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ASL fingerspelling

Type a name or a word and see it fingerspelled in the American Sign Language manual alphabet, one handshape per letter, then print it for a desk name tag or a practice card.

The worksheets below practice both ways: spelling your own name, and reading fingerspelled words, with an answer key. The desk strips put the whole alphabet in front of each student.

Paper:

Word or name

Hand size

Show the letters

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Worksheets

Fingerspell your name

Boxes for each letter, and the alphabet to copy from.

Read the fingerspelling: three-letter words

Eight words to read.

Show the answers

Read the fingerspelling: three-letter words, answer key

Read the fingerspelling: four-letter words

Eight words to read.

Show the answers

Read the fingerspelling: four-letter words, answer key

ASL alphabet desk strips

Four strips to cut out.

How to fingerspell

Use your dominant hand, held to the side at about shoulder height, palm facing the person you are signing to.
Keep a steady rhythm, one handshape after another, without bouncing the hand for each letter. Clear and even beats fast.
J and Z move: J traces a hook with the little finger, and Z draws the letter in the air with the index finger.
For a double letter, as in BOOK, signers usually make the handshape twice with a small move to the side, rather than holding it.

Fingerspelling is for names, places and words that have no sign of their own. Most everyday words in American Sign Language have their own signs, so fingerspelling is a small part of the language, not a way to sign everything. The hand drawings are the public domain wpclipart.com set from Wikimedia Commons, the same as the ASL alphabet chart.