- beans
- name cards plastic flowerpot(s)
MA Standards:
English Language Arts/Speaking and Listening/SL.PK.MA.1a: Observe and use appropriate ways of interacting in a group (e.g., taking turns in talking, listening to peers, waiting to speak until another person is finished talking, asking questions and waiting for an answer, gaining the floor in appropriate ways).
English Language Arts/Foundational Skills/RF.PK.MA.2: With guidance and support, demonstrate understanding of spoken words, syllables, and sounds (phonemes).
Head Start Outcomes:
Social Emotional Development/Self-Regulation: Follows simple rules, routines, and directions.
Language Development/Receptive Language: Attends to language during conversations, songs, stories, or other learning experiences.
Literacy Knowledge/Phonological Awareness: Identifies and discriminates between separate syllables in words.
PreK Learning Guidelines:
English Language Arts/Language 1: Observe and use appropriate ways of interacting in a group (taking turns in talking; listening to peers; waiting until someone is finished; asking questions and waiting for an answer; gaining the floor in appropriate ways).
English Language Arts/Reading and Literature 12: Listen to, recite, sing, and dramatize a variety of age-appropriate literature.
English Language Arts/Reading and Literature 8: Listen to, identify, and manipulate language sounds to develop auditory discrimination and phonemic awareness.
Greeting Song: “Clap a Friend’s Name” #6
© Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Department of Early Education and Care (Jennifer Waddell photographer). All rights reserved.
ELA Focus Skills: Listening and Speaking, Name Recognition, Phonological Awareness (Segmenting)
Educator Prep: Fill the flowerpot(s) with beans. Bury the name cards in the beans, leaving about two inches of the cards poking out of the beans.
Tell children you want them to jump up for each part of their name today. Say, If I pull your name from the flowerpot, I want you to stand up. Then I will say your name and I want you to jump up for each part of your name.
- Explain that everyone else will clap the parts of the child’s name. Demonstrate for children by having one child volunteer.
- Then have that child pull the next name before sitting.
- Continue until each child has hopped the syllables in his or her name while the class clapped along.
Clap a Friend’s Name
Clap a friend’s name.
Follow me.
One clap, two claps,
Or maybe three.
Copy, copy, copy me!
Social Emotional Tip: Help children recognize their own sense of uniqueness and that of others by giving them opportunities to recognize their names, both spoken and in print.
Adaptation: If very young children have trouble jumping, have them stamp one foot to the rhythm.