Supporting ELL Success: Educator Guide
Learning Students' Names: Activity and Discussion Guide
Getting students' names right is a critical first step in welcoming students and establishing a positive relationship with families. The following activities and discussion questions accompany our related resource collection on learning students' names, which is part of the Supporting ELL Success Educator Guide from Colorín Colorado.
Activity Ideas
Try these activities on your own or in team settings. For large groups, consider assigning each activity to small group as part of a jigsaw.
1. Read the section about names in 10 Things You Need to Learn About Your ELLs. Think about how student records are maintained in your setting and how different systems interact. What could the impacts be of misspelling a student's name in your school databases?
2. Read the section about names in 10 Strategies for Building Relationships with ELLs. Choose one activity you can try with your students to celebrate their names.
3. Read the article about NameCoach. What are the impacts of mispronounced names at graduations or other special events? Then try the demo, or ask students to send you recordings of them saying their names.
4. Watch the featured videos with authors Hena Khan and Juana Martinez-Neal. What are your takeaways from these videos?
5. Watch the featured video with teacher Lori Dodson. Think of some sentence frames you could use to help students correct others who mispronounce their names.
6. Choose a couple of picture books to read from the My Name: Books for Kids booklist. Look for name-related themes across the titles, as well as unique experiences and perspectives in each book.
7. Choose a book from My Name: Books for Young Adults for a book club read to share with a group of colleagues or as a read-aloud/featured book for your classroom. Include name-related questions in your discussion questions.
8. Read one of the recommended articles or posts. What new insights or considerations did you discover?
9. For more in-depth information, see the IES reference guide on student naming conventions and the My Name, My Identity course. You can also share the My Name, My Identity campaign and pledge with your students!
Discussion / Reflection Questions
• What could the impacts be of mispronouncing a student's name in terms of how they feel in the classroom?
• How could it impact the way they interact with peers?
• Do you have experience with people mispronouncing your name? If so, what have you learned from that experience? If not, what have you learned from the above resources?
• What's a name-related activity in these resources you can try in the next few week or during back-to-school?
• Which of the above resources could you share with colleagues in collaboration or training sessions?