Elementary teachers looking for lesson plans and activities for Your Name is a Song will find this post helpful. It includes resource recommendations, free teaching ideas, and information about the book. You’ll have everything you need to deliver engaging interactive read aloud lessons based on this story.
With themes of being respectful, this Your Name is a Song picture book by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow is a favorite in 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade classrooms. It will be a big hit in your classroom too! Learn more about this book below!
Engage Your Students with Your Name is a Song Lesson Plans & Activities in 3 Easy Steps:
- Read a summary of Your Name is a Song. You can find it in the section below.
- Check out the teaching ideas for reading comprehension strategies, grammar topics and social emotional learning skills that can be taught using this children’s book.
- Download the book companion to make lesson planning simple with Your Name is a Song reading comprehension questions, writing prompts, teaching ideas & no-prep extension activities.
YOUR NAME IS A SONG SUMMARY
After the first day of school, the main character in this book was very upset. No one in her class could say her name, not even her teacher. The girl’s mother encourages her to sing her name for her classmates, and that is how they will learn to say her name. The girl also explains that people at school made fun of her name. Some girls in her class pretended to choke on it, a boy’s eyes got very wide, and someone said her name was made up.
While they walk home, the girl’s mother talks to her about the importance of names and where they come from. The girl learns that names come from dreamers, that names are strong and that it is important for everyone to learn new names.
The next day at school, the teacher calls out everyone’s name and gets stuck on the main character’s. The girl decides to sing her name and the teacher is surprised. The girl then explains that names are songs, and sings her teacher’s name and classmates’ names. Soon, everyone wants to hear the girl sing their name. The girl’s teacher asks her to sing her name again and her classmates sing it back.
Students will enjoy this story about the importance of a name.
YOUR NAME IS A SONG LESSON PLAN IDEAS
Each of our 400+ Starts With a Story book companions come with a teacher’s guide to make lesson planning quick and easy, printable worksheets and digital resources that cover ALL of the standards-based reading comprehension skills.
When it comes to writing lesson plans and finding activities for Your Name is a Song, we’ve already done all of the heavy lifting for you.
We found this book was especially good at teaching the topics listed below.
READING COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS
The text-based Your Name is a Song reading comprehension questions focus on:
- summarize/retell
- analyzing character
- plot | problem-solution
- sequencing
- author’s purpose
LITERATURE-BASED SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING LESSONS
We found this story to be a great SEL picture book to promote:
- being respectful
GRAMMAR, VOCABULARY & WORD STUDY
- plural nouns
- possessive nouns
- types of sentences
- contractions
YOUR NAME IS A SONG ACTIVITIES
You’ll receive all of the following resources aligned to the story:
- comprehension questions
- 30 writing prompts with themed paper
- vocabulary activities
- word study print & go activities
- ideas for grammar lessons with focus sentence printables
- social emotional learning discussion topics
- graphic organizers to target specific comprehension skills and strategies
YOU HAVE 2 OPTIONS! WHERE WOULD YOU LIKE TO PURCHASE THIS BOOK COMPANION?
BOOK INFO FOR ELEMENTARY TEACHERS
What are the reading levels for Your Name is a Song?
- Lexile® Measure: 450
- Guided Reading Level: M
- DRA Level: 20
- Accelerated Reader Level (ARC): 2.5
Who is the author? Who is the illustrator?
The book was written by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow. It was illustrated by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow .
What genre is Your Name is a Song?
It is a fiction book. You may want to check out our genre activities or read our blog post, How to Teach Genre to Elementary Students.
How many pages are in the book?
The story is 40 pages long.
