Teaching With Terhune: Alphabet Posters with ASL Hand Signs

Every summer, as teachers begin prepping their classrooms for the new school year, I receive tons of requests for my Alphabet Posters with ASL Hand Signs in different designs to match all kinds of classroom themes and décor. Over the years, I’ve happily created custom versions for many of you — and now I’ve made it even easier!

🎉 You can now change the background of these posters yourself!

This new updated version allows you to insert any background image using PowerPoint, so you can fully customize your alphabet posters to match your classroom aesthetic. Even better? If you change your classroom theme in the future, you can simply swap out the background image and reuse the same poster download year after year!

Why These Posters Stand Out

These aren’t your average alphabet posters. In addition to visuals and keyword pictures, each letter features the American Sign Language (ASL) hand sign for that letter — This makes the posters a powerful tool for:

Multisensory learning
English Language Learners (ELLs)
Students with hearing impairments
Students with diverse learning styles

Each letter poster comes in four different skin tone options to reflect classroom diversity. Pick and choose which hands you want to include in your poster set.

Alphabet Posters with American Sign Language

Plus, a printable ASL reference handout is included, so students can easily review all 26 hand signs at a glance!

Letter-Sound Support with Keyword Pictures

Each poster includes a labeled keyword picture to support letter recognition and letter sound support. Here are the keywords I've included:

A – apple
B – bat
C – cup
D – dog
E – elephant
F – fish
G – goat
H – house
I – igloo
J – jam
K – kite
L – leaf
M – mittens
N – nest
O – octopus
P – pig
Q – queen
R – rabbit
S – sock
T – table
U – umbrella
V – violin
W – wagon
X – x-ray
Y – yarn
Z – zipper

Need a different keyword to match your curriculum? I’ve added custom keywords for teachers in the past, so don’t hesitate to message me with your request!

Bonus Feature: Vowel Posters with Red Text

To help students easily identify vowels, I’ve also included an optional version of the vowel posters with red lettering. This subtle color cue helps distinguish vowels from consonants at a glance.

Fonts Available

These editable posters are available in three font styles to match your classroom handwriting instruction:

Manuscript
D’Nealian
Cursive

How to Change the Background in PowerPoint

Here's how to change the background to match your classroom theme:

Open the PowerPoint file.
In the left-hand slide panel, right-click on any letter slide.
Select “Format Background…”
In the panel on the right, choose “Picture or texture fill.”
Under Picture Source, click “Insert…” and select “From a File.”

*You can use images from your files, the web, digital papers/backgrounds from Teachers Pay Teachers, etc.
Browse your computer to select the image you’d like to use as your new background.
Click “Apply to All” — and you're done!