Group Time
Songs
Which Letter?
My Seat
invite each
After youngsters sing this nifty tune,
the corresponding
student whose name begins with
song using different
letter to say his name. Repeat the
his name.
letters until each child has shared
Kiera.
(sung to the tune of “The Muffin Man”)
If your name begins with [K],
Begins with [K], begins with [K]—
If your name begins with [K],
Stand up and say your name.
Mine
Mine, All song, select a few eat
this
Rep
clusion of
the class.
At the con their names for
name.
shared her
to say
children
h child has
until eac
t of Mine”)
the song
Little Ligh
is
“Th
of
the tune
(sung to
fine,
name so e.
I’ve got a
min
mine, all
And it is
fine,
name so
I’ve got a
mine.
mine all
,
And it is
e so fine
nam
a
I’ve got
mine,
mine, all
is
it
And
mine,
Mine, all
mine,
Mine, all
e.
min
Mine, all
Sarah.
tters
Lots of Le
3
ime
roup T
Get the
®
bles sticks or
Sylla
thm
one to
ther rhy
ity, ga nts and give nounce
s activ
For thi held instrume all group. An llable.
sm
sy
nd
ur
ha
yo
er
in
g each g their
oth
ungster
yin
phasizin
each yo s name, em the name, pla
nt’
t
a stude dents repea llable.
sy
Have stu nts for each
me
instru
Y
S
Yarn Letters
With this center, youngsters match letters to spell their
names. Color and cut out a copy of the person pattern
on page 13 and laminate the cutout for durability. Place
the cutout, a supply of clothespins labeled with letters,
and a class set of name cards at a center. A child finds
her name card to use as a reference. Then she clips
clothespins to the top of the cutout to spell her name. If
desired, she repeats the process with other name cards.
e
s
4
My Nam
Lucy
Materials for
one
construction pape project:
r labeled with
yarn
the child’s name
scissors
glue
Steps:
1. Trace the
first letter in your
name with glue.
2. Cut a lengt
h of
3. Repeat Steps yarn and press it into the glue.
1 and 2 for each
4. When the
letter in your
glue is dry, trim
name.
off the excess
5. Trace the
yarn.
yarn letters with
your finger.
e
Presch
ool Cele
This is
a fun
writing
their na way to help
yo
center
me
time! Ex s while dis ungsters pra
asking
miss
ctice
plain the
ce
practice ing them for
say, “M lebrities for
of pe
the
ay I ha
give the
ve your ir autograp ople
hs
to a clip youngster a autograph, [Lu . Then
sheet
5
bo
of pape cas]?” and
autograp ard. Have
r
the
attache
h the
child us
move
d
ea
on to a paper. Then
have the crayon to
center.
youngs
ter
©The Mail
box ®
Glue
Mat thew
Sensory Center
worms at this
love hunting for
Little ones will
on a jumbo
each child’s name a worm. Bury
center! Write
like
rated to look
craft stick deco
paper shreds
brown
of
a tub
the worms in
gh the mud,
gster digs throu
(mud). A youn
name. For an
worm with his
identify his
looking for the
he attempts to
for his own.
extra challenge,
s as he looks
classmates’ name
Play Dough
Devon
is
My name
©The Mailbox
7
E
Play Dough Center
Youngsters practice forming the letters in their
names with this activity. Write each child’s name
in large letters on a sheet of construction paper.
Then laminate the resulting name mats. Place
the mats and a variety of colorful play dough at
the center. A child visits the center and rolls play
dough into long ropes. Then he places the ropes
on his name mat to form his name.
m
e
m
A
m
a
White
Pe
8
Buildin
g Names
©The Mailbox ®
9
T
©The
__________
_____
___
__________
©The Mailbox
year, have
each child
write his name
___.
®
on a copy of
this paper.
Date the paper
and place it
Mailbox ®
a
r
a
10
__________
_____
__________
the school
Tara
®
®
throughout
ds
rsonSteps
Patte
: rn
Use with “Fin
Use Co
1.e-M
Use
otorthe
white
n-Tact
Cen
ter” crayon to trace
the let
clear co
the letters in your
name on the on page
ter
vering
black pape8.
blocks. s of each ch
r with help as
to attac
2. Cut letters
ild’s na
needed.
Place
in your name
h
in
me to
shows
from the news
pages.
individ
each yo your block
paper
ua
ce
name.
un
3. Glue the news
Then en gster’s ph nter a book l
paper clippings
otogra
that
the blo
coura
to the correspon
letters.
ph and
ding class ck center an ge each yo
her
un
d
mates
’ name build her na gster to vis
it
s.
me an
d her
“Berry”
Good Friends
©The Mailbox ®
It’s in Black and
Materials for
one project:
12" x 18" black
construction pape
letter tracers
r
newspaper page
s
white crayon
scissors
glue
a
With thi
beginnin s simple ch
ant, yo
say the g sounds wit
un
h other gsters hear
youngs
two tim
that the
words
ter’s na
.
es, su
bstitutin me. Recite Hold up a stu ir names sh
and a
are
a ch
wo
g
dent na
encoura rd that share the child’s na ant, simila
me ca
r to
rd an
s the be
me, the
ge youn
ginnin
name’s the one show d
gsters
g
to join
in and sound. As yo beginning so n,
clap alo
u
un
ng to the recite the ch d,
/t/, /t/,
ant,
beat.
/t/,
Tina, Tin
a, Tina,
/t/, /t/,
/t/,
Top, top
, top!
Mailbox
11
Note to the
brities
ing Soun
6
dically
teacher: Perio
Name
Beginn
ch
mb
and
ch me
ge 12
Help ea
Give ea board on pa nipulatives.
the
ma
nts in
game
of the
or other
of stude decorate
cubes the names
free
ve her
linking
ter write l boxes. Ha nate them as ch
gs
un
ua
yo
to desig cards with ea me
in individ
na
group aining boxes
me
draw a me,
t of na
na
any rem Gather a se up. To play,
fy the
.
spaces me in the gro dents identi cube on the
na
a
help stu
place ungsters
child’s
random, ch student
y,
yo
at
til
rd
un
ea
ca
m to sa
ntinue
n have
ge the
and the ding box. Co en encoura
on
Th
corresp the names.
all
cover !”
ds
ien
“Fr
©The
p, Tap,
Ki
iden
up a co
Name er of a small groa supply of
Cole
Tap, Ta
Partici
This de
pating
in a ga
Have littl lightful game
me
doubles
e ones
the cla
sit in a
as a tra
ss
circle in
nsition
walks aro in saying, “M
y name an open area. activity.
is” as a
Le
head. Wh und the circle
voluntee ad
an
says his en she taps the d taps three
r
chi
name be
fourth chi
ldren on
predeter
fore lea
mined
ving the ld on the head the
tas
hands,
or choosi k, such as lini circle to perfo , he
rm a
ng up,
ng a cen
washing
ter.
his
©The Mailbox ®
me
ndly Ga
ry” Frie
ion
py
tificat
Tanisha
Miguel
e
L
My Name S A
A “Ber
Holly
Sean
My Nam
®
Jack
Sam.
Arts and Craft
R obert
dz
Glue
”
“Berry nds
ie
Good Fr
Anna
TY r o
s recognize
r helps youngster
ox ging cente
enga
lop fine-motor
This
©The Mailb
names and deve
the letters in their zines and place them at a
ors.
maga
skills. Gather
n paper and sciss the
with constructio
, finds
zines
center along
through the maga
he
A youngster flips , and cuts them out. Then
of
letters in his name form his name on a sheet
to
s
glues the letter
r.
construction pape
My Name
Beat
2
Aa
3
Fine-Motor Center
©The Mailbox
.
Literacy Center
3
A
My Name
er
Alphabet Soup
Oh, we all have a [first] name,
A [first] name,
A [first] name.
Oh, we all have a [first] name
To call our own!
Miracle.
by Lett
Initial consonan
ts
Invite little ones to
ladle up some learnin
each child’s name
g! Write
on a sentence strip;
first letter of each
then cut off the
name
each child the remain and place it in a large pot. Give
ing
each youngster determ portion of his name card. Have
ine which letter is
his name. Stir the
missin
g from
letters in the pot
and ladle out a letter.
Then lead young
sters in the chant
shown. After a studen
claims the letter,
invite him to ladle
t
the next letter from
the pot. Continue
until each child’s
name is complete.
Who needs the [R]
from the alphabet
pot
To put in a name
in the very front spot?
(sung to the tune of “Did You Ever
See a Lassie?”)
Center Time
Mar-tin
Michael
First and Last
Letter
reco
gnition
After pa
, nam
more fam rticipating in
e reco
this act
gnition
ivity, you
names. iliar with their
ow
Sh
ngsters
cards an ow the group n and their
classm will become
d lead
one car
ates’ wri
the
shown.
d from
tten
After the m in reciting
a
lead you
the firs class supply
correspo
t two line
of
ngsters
nd
ing
s of the name
student
in com
pleting
the cha identifies his chant
[J-a-c-k]
name,
nt.
.
Whose
name can
Why, it’s
this be
[Ja
?
ck]
’s name
For all
to see!
Jaunita
Lead students in singing the song.
first
Then prompt each child to say his
name. Sing the song again, replacing
have
the underlined word with last and
little ones share their last names.
D’Juan.
her
u
Small-G
Aa
r found in
re a lette
ter to sha
h youngs
ditty.
Invite eac
this little
r singing
name afte
tune of
the
to
w It”)
(sung
You Kno
Happy and
“If You’re
names.
es, in our
our nam
names.
letters in
es, in our
are
nam
re
our
The
letters in
es.
our nam
There are
letters in
same.
some the in our names.
There are
different,
es,
our nam
Some are
letters in
There are
Letter
Sarah
Name recogniti
on
This simple idea
gives each little one
special group-time
a
seat. In advance,
use
permanent marke
r to label vinyl placem a
with youngsters’
ats
names. Randomly
arrange the mats
in your group-time
area.
Then have each
youngster find her
mat
and sit on it. Vary
the seating arrang
ement
each day to give
youngsters a chance
to
sit near different
classmates.
s portfolio.
in the child’
©The Mailbox®
Note to the teacher: Use with “A ‘Berry’ Friendly Game” on page 6.
©The Mailbo
x®
12
13