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Wednesday, August 24, 2011

The Name Game


Most kindergarten teachers start the year off working on letter recognition. Often our students come with limited knowledge so we start with their name, like so many others who work with young children. Here is a sample of how I make mine. The photo goes in the left corner of the card and then I type in the student's name. The vowels are in red and we will work on these special helping letters a bit later. You know the drill but for those of you who may not here are a few simple activities you can do:
1. Have students identify the first letter of their name
2. Sort students who have the same first letter
3. Have students count the letters in their name
4. Clap out the syllables in each student's name and sort them this way
5. Build community by having entire class identify the student on the card
6. Put all the names together on a ring so students can use the names of their friends in their writing.
7. Sort boys and girls in a pocket chart
8. Have students take their name card to their seat when they are ready to practice writing their name

Why put the photo on the card? Many children in our program cannot recognize their name and need this scaffold to feel successful.

Later we give them cards with just their name and the photograph on the back. Obviously this is much more challenging for them.

Tell me what activities you like to do with their name.

12 comments:

Learning with Mrs. Parker said...

Fran,
Thanks for making me feel so smart. I do many of the same things. This year I am going to use Cindy's pocket chart idea using Piknik's photo editing program to upload my pictures.

Fran Kramer said...

What are you talking about? You are a super talented teacher. I love Cindy's idea and she has amazing tech skills to help all of us.
Fran

Barbara said...

SO Fran, I wonder is the print on the lines a FONT?? or a program?
I like that the name is on a line and I also like that it is not freehand writing...so how can I do it for my kids names??
thanks, Barbara
Ps..love the package I bought from TPT on the sight words...My kids love the necklaces!!

Fran Kramer said...

Yes Barbara it is a font. You have to purchase it. I am not sure where though.Try searching on the internet.
ABC Print Lined.
I am so happy you like the packet. The necklaces are a big hit with our kids. Try to get parents to make them in advance for you.
Fran

Allison said...

I love how you typed them with that font! I do the same type of names, but I also make a name bag. Each child gets a turn to bring the bag home for one night. The bag has name cards with just first names, pictures and letter tiles. I also include some of the name songs we sing. The children get to share the bag with families, make all of the names and teach the songs to their families. It is a hit every year, and it is a nice home-school connection.

bwolfe said...

In my room, I also take each child's picture, glue it to a piece of sentence strip with his/her name on it, and hang it on the word wall so they can glance at it during writing. I also make a second set and have it laminated to use as a writing center. If you write the name in a light colored marker, the kids LOVE to take Expo markers and trace over their classmates' names! :) It wipes off easily with a tissue!
www.bwolfe-wolfepack.blogspot.com

Chrissy said...

WooHoo!! I am currently doing 9 out of 10 on your list. :-) I feel like I just rocked a teacher evaluation!

ReadWriteSing

Cindy said...

HI Ladies,
Just got home from Curriculum Night a bit ago, I was going to bed and saw this post. ;-) (had to respond)
I am glad you like the post I had about making names for the pocket chart....You can use ANY font under the names, so if you find the lined font you want! Use it and then you can go back and change the color of the vowels. Also....just a tip, if you want to use the SAME photos only smaller and put them a sentence strip, simply use the SAME PowerPoint and tell it to print 2 slides per page. It will combine two of the slides when printing for a total of 8 small photos. I place the set of smaller photos in my writing center. Let me know if you need more instructions.

Teaching 123's & ABC's said...

Hi Fran,
I am looking for your "Learning to Write Numbers and count... that was a free printable. I cannot seem to find it any where on your blog or TPT site. Have you deleted this item?

Thank you so very much in advance.

I LOVE, LOVE your ideas! You are fantastic. Thank you for always sharing!

Jeannie

Cheryl said...

this post kind of freaked me out.. really it starts with letter recognition?
My daughter is starting kindergarten next week. She already reads. Well. Do you think I should discuss this with the kindergarten before she starts?

We Teach Like A Rockstar said...

Fran...Did you see the Pete the Cat Post on my blog? Check it out! Amber Have a great school year!

Stacey Kaiser said...

I have print off pictures and name cards then I have the kids sort them by boys and girls, match the picture and the name, sort by syllables, sort by first name. I usually hand write the names on sentence strips but your way would save A TON of time. I also use names in poems and nursery rhymes.