Name+Inquiry

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====//This wiki page features// ideas for incorporating names, naming, and name inquiry into ELA teaching and learning //, as well as// name resources //. Please post your ideas and resources that you completed for Class 4 below! Keep in mind that you will typically have a diverse group of students and, as such, you will want to be culturally responsive to names and naming practices that may be more culturally-focused than historically-based or -entrenched. Put your names with your ideas!//====

Our Ideas...
//**- Amanda**// **Moniz:** I can see how this type of activity can be used in the language arts classroom to focus on characterization comparison between individuals in a book. Although, I can see how this activity would be more utilized in a Social Studies classroom. It would be a good chance for __students__ to see how societal events correspond with their family’s history.

====**- //Hannah A://** I would conduct a short lesson on the origin of surnames in the Middle Ages, which was when people started receiving last names. I will teach why they became necessary and how they were chosen. Afterwards students will have an opportunity to research their last name and where it originated.Whether they can find the meaning of their last name or not, ====


 * //- Kelsey B://** Have students look up their surnames and ask their parents about it. When they get to class explain to them the importance of a surname. What if there were two Marys’ in a classroom or two Jordans’, how would you know who belong to who? Or You could also assign each __student__ a different surname of someone in the class that is not theirs and have them find out information about them for homework and come in and present what they found.


 * //- Jade G://** You could use a “getting to know you” activity in your classroom by having the students look up each others’ names to find out more about their peers. It could be used as a first day activity and would probably best be used if the students didn’t know their partner very well before the activity. The students could tell each other what they know about their names, meanings and origins and their partner could do the additional research to tell them more about what their name means. The students could also make a birthing announcement with their names and meanings of their names on the announcement.

-//**Paige Smith:**// I feel like this would be great to use in your Language Arts and Social Studies __#|classes__. When I was in high school, one of my teachers used the theme of our names for a research paper. I would not go this far into the students' names, I would use it for an introduction activity at the beginning of the school year. You could also use this in a history of social studies class if you were discussing family backgrounds or where immigrants and slaves got their last names.

//**-Stephanie Cogdill:**// I think that this would be a great tie in for any book that students read. When talking about why an author decides to have this or that happen in a book, this activity could possibly help students see why an author chose a particular name. With looking up the meanings of names, students could see if the meanings have any relation to the character in the story and see if it provides any extra insight in to the character as well.


 * -Michelle Parker:** I think that I could use this activity in an ELA classroom in order to create name poems, using information from our __ #|name meanings __ in the poems. This is an activity we did in Dr. Pope’s class and it was really cool to see how middle schoolers are creating their identity and learning the meaning of their name adds to that self-identity. I think using __#|name meanings__ would also work in a Social Studies classroom as an introductory activity to get to know students and at the same time, introduce geography. Each student researches both their first and last name, especially finding out where the names came from. Then as a class, they pinpoint on a large world map where their names came from to create a visual representation. This gets students thinking about where names originate from, is there an area that has a large concentration of names? Then students can start to think more critically about this. Is it because our ancestors are all from that area? Are there popular names from other places in the world? Think about Chinese or Arabic names. This is a great discussion to get students to learn each other’s names AND start thinking about how we fit into a global society.

** -Stephanie Hairyes: ** I think that this is a great get to know your students activity. You could also use it to help students with their characterization techniques.

 * -Samantha Melton: ** I think a good activity would be for students to freewrite about anything they know about their given and surname. This could be in paragraph form or a just a list of things they already know. Before doing any research, students would then ask their parents or other family members for any information they might know about the surname. After gathering all this information, students would then research their surname and compare their findings to the previous information. Students would then form small groups and share one thing that they knew about their name that was confirmed by research and one new thing that they learned after research. It would also be interesting for students to compare their surnames’ place of and time of origin. The final part of this project would be for students to create some type of illustration or collage that contained the information that they discovered about their surname. The students would be encouraged to be as creative as possible and do further research if needed.

**-Alexandra Goforth**: I think a good activity would be for students to make educated guesses of about the origins of their surnames. Then they will make inferences by drawing off of what they know and what their parents know about their family past. Then they should do a web-based search on their surname. Gathering as much information as they can. Students may also use additional resources such as speaking with extended family members.Students can then create their own family crest, drawing on the information they gathered in their search.Students can then present the information that they gathered and their crest to the class. Showing their research and the progress they made.

//-// **Robin Oelrich:** //This could be used as an introduction activity to allow students get to know each other better. The students would share they finding after researching them.//

//-// **Mary Weeks**//:// I love name activities. I think students will find their name inquiry. This requires our students to think critically. We should ask why they think they were named the way they were. Do they think their name shows some type of their characteristics. My name comes from England and means dairy farmer. I live on a farm with dairy goats and cows! Resources: houseofnames.com


 * Stephanie Doss: ** This was always fun to do as an introductory activity the first few days of class. Inquiry about their name could also be a starting point for inquiry about meanings of names of characters in language arts, or about immigration in social studies. A fun activity I have done before, and that could be a follow up for name research, is to make a coat of arms for your name. Students could do this for their first or last name, and they could base it off a real coat of arms or totally make it up. They would include things they are interested in or characteristics about themselves, like a baseball bat if they play baseball, or a music note if they like to plan an instrument.

