Letters in our names...

This was a quick, fun activity that we did the first week of school.  I typed all of the children's names in a document, and changed the font from black to gray.  Each letter was in its own box.  (I made a table).  I'll use these same tables for name puzzles in a couple of weeks.  The children each got their own name, traced the letters in their name, cut it out and glued them on the red strip in order.  This simple project gave me a very quick, informal assessment on who understood left to right directionality, who knew the letters in their name, as well as if they knew what order their names went in.  I had a few kiddos with upside down letters, and names that went from right to left.

 The next day, we  sorted the names by the number of letters it had.  Each child counted their own name and placed it in the correct spot on our floor graph.  The children were all very excited when it was their turn to count the letters in their name!

We will continue with many more name activities during the first weeks of school!