Name Mosaics

Names are important, given by parents at birth our names are meaningful. Sometimes they are a family name, a unique name picked by your parents, a popular name and is always special. Your name is yours and recognizing how special it is important part of self -awareness. Self -awareness is the ability to understand what makes you an individual. Self-awareness is one of the five components of Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Having self confidence, even in something as simple as your name is an important part of self-awareness.

"Chrysanthemum" by Kevin Henkes is a great book that show how loving your name given is not always easy. The main character in this story is picked on by her classmates because of her long and different name. She struggles with feelings throughout the book. Those in her life help her to see how special her name is and how important it is to be proud and love you name. I love Kevin Henkes books and the messages he is able to get across in enjoyable children's books. "Chrysanthemum" is a great book to read at the beginning of the school year.

After reading, "Chrysanthemum" by Kevin Henkes, write the name Chrysanthemum. Notice how long her name is, stop and count all the letters. Her name is 13 letters long! Stop and have your child think about their own name. Is it longer or shorter than Chrysanthemum's name? Stopping to think about the letters in their name and how long or short it is is important math thinking.

Let children pay special attention to their name. This activity will help students with practicing spelling their names, understanding how many letters their name has and also loving their name. Prepare for this activity by having a piece of paper ( I recommend colored cardstock) with your child's name printed on it. Prepare another sheet with your name or another family member's name on it . When typing, use the same font and size for each name. This will allow your child to visually see the differences in the number of letters in each name.

Provide a variety of small items for your child to place on top of the letters of their name. Some suggestions are pasta, popcorn, beans, sequin, and pom poms. Allow time for exploration of the different materials. This is a great activity for practicing fine motor skills.

Allow your child to explore all the materials given. They can place them on their name, remove and repeat.

After given time for exploration, provide glue to allow your child to create a name mosaic. Have them glue the material of choice to the letters in their name. They can use one material or several to create their unique name art.

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