remembering names
 

Hi everyone.
Sorry if this is a topic that has been covered before,i did a quick search but couldn't find anything.

Does anyone have any good suggestions on how to teach students to remember their names?

Im currently working in a kindergarten and the school wanted me to give the students names. I found though that they have a problem remembering their names. Some of them can remember quickly but the majority need for their Chinese name to be called in order for them to remember.

The ages of the students are about 4 and 5 and theres roughly 20 students in the class.

Thanks in advance for any help

Re: remembering names
 

I have the same problem when I was teaching kindy. What I did was to ask the Chinese English teacher (teacher assistant) to encourage the parents to call their kids with their given English names. Also if the kids are having a Chinese English class ask their teacher to use English names.
Hope it helps.
Happy teaching :)

Re: remembering names
 

A few ideas from an article which you'll find here on remembering names. It focuses on activities with older students, but there are a few things you could adapt :

1) Look at the register and familiarise yourself with the Chinese/English names before the lesson. If pronouncing the Chinese is a problem for you, let someone to help you with the pronunciation of the Chinese and write them in phonemic script (or any way that helps you with the pronunciation).

2) Give the kids a name badge to wear with the names in big letters. Make a point of using the name every time you talk to the child. If they don't remember the English name , add the Chinese name - Hey John-Ming. At the end of the lesson collect the badges in and use them again in every subsequent lesson till you're sure you know the name and can use it automatically. Your constant use of the name is the best way to help them remember.

3) Teach hello.Ask the kids to stand in a circle and throw a sponge ball to each other saying Hello (name) ! as they throw and catch (ie John says Hello Mary and throws to Mary. Mary replies Hello John, then says Hello Linda and throws to Linda) Do this at the beginning of each class - and/or at the end with goodbye.

4) When you teach Where's ... ? play a game. You say Where's John? and everyone must point to John.

5) Play the handkerchief game - Ss in two parallel lines facing each other, you in the middle with a handkerchief. Call the names of two kids standing opposite each other (John and Mary!) They run to you and the first one to grab the handkerchief wins a point for their team.

Lots more ideas for older students in the article, but I hope these help.

Re: remembering names
 

Thanks for the ideas. Never thought of getting the parents to call their kids by their english names.

Will try a few of the games then tell you how they went.

Thanks again