**Pryscilla Lee**: In both Language Arts and Social Studies classes, s tudents can learn about the meaning of their own first names, submit their first names to a Names Database, view other names in other languages having the same meaning as their own names, and then write an explanation of their findings through an online form.


 * Blake Gosselin:** I would design an activity that would act as an introductory activity for the class on the first week of class. I would have students research their names and their lineage. I would then have them create a presentation of some sorts to present to the class. This would be a fun way to introduce each other in class while building the students research skills.


 * Kaitlyn Kelleher:** The general idea of a class activity involving name etymology could take place on the first/second week of class when my class and I are discussing why it is important to know history. Students will be expected to have done their research in the library (utilizing and gaining familiarity with technology), and I will have created a large map on the board where students will be expected to graph the journey of their names over the globe! Name inquiry would also be good to use when discussing influential people (knowing the meaning of their names could help the knowledge “stick” better).


 * Hailee Klauka: ** I would likely use a lesson that allows students the opportunity to research about their name, similar to what we had the opportunity to do for class. I would like to take this a step further and allow them to share what they have learned about their names. How did they receive it? Is there special meaning behind it? Would they change it if they could? They could do so by creating a powerpoint, poster, timeline, or another creative outlook to show their lineage/name. Also, a lesson on how names came to be would be interesting. I'm sure there are plenty of resources online that share stories about lineage that could be quite interesting to aid in understanding about the importance of names. Adding in an inquiry on middle names would also be a great way to learn more about names!


 * Brittany Jones-** A great classroom activity would one in which students learn about their heritage. Students could research their heritage and make a short presentation about their roots. When they finish presenting their can place a pin with their name on it in their place in the world.

//Keep adding here...//
 * Brittany Waddell**- This would be a great activity to use to segway into a history lesson of famous family lineage! On a Friday I would ask my students to go home and over the weekend find out as much as they can about their names, and family history. Then, on Monday I would let everybody share what they found, and then jump into a lesson. I may even let my students make their own family trees.

For the name activity in an English/Language Arts class, I could have the students write a Thank You letter to their parents for giving them their name. Also in the letter the student’s can include some extra facts that they found out about their name and can share those facts with their parents. This activity will be great for students because they will have hands on experience with learning how to research and also practice their writing. If I did this activity with my class, I will probably make this the first writing assignment to kick off their English writing journey in my class.
 * Stephanie Snead-**

Rachel McSwain: For a name activity in my classroom, I would have students talk to their parents or grandparents about how and why they received their name. I would then ask them to freewrite and reflect on what their name means to them. Do you like it? Dislike it? Why? Were you named after anyone important, such as a family member or famous person? Has anyone ever made an assumption about you based on your name? If you could change your name, would you? Why do you think names are important?

Our Resources for Finding Information About Names and Naming (e.g., books, websites, etc.):
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Amanda Moniz's Surname Resources

Stephanie Cogdill's Surname and Name Resources

[|ancestry.com]

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Kelsey's Resources

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Surname References-AG -Alexandra's Resources

Stephanie Doss's Resources

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[|http://genealogy.familyeducation.com/family-names-surnames/meaning-origin/blake]

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[|http://www.surnamedb.com/blake]

[]. (Kaitlyn Kelleher)

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//Add your resources here...//

Their Resources ~ Resources Identified by Past Cohorts

 * Amanda C.- babycenter.com, momswhothink.com thinkbabynames.com
 * Amanda H.: [|www.surnamedb.com], [|www.houseofnames.com], [|www.baby-names-meanings.net]
 * Margot : www.babynamesworld.parentsconnect.com, www,babynamewizard.com, www.houseofnames.com
 * Ashton: www.thinkbabynames.com, www.houseofnames.com, www.geneology.familyeducation.com
 * Megan: http://www.babynamescountry.com/meanings/, http://nameberry.com/babyname, http://www.surnamedb.com
 * Sean : http://thinkbabynames.com, surnamemedb.com, http://babynamesworld.parentsconnect.com
 * Morgan: www.thinkbabynames.com, http://babynamesworld.parentsconnect.com, www.behindthename.com
 * Nancy: http://www.surnamedb.com/, http://www.houseofnames.com/, []
 * Will: [], [|www.americansurnames.us], [|www.behindthename.com]

**Text-Based Resource//s//**

Dictionary of Proper Names, Oxford University Press

Dunkling, L. & Gosling, W. (1983). The Facts on File Dictionary of First Names. New York, New York: Facts on File Publications.

Evans, C. (2008). A note on U.S. immigrants' choice of baby names. Names: A journal of onomastics, 56(1), 39-40. Hanks, P., & Hodges, F. (YEAR). A Dictionary of First Names and A Dictionary of Surnames.

Hey, D. (2000). // Family Names and Family History. // Lancaster, LA: Carnegie Publishing.

Lansky, B. (1991). The Best Baby Name Book In the Whole Wide World. Deephaven, MN: Meadowbrook, Inc.

Levitt, S. D., & Dubner, S. J. (2005). Ch. 6: Perfect parenting, p.ii; or: Would a Roshanda by any other name smell so sweet? Freakonomics: A rogue economist explores the hidden side to everything. NY: HarperCollins.

Macleod, I., & Freedman, T. (1995). The wordsworth dictionary of first names. Chatham, (Michael)

Stewart, G. R. (YEAR?). American Given Names.

Toynbee, P. (1914). Concise dictionary of proper names and notable matters in the works of Dante. Oxford: Clarendon Press.