Materials:

• airtight plastic bags (one per child)
• chart paper
• oaktag paper
• markers and crayons
• adult scissors
• file labels

Objective: Children will work with cut-out letters as they learn to identify and organize the letters in their name.

In Advance: Send a note home to families encouraging them to talk to children about the origin of their names.

ACTIVITY

1. Talk to children about their names. Do some children in the class have the same (or similar) names? Are children named after someone special? Do children know if their names have meanings? ("Your name, Malinda, means Gentle one. David means Beloved.")

2. Write the children's names on chart paper. Encourage the children to read their names or identify the first letter in each of their names. Invite them to try to identify letters in each other's names.

3. On a sheet of oaktag, write the letters of each child's name in block style, (Make the first letter uppercase and the rest lowercase.) Use a black marker to outline each letter.

4. Provide children with the oaktag, along with crayons, markers, paints, and other art supplies to decorate the letters. When they are finished, cut out the letters. Use a black marker to trace their letters to make their names on a second sheet of oak tag or drawing paper. Place the letters in an airtight plastic bag. Write each child's name onto a file label and place it on each bag.

5. Give children their cut-out letters. Help them organize the letters to spell their names. Later, talk with children about other words that begin with the first letter of their names.

Curriculum Connection: MATH

How Many Letters? Invite children to play several math games using the letters of their names. Count the letters in each child's name. Who has the most letters? Who has the least letters? How many children have the same amount of letters? Choose a letter that appears in someone's name. Circle the same letter in the list of names. Invite the children to count how many of the same letters there are. How many children have the same first letter or last letter?