Practicