Materials
5" x 7"card stock paper
markers
construction paper
glue
hole punch
heavy string or yarn
Instructions
* National Family Week is the week of Thanksgiving.
1. Send a letter home to each family asking the parents to give the reason
they gave their child his or her name. Your letter might read like this:
Dear Family,
We are currently doing a family theme in our room. We would like to make a
book about how each child got his or her name. Please write a brief
explanation about how your child got his or her name and return it to school
by (date). The children will make self-portraits for a classroom called "That's My
Name!" Each child will receive a copy of the book.
2. Have the children draw-self portraits on 5" x 7" white card stock paper.
Glue each portrait to an 8" x 11" (or larger) piece of construction paper.
3. Print the children's names under their portraits. Under each child's
name/portrait, print the information from the parents. ("Frances Ellen.
Frances Ellen got her name from her two great grandmothers, Grandma
Frances and Granny Ellen.")
4. Create a cover for the book. You could make a collage of the children's
photos or simply print each full name on the front. Also create a back
cover.
5. Make a copy of each page for each child in the room.
6. Use a hole punch to punch four to six holes in each page.
7. Use heavy string or yarn to bind the pages together into a book.
8. Staple the copied pages together into individual books for each child.
9. Read your new book together and send the individual books home.
More to do Broaden the theme of your book by including other facts about the child
on each page. For example you could ask the children about their favorite
foods, favorite colors, favorite place to go, or any other interesting subject.
This Name Is My Name (Tune: "This Land Is Your Land")
My name is my name,
Your name is your name.
It might be different
Or a little bit the same.
It might be a short name
Or a great big long name,
Names belong to you and me!
My name is Frances,
Your name is Harold.
His name is Robert,
And hers is Maggie.
Mommy's name is Lynda,
Daddy's name is Carlos,
Names belong to you and me!
(Substitute classroom names for the names in the song)
