Chrysanthemum Activity for the 2nd Day of School

I usually read Kevin Henkes' Chrysanthemum on the second day of school because it's all about a little girl who loves her name, but when she goes to school, she encounters some unkind children who make her feel embarrassed about her name. This is a good book to teach tolerance, good manners, and kindness.  

To help learn and appreciate each other's names we sing the "Chicky Chicky Song". It's a really fun song that is fun to do even later in the year when you need to liven things up.

Another fun activity incorporates patterns. The students write their name continuously on a 10x10 graph and assign a color for each letter. Once the graph is completely filled in, the students will see the different patterns their names make.

Once the grid is completely filled in, the students cut it out and glue it to a colored piece of construction  paper. This is our first hall display for the year!

The example above is a 5-letter name, so the pattern is very easy to see. Students with longer names will have to wrap their names to the next line and it will take a little longer for them to see the pattern.

This 6-letter name has a more complex pattern that may take a little longer to see. Encourage students to keep going. Eventually, you will hear "Cooolllll!"

To download this activity page, please click HERE!