Hi Rorey, thanks for your comment! There are a lot of ways you can 'customize' this unit to make it work for your team. If you google "name art projects for kids" there are tons of ideas for an art component to go along with this unit. (For example, one art teacher has a creative project for turning a cursive name into an alien picture - see www.artprojectsforkids.org/2008/07/name.html.)
If you're looking to step things up a bit for an older group, I'd suggest looking at the fourth chapter of The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros instead of Gooney Bird Greene. The fourth chapter, "My Name," is about the character Esperanza's feelings about her name. It covers some more mature themes in regards to culture and identity.
Hi Rorey, thanks for your comment! There are a lot of ways you can 'customize' this unit to make it work for your team. If you google "name art projects for kids" there are tons of ideas for an art component to go along with this unit. (For example, one art teacher has a creative project for turning a cursive name into an alien picture - see www.artprojectsforkids.org/2008/07/name.html.)
If you're looking to step things up a bit for an older group, I'd suggest looking at the fourth chapter of The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros instead of Gooney Bird Greene. The fourth chapter, "My Name," is about the character Esperanza's feelings about her name. It covers some more mature themes in regards to culture and identity.
Good luck with your planning!