Core Skills Analysis
Language Arts
- The activity involved recognizing or working with the name “Jennifer Cortez.”
- It provided practice with written language, including identifying two separate words in a personal name.
- The name offered an opportunity to notice capitalization conventions used for proper nouns.
Social Studies
- The activity centered on a person’s name, creating a possible connection to identity and how individuals are identified in communities.
- It could support awareness that names are meaningful parts of personal and social history.
Tips
Tips: Invite the student to copy “Jennifer Cortez,” circle the capital letters, and count the letters in each word. Discuss how names differ across families and cultures without making assumptions about this individual. The student could also create a simple name card, practice alphabetical ordering, or write a short sentence using the name.
Book Recommendations
- Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes: A thoughtful picture book about names, identity, and self-confidence.
- The Name Jar by Yangsook Choi: A story exploring names, belonging, and cultural identity.
- Alma and How She Got Her Name by Juana Martinez-Neal: A child learns about the family history connected to her name.
Try This Next
- Name worksheet: trace, copy, count, and alphabetize the words “Jennifer” and “Cortez.”
- Writing prompt: “My name is meaningful because…”
- Capitalization quiz: identify which letters should be uppercase in a person’s name.