Name Acrostic Poem

The book, Your Name is a Song by Jamilah Thomkins-Bigelow is an important and empowering story of a young girl who is frustrated with her teachers mispronouncing her name. She learns the beautiful history and culture behind it as she walks through the city with her mother. After reading the story aloud to the class, students can make a storyboard about their own name using illustrations and descriptions to explain its meaning or origin. Using a T Chart they can have the letters of their name on the left and illustrations on the right. Not all students will have deep meanings or stories attached to their name. And, that's ok! Students may also create an acrostic poem where the cell beside each letter includes pictures or words beginning with that letter that relate to the student such as activities or hobbies that they enjoy, their favorite color, food, animals, etc. These provide a great opportunity to learn and memorize the names of their peers as well as encourage classroom community by learning more about one another. These storyboards can also be printed to create a beautiful and meaningful classroom decoration! Students can change the colors of the chart and can have fun choosing a Storyboard That character that looks like them as well as scenes, characters, animals and items that reflect the story of their name or their likes, interests and personalities.