All About Me #3

Language Skill	Literacy Concept	Theme	Type
Listening, Speaking	names, print awareness, Motivation to write	Family, Home, me, Names, Stories	Art/Craft, table activity

Purpose:  This activity helps children to think about themselves and to learn about and use language.  It also provides an opportunity to connect with their homes and families.

 

Materials/Advance Preparation:

• Lunch size paper bag for each child
• Markers or crayons
• Little toys or pictures that remind the child of things that they like. This is a great way to get parents involved. Ask them to help the child gather some little items that will help the children to tell their stories. If the child loves soccer, for example, they might put a little ball in the bag or a picture cut from a magazine of someone playing soccer.
• Note to parents asking them to help the child choose the objects to bring in {Here's a sample}.

Directions:

1. On the empty bag help the child to draw a picture of him/herself.
       Depending on the age(s) of the children, you may want to first discuss with them the features they want to include (mouth? eyes?).
2. Write each child's name on the bag, or help the child to write his/her name.
       This is a chance to talk about why putting a name on the bag is important (for example, so others will know which bag belongs to each child. You may also want to talk with the children about the letter that begins each name and encourage the individual child to write it him- or herself (practicing on scrap paper first).
3. Have each child put several little objects and pictures in the bag that helps the child to tell his or her own story.
       If you have not already done so, ask parents to help the child identify and bring in such items.
4. Give the children lots of opportunities, now and on future days, to pull something from the bag and tell the story about it.  These can be added to over time.
       Some questions you might ask to prompt a child to further develop her or his story include:  Why do you like this item?  Who plays this game or does this activity with you?  Where did you learn about this?
5. After several uses, you may want to ask the children to add new items to the bag.
       After several weeks or months you may also want to encourage them to talk about how they have changed since they first made the bags. One way to do this is to ask them which items they would now take out of the bag and/or to talk about new items they have added.

Eric Gidseg

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