Download writing centers 6

Writing Center 6
Names
Goal
Students will use knowledge of letters and sounds from their own and friends’
names and apply that knowledge when writing new words.
Basic Center
Materials
 Sentence strips with students’ names and photos
 Task cards with a variety of phonic patterns associated to names
 Paper
 Variety of writing tools
 Clipboards
Preparation
Teacher will:
 Organize materials by putting name strips into a baggie, envelope, or box.
 Model how the names students know help them to write new words during
interactive writing.
 Prepare task cards that focus on phonic patterns that have been studied (Find
words that have the letter S as in Stephanie. Find words that have the long e
sounds spelled as in Mary, Steve, Chelsea, Katie).
Procedures
Students will:
 Choose a task card. Students record the names used and highlight the
phonic pattern on paper.
 Search the room for the designated phonic pattern and record words that
correspond with the pattern found in the name.
Beyond the Basic Center
Additional Center Ideas:
1. Provide a variety of art media, (alphabet macaroni, clay, chalk, paint,
markers, stickers, alphabet stamps) for students to use to record their own
and their friends’ names.
2. Prepare individual name cards for each student. Students sort the names by
the number of syllables and record these on a sheet (see page ). Students
later sort the words from the word wall in the same way and record them.
3. Create individual dictionaries to help students make letter sound connections
to the names of their classmates. Prepare a book with one page for each
letter of the alphabet and photocopy individual photos of students. Students
sort their classmates’ photos and place them on the appropriate page. They
may write their classmate’s name or the beginning letter beneath the picture.
Phonemic Awareness/Phonics
Students may later sort other pictures from magazines to the appropriate
pages or add written words.
4. Students create acrostic poems using their own names or names of
classmates, book characters, or historical figures. Encourage students to
write poems at the word, phrase or sentence level.
5. Create name word banks by utilizing important names from the current
content study (presidents, inventors, book characters). Use these as
additional resources for word analysis.
Additional Resources
Bayer, J. A My Name is Alice. Penguin Putnam Books for Young Readers, 1987.
ISBN 0140546685
Catalanotto, P. Matthew ABC. Simon & Schuster Children’s, 2002. ISBN
0689845820
Choi, Y. The Name Jar. Random House Books for Young Readers, 2001. ISBN
037580613X
Henkes, K. Chrysanthemum. Morrow, William & Co., 1996. ISBN 0688147321
Levine, E. If Your Name Was Changed At Ellis Island. Scholastic, Inc., 1994.
ISBN 0590438298
Rylant, C. The Old Woman Who Named Things. Harcourt, 2000. ISBN
0152021027