Download the full Learning Plan here.

Families, check out this video for a tutorial on this learning plan!

Read or listen to a story together about names. Then, have your child trace their name using bottle caps, buttons, or other small objects from around the home.

Materials:

• Paper

• Writing tool

• Small objects such as bottle caps, buttons, pebbles, etc.

Start the activity by reading a story together about names. Recommended reading, “G My Name Is Girl” which can be borrowed from a local library or purchased here. Or, families can play this read aloud video of the story, “The Name Jar” which can be viewed for free online here. During the story, talk about your child’s name, and if any of the names in the story start with the same letter or rhyme with your child’s name or names of people in your family. Ask questions while reading the story such as:

• What do you predict will happen next?

• Wait, who was that person?

• What sound does that letter make?

• What’s happening on this page?

After the story, write the child’s name on paper and have them trace the letters of their name using the bottle caps or other small objects. Talk about each letter and the sound they make. Make observations such as:

• In that letter, there are curves, and in this letter, there are straight lines!

• What letter is that? What sound does it make?

• Do you remember anyone from our story whose name also started with that letter?

Learning Standards:

Goal P-LIT 1. Child demonstrates awareness that spoken language is composed of smaller segments of sound.

Goal P-LIT 2. Child demonstrates an understanding of how print is used (functions of print) and the rules that govern how print works (conventions of print).

Goal P-LIT 3. Child identifies letters of the alphabet and produces correct sounds associated with letters.

Goal P-LIT 4. Child demonstrates an understanding of narrative structure through storytelling/re-telling.

Goal P-LIT 5. Child asks and answers questions about a book that was read aloud.