Names, Names, and more NAMES!

I love starting out the year with learning and talking about our names.  It is a great way to teach the students that words are made up of letters, and that words carry meaning.  I wanted to have one of my bulletin boards be a colorful wall, all about the members of our class.  We made our names out of ripped pieces of paper, an idea that I learned from Deanna Jump.  Here is the finished product:

To prepare this project, I wrote everyone's name with white crayon onto black construction paper.  For some of the children with long names, I taped two papers together so the letters could be spaced out.  

I laid out an assortment of colored paper onto the desk, and asked the students to choose one color for each letter.  They were to rip the paper into little pieces and glue them onto the letter.  I showed them how to trace the letter with glue, and then press the paper down.

It was really interesting to see who was able to rip the paper easily, and to see who had trouble.  I did this project in a small group setting so I could observe their motor skills.  

I love our colorful wall of names!  I cut around each name so they would fit all on the same board...It will be nice and bright for Back to School Night!