The Name Jar maybe just the book to read to encourage pride in your child or students' uniqueness.
Unhei (pronounced Yoon-hye), embarrassed by how different her name is from her classmates, invites them to make suggestions for her to choose another one. The story takes a delightful turn when one of her classmates step in and decides it's best if she keeps her own name.
You can complement this book with conversations started with questions.
1. What does your name mean? Why do you like your name?
2. Why is it important for us to accept each other?
3. Why is Joey a good friend? What are some characteristics of being a good friend?
As an activity, you can have your children research the meaning of his/her name and for that day wear that word on a name tag or hat. Children call each other by that word for the day.
(Side note: if a student doesn't like the meaning of their name and would not like to be called by it, they can simply do the activity with their real name.
Let me know how this worked for your kids.
Happy Reading,
Elle
