Easy DIY Name Center

I saw this idea in one of my colleague's rooms and loved it at first sight. It is so simple and super cheap to make.  It is a great letter matching game and the clothespins help build fine motor skills.

What you will need:

• a couple packages of clothespins 
• a sharpie (permanent marker)
• printed & laminated name cards (or sight words!)

Write the letters (I used uppercase - you could use both) on both sides of the clothespin.

Make sure you have at least two of each letter and a bunch of vowels!!

The children find the matching clothespin letters and put them on the card - on the corresponding letter.

The children love searching for friends names and then the letters.

A Simple Gift

When my latest intern's last day was near, I wanted to do something special.  Stephanie is one of those people who really adores the children.   For real.   I just knew she would be like me and want something that had the touch of the children.   I also wanted it to endure - so it couldn't be white!  I decided on a black apron and had the children sign it with a Sharpie gold paint pen.  It was so simple and yet elegant.  Loved it! 

Whole Group Name Work

I love using the childrens' names for basic literacy skills.  I also love making books for the children to take home.  I do this a lot with class books - make a copy for the families.   Last week we made a "All About My Name Book."

Here's how I did it:

• Monday - Each child counted how many letters were in their name.
• Tuesday - Each child clapped how many syllables were in their name.
• Wednesday - Each child counted how many vowels were in their name.

I typed up the sheet we used before hand (click here for a copy).  Then each child came to the front of the group and did that day's name task.  I like sending the book home as it gives a great tool for families to practice these essential skills.  A student can go through the book and count how many letters in all their friend's names and so forth.  

Names, Names, Everywhere Names!

One of my first endeavors at the beginning of school is to fill the room with the student's names!  This helps the children feel welcomed and at home.  It is a comfort for them to see their name around the room.  Here are a few of the things I do:

 My first homework assignment is this name tag for their cubbies.  I send home a 5 x 7 index card and ask that the children find the letters of their name in magazines and create their name.  I put them on construction paper and laminate!

 Here is another one -so cute!!

 Here is peek at the cubbies and those name tags.

 I put up our Letter Posters. And check out the frames above the posters.  I put each child above their cubby.  It looks so endearing!  So guess where I found those cool frames?

 IKEA!!  Just $1 per frame (two in a package).  Oh how I adore IKEA!

 In honor of my sick daughter (who adores movies) - I used a "movie" theme.  I took photos of each child in black and white.  (Don't you just love the look of black & white? So cool.)

 I put each photo on black construction paper and used a gold paint pen to write their name and make a quick dot or slash border. 

 So sweeeeet!

 I have a chart paper with everyone's name on my front white board.  It is our "reference" sheet for names. 

 This idea comes from Mrs. Flynn (who is so efficient - love it!) - these are little name tags with magnets.  It is at the top of my white board and tells the children where they sit.  I changed the seating for two children.  They knew because they had looked!  Yay!

 These are my attendance/lunch tags (with a magnet).  The children move their name to the lunch board in the morning arrival.  The names remaining let me know who is absent.

Each child makes a birthday poster the first week of school.  I put them in order of dates and hang.  This is a great reminder of the next birthday.   

Another thing I do that is not pictured:  

• Every child has a name tent at their table.
• The first class book I make is a "Friend, friend, who do you see?" with a photo of each child and their name.
• The second class book is baby photos of the children (I type "I see Ethan." or whoever the baby is).
• The next class book is of family photos.

Daily Alphabet Activities with Names

I am posting some of my first alphabet activities of the school year.  In my school, the kindergarten reviews the alphabet one letter a day (we started reviewing today).  Here are some of the things I do:

 Today we reviewed the letter Aa.   I asked each child, "Do you have any a's in your name?"  If the answer was yes, I asked, "Uppercase or lowercase?"  This really helps the children distinguish between uppercase and lowercase.  I use a large tag board to write this down - writing the featured letter in red and the other letters in black.  We count how many uppercase A's do we have?  How many lowercase a's do we have?

Next, we become "Letter Detectives."  We determine what kinds of lines are in the uppercase letters and the lowercase letters.  There are three basic straight lines used:  a sleeping line (horizonal), a standing line (vertical) and a leaning line (diagonal).  There is one basic curved line.  For example, in the uppercase A - there are two leaning lines and a sleeping line.  In the lowercase a - there are two curved lines and a standing line.

 Finally, we create an artsy alphabet!  (All the finished letters go into a small pizza box and will go home at parent conferences).   I found the wonderful Totally Tots blog with great ideas for this project.  For A, we made alligators!  We practice making the sound of A!

Working With Names:

I challenge the children daily to name as many children as they can.  We began by looking at our new friends.  Now we are looking at their names at the chart paper.  So far, one child could name 8 children! The first week of school I made a book of friends that I printed for each child to take home.  "Friend, friend, who do I see?"  I took a photo of each child and under their photo typed "I see ___ looking at me." with the child's name inserted.

My first two sight words are I and see.  I wrote  "I see ________." on the white board and asked each child to stand in front of the blank space.  Then we read the sentence, saying the child's name.  Again, I modeled pointing to each word and then the child (like they were a visual icon!).  So fun!  The children loved it!  By the fifth child, they read it without my help!

I try to incorporate the student's names into as many activities as I can in these first weeks of school.