Name Writing Activities and FREEBIES!

 Today, I'd like to share some of my favorite name writing activities to use with  your class.   I found some wonderful freebies to share with you, too!

Let's start in order.  Before the year even begins,  I like to have parents start thinking about working with their child at home on some important skills.  

This activity is nice to send home with families, even before the year begins, to practice writing their names.  I laminate the green cardstock name I wrote, write an explanation of how we write letters and names (starting from the top!), and draw a dot on each letter to show where to begin.  I found sponges and dry erase markers at the Dollar Store. ( I cut the sponges into smaller pieces to make them go farther because it doesn't take much of a sponge to erase!  You could also  use a pompom.)

Once we begin the school year,  here are my favorite name books to use before our name writing activities:

Each morning as the children arrive, they complete our Name Graph question of the day.  

After they complete the graph, they sign in by writing their name next to the name I have written for them on our sign in sheet for extra name writing practice.  I save the sign in papers from the beginning of the year, just to show them at the end of the year how much they have grown!

This Name Graph (with lots of variations) idea is one of the MANY ideas I shared in Dr. Jean's Reading Recipes.  We wrote the book last year, sharing our very favorite reading activities that have worked best for us over the  years.  I had so much fun writing it with her.  We wanted to put it together so it's very easy to use , the activities require very little if any preparation  or materials, and it's handy to flip through and find an idea to use to teach a specific skill.

I have magnetic letters in a bag with a magnetic name to practice spelling names on the whiteboard. This works out well for students who need extra practice with their own name, but it's also fun for the children to practice spelling their friends' names.

How much do you love these name puzzles from Totschooling?  These would be great to use for your whole class, or even just as something special for those sweeties who have a hard time spelling their name.

This is another fun way to practice name writing!  Write one letter on top of each strip of colored paper. Have students order the paper to spell their name and then practice writing those letters!  I'm so sorry, I cannot find the original link for this activity.  When I do, I will put it in here. If it's your idea, thank you and please let me know!  

If you know a sweet worker at a paint store, maybe you could get enough paint sample strips to have your students practice writing names on those!  Line the strips up and practice one letter on each strip, writing a letter in each shade!   You could punch a hole in the corner of the strips and clip them together with a book ring, so each student would have a colorful name ring!

You can find strips of color shades online, if you google "shades of color"  (well, duh!).  Here is one example at color.adobe.com.

I love this little name poem by Jean Warren.  I made some different styles if you would like one.  Just click the  picture below!

After we read this name poem, I have the children turn it over, cut apart the letters in their names from two colors of names I  printed,  and make two AB pattern names. 



We also make Chicka Chicka Boom Boom name trees with letters cut from magazines. 

You don't even need to flip through magazines anymore... I know.  That is so old school.  But it is fun for the kids to discover the letters in magazines or newspapers, like a treasure hunt!  However, you can find lots of letters online to print and cut.  MamaVonTeacher shared these FREE at her TPT store.  

Do you want a magic way to have your students practice writing their name 17 or 18 times in about half an hour- and to LOVE doing it?  Well, here you go!

I am not kidding. I almost felt guilty-like it wasn't schooly-enough- the kids had so much fun.  
First, I made everyone one of these homemade  fabulous clipboards and opened some new skinny markers for the occasion.  I do have some clipboards, just not enough. My thinking was that if they were all sad looking and homemade, there would be no arguing about who got what.  They all thought these were "cool," because they didn't know any better.   

You can also just use a heavy piece of poster board or cardboard  and a paperclip.  The students can decorate their own poster board and have their very own clipboard!

 After we read this story about being a friend (one of my favorites...),

I explained that each person would have a clipboard, paper, and marker.  Our job was to go around to each person, and ask each friend to sign our paper as we signed our friend's paper.  We would only be writing our own name every time, once on each paper.  We would collect all of our friends' names.  I modeled this with a few children. I said, "Would you please sign my paper, and I will sign yours?"  We switched boards, signed, and moved to another child. 

They could write anywhere they wanted, with any color marker they chose.  That was enough joy for the entire day.  I wish I had taped the entire lesson.  They were so sweet and polite asking each other for names. Of course they love to have your name on their paper, too. (And I sort of felt like a celebrity when they were each excited to have me write my name for them. It doesn't take much to make me happy...)

If you want a copy of the simple sheet I used for recording, just click the picture below.

Feel free to make a "fancier" sheet! :) I liked this simple sheet, because  I told the children that the paper would be so colorful and pretty after they each wrote their names with different color markers.  The minute they got the paper, they started reading, "I like, I like, I like..." so even that was great!

This name idea is from Teacher's Net Gazette.  What a cute bulletin board idea!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE these Alphabet Anchor Chart letters from Lavinia Pop.  She's done a beautiful job with each letter and sound.  The set has a black and white version, colored version, and colored version with a chalkboard background.  She has the soft C and soft G sounds, too.   She also has a Lowercase Letters Set and a Numbers Set.

I am going to use the "K" to write  'K is for Kindergarten' across the top of the lockers.  If you click on the picture, you can see the letters better.

I use the fabulous name writing practice from ESGI.  When you use ESGI for assessments, you also get their wonderful Classroom Management package that makes preparing for what we teach SO much easier.  

                                                   

Here are the printable name plates you can laminate for tables or desks! Or even for writing folders. 

Here are samples of the name writing practice pages you can print and print and print- all year long. These are great for extra minutes in the day, RTI, or for sending home for extra practice. 

You don't even have to believe me - just look what Michael Phelps has to say... (he moves quickly, don't you know!)

I posted ALL about the benefits and some examples of what ESGI offers HERE.  If you like using it and want to purchase the program, you can use my special PROMO CODE B1119 and receive $40 off your purchase for the first year. The price is usually $199 a year, but with the promo code, it will be $159 for the first year. Check with your administration because they may be able to purchase it for you. They can use the code and get it for $159 for the first year, too.  It's a great time of the year to try it out. 

AND if you sign up NOW, ESGI will enter you in a raffle to win one of ten $50 gift certificates to TpT! SO- try it free for 60 days, and when you love it, ask your school if they will purchase it for you.  Even if they can't, it is well worth every single penny for the sanity it saves you! 

Here are some FABULOUS freebies I found from TPT to share with you. 

Erica Butler shared a great Name-Graph Activity Freebie

Heather J shared this fun Name Activity.

This great packet from Brittany Lynch has so many fun Name Sorting Activities!  They include:

Sort by how many letters are in each name

Sort names by how many syllables you hear in each name

Sort pictures or names by girls and boys

Sort pictures or names by hair color

Match each picture to the correct name

Tara West shared these great Customizable Name Mats. They will be great to use inside a pocket protector with dry erase markers or playdough!

Angela, from The Daily Alphabet

I hope your students are writing their names correctly in no time, and that you have a wonderful school year.  I also hope summer slows down, just a bit, so we have more to enjoy. Thank you for stopping by!  

Healthy Body! Healthy Me!

I am so excited with the Healthy Body! Healthy Me! packet Dr. Jean and I just finished. It is a COMPLETE primary healthy program perfect for K-2!  The packet includes 2 Prezis with LOTS of videos, anchor charts, activities, writing prompts, and lesson plans.  You are all set for Health with this unit!

The packet covers the skeletal, muscular, respiratory, circulatory, digestive, and excretory systems with fun, memorable activities to go along with each one.

There is an activity for each part of the blood.  This is for the Platelet Activity.

  It has two comprehensive Prezis  with videos for each topic to teach and reinforce lessons.

After the systems are covered, the packet includes two Watch Me Grow activities that you can use throughout the year with your students.  And a Healthy Habits section which includes activities to teach children about staying clean, getting rid of germs, teeth care, bedtime habits, safe foods, safety of all kinds, being kind, and feelings.

Safe and Not Safe Foods

We cover all areas of "STREAM" which is "STEM with reading and art added in! 

The packet also includes Dr. Jean's songs Feeling Fine and Macarena Bones.  You'll hear your students singing these songs over and over.  They don't even realize all they're learning as they sing!

I hope you enjoy this packet as much as we do and as much as we enjoyed putting it all together!

Have fun staying healthy!

Why Are We Having a Lockdown Drill?

Unfortunately, lockdown drills are reality most of us face at our schools.  I just finished a simple book called,  Why Are We Having a Lockdown Drill? , that will hopefully help to explain the "why" behind the drill in a gentle, positive way.

I know each school has its own rules and procedures, so this book doesn't go into that, but instead focuses on two important rules that we all need our students to follow:  1. Being great listeners and 2. Being still and silent. This book is a good introduction that teachers can expand on with their own
rules, expectations, and procedures after reading.

I wanted the book to be easy to understand, and to let the children know that a lockdown drill is just another way grown-ups are trying to keep everyone safe. I hope you find it useful and that you have a wonderful, safe, happy school year!

Win Win with ESGI!

Welcome August!  I guess I need to embrace August and just beg it to go slowly.  There are still so many things I want to do, and August seems to fly by! 
I went into school over the weekend and put up the three bulletin boards that I do at the end of our primary wing.  The first one was inspired by I Wish You More, by Amy Krouse Rosenthal.  The other two were inspired by Pinterest ideas... :)                                        

I also entered all of my new class names into ESGI, so I am ready to go for this year!  If you haven't tried ESGI yet, now is the perfect time. 

Even Donald and Hillary know that ESGI is the only way to go- and you know that when they agree on something, it has to be great!

So... let's make assessing great again!

Not only can you get a FREE 60 day trial, but if you use the  PROMO CODE B1119 you can receive $40 off your purchase for the first year. The price is usually $199 a year, but with the promo code, it will be $159 for the first year. Many times your administration will purchase this for you, too, if you ask. They can also get the discount for each subscription they purchase.

AND if you sign up NOW, ESGI will enter you in a raffle to win one of ten $50 gift certificates to TpT! SO- try it free for 60 days, and when you love it, ask your school if they will purchase it for you.  Even if they can't, it is well worth every single penny for the sanity it saves you! 

Pre-Kindergarten - 1st Grade Classroom Tools

ESGI is so amazing throughout the entire year because it addresses our many assessment needs that arise at different times during  the year. Here's a quick post to show you how I use ESGI to start my year.

Before using ESGI, I assessed each student's letter ID and sounds on a paper sort of like this-  I had papers and "data" everywhere.  The trouble was, I was always rifling through papers to try to find what I needed (and by the time I found it, the child probably knew 5 more letters!)

I am not a techy person.  I actually think I tend to avoid much technology because I think it's simpler not to use it sometimes.  So for ME to say that I don't ever want to assess without using ESGI on my iPad ever again, says a lot.  It says that ESGI makes it SO EASY and SO QUICK.  And then gives SO MUCH assistance to teachers to help with students' areas of weakness.

ESGI has every sort of assessment you could want available to easily choose from and add to your assessments- OR you can create your  own.  For example, if your sight word list is a little different than those available, you can simply make your own with our words.  I made many assessments- so you know it's easy to do!

I can quickly call up my students one at a time, and get to spend a little one on one time "playing" with them on the iPad, while I see what they know!

Here's a sample of a number recognition assessment.  See how clear and easy it is to see and score?  You just hit the Y or N at the bottom.  The children don't even know you are assessing them.
                             
For all of the beginning year assessing we teachers do, ESGI is great- because all of our data is stored and organized for us right online.  Not only organized, but graphed and really useful for so many things as I start the year... grouping and RTI right off the bat!

I  print out flash cards for the letters each individual student missed, to use for RTI  and to send home with each student. Later on in the year, we move to sight words.  I use the sight word flash cards a LOT with my kids, too.

 ESGI  creates parent letters,  so parents knew exactly what skills need to be practiced at home.

I don't send any parent notes home this time because it's the beginning of the year, and the kids pick up letters quickly when we get going. I just wanted to show you what they would look like.   I do send home parent notes after we work on letters for a while,  if a student is stuck on certain letters.

You can also edit the letter to parents.

AND- I did not have one  stack of papers to flip through- not even one sheet of paper.  It was all right on my iPad.

Another favorite part of ESGI to start the year is the Class Management tools.  I can print pages for name tracing, cubby names, table name plates, class lists... you name it! What a time saver this time of year!  I have several students who just plain need name writing practice.  I can print out name pages for those students to practice with one click!  So easy.

 

As the year goes on, there are more and more benefits of ESGI.  If you want to learn more about ESGI and to get a free 60 day trial of the software, click here and try it out for yourself!  It's so easy to show your administrator the benefits of ESGI so they may purchase it for your grade level, too. Many schools are  encouraged to use more and more technology, and ESGI is perfect for that.

ESGI has a great explanatory video with all the details.  This Intro Webinar (17 minutes) is a very thorough explanation of the program. Once I watched these videos, I was all set to go.

Our RTI Team was just discussing how we needed better data collection and a more clear picture about the students coming to our RTI Team.  It doesn't get more clear than this!

If a district uses this program, every student can be entered.  The data and progress can be saved from year to year.  Groups can be created, so that only those in that group are compared.

I posted ALL about the benefits, bells and whistles,  and some examples of what ESGI offers HERE.  If you like using it and want to purchase the program, you can use my special PROMO CODE B1119 and receive $40 off your purchase for the first year. The price is usually $199 a year, but with the promo code, it will be $159 for the first year. Check with your administration because they may be able to purchase it for you. They can use the code and get it for $159 for the first year, too.  It's a great time of the year to try it out. 

It has made me actually enjoy assessments now, because I know I'm not going to be wasting time. It's quick and neat. The results are easy to see and the materials for RTI are already made for me!

So- go ahead and give it a try FREE for 60 days, and be entered to win one of the ten $50 gift cards from TpT! You will be so glad you did.



Pre-Kindergarten - 1st Grade Classroom Tools Thanks for stopping by!