have students sign MORNING and NIGHT, showing the sun’s position. A printable ASL time-of-day sheet is in the World Languages library.

Study · Flashcards

Study the key terms

Tap a card to flip it, then rate whether you knew it. Built from this lesson’s vocabulary.

🃏 ASL Time of DayFlip
Card 1
Term
Tap to flip →
Meaning
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Nice work!

Practice · Quiz

Check your understanding

A quick self-check with instant feedback, drawn from this lesson’s key terms.

📝 ASL Time of DayQuiz
Score: 0
1 / 6
Question 1
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Nice work!

Practice · Worksheet

Printable worksheet

A print-and-go review sheet with a built-in answer key. Tap “Show answer key” to reveal answers, or print the clean version for students.

🖨️ ASL Time of DayPrint
Name: ________________________
Date: ____________

Part A · Write the word that matches each meaning

Word bank: DAY, EVENING, MORNING, NIGHT, NOON, SLEEP, time of day, TODAY
  1. arm sweeps the sun’s path
  2. hand bends down, sun setting
  3. hand pulls down the face
  4. hand tilts low
  5. morning, noon, night, etc.
  6. “NOW” + “DAY”
  7. forearm straight up
  8. arm rises like the sun

Part B · Show what you learned

  1. How do you sign MORNING?
  2. Is NIGHT a daytime or nighttime sign?
  3. How do you sign NOON?
Answer key — Part A: 1) DAY · 2) NIGHT · 3) SLEEP · 4) EVENING · 5) time of day · 6) TODAY · 7) NOON · 8) MORNING
Part B: 1) One arm rises like the sun over the other arm. 2) Nighttime — the hand bends down like the sun setting. 3) Hold your forearm straight up (sun at the top).