It is the beginning of a new year, in a new classroom with a new teacher and some new classmates. We all feel the need to become part of this new environment, and help make it our own, help create a community with a shared group identity, shared beliefs, shared rules, and shared dreams. But how can we do it?
Mark Twain had said once "The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and starting on the first one".
So, first things first. In order to feel part of a community, we first need to get to know each other. And what could be more important than learning our names? Our names are the most comfortable and familiar part of our identity. It is what we use to present ourselves to the others, and what the others use in order to refer to us.
In the classroom we created many opportunities for the students to present and introduce themselves to the group. We said our names in different ways: with a quiet or loud voice, we wiggled them, clapped them, and jumped them. We also introduced ourselves to our new friends by shaking hands and saying our names.
In order to get more familiar with each other's name we played a game. We read the story "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you See?" by Bill Martin and Eric Carle, which inspired us to play the game "Busy Bee, Busy Bee, Who do you See?"
Mark Twain had said once "The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and starting on the first one".
So, first things first. In order to feel part of a community, we first need to get to know each other. And what could be more important than learning our names? Our names are the most comfortable and familiar part of our identity. It is what we use to present ourselves to the others, and what the others use in order to refer to us.
In the classroom we created many opportunities for the students to present and introduce themselves to the group. We said our names in different ways: with a quiet or loud voice, we wiggled them, clapped them, and jumped them. We also introduced ourselves to our new friends by shaking hands and saying our names.
In order to get more familiar with each other's name we played a game. We read the story "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you See?" by Bill Martin and Eric Carle, which inspired us to play the game "Busy Bee, Busy Bee, Who do you See?"
We really enjoyed that game and created a small book to go along with it.
Here we are playing our favorite name games with Mrs. Tara. It was the first week she came to our classroom, so we helped her learn our names.
Here we are playing our favorite name games with Mrs. Tara. It was the first week she came to our classroom, so we helped her learn our names.
Our names also connect us to our families. It is a special gift that our parents gave to us and only us, no one else. After reading the story "Chrysanthemum" by Kevin Henkes, we went back home and asked our parents how they chose the name they gave us. We collected that information and presented it in class.
Once we talked about families, we grasped the opportunity and brought in family photos. We used those photos as a vehicle to open conversations with our friends about our families, and get to know each other a little bit better.
First each of us made a note as a reminder to ask mommy or daddy for a family photo.
First each of us made a note as a reminder to ask mommy or daddy for a family photo.
Then, our parents printed family photos and sent them to school. Each of us took his own, and we played a game. We moved in a rhythm, and after the music stopped we found a friend, showed him/her the photo, and talked about our families. We then listened to that friend talk about his/her family. We played this game a couple of times and had the opportunity to talk and listen to a lot of friends.
Finally, each of us molded his/her family members out of salt dough.
We love the way they look on our board!
We started learning our friends' names in order to know them better and be able to create relationships with them. We also learned about each other's family and became a little bit closer. Is this all we have to say about names? Of course not; there is much more to tell you, and soon we will let you know about it. Stay tuned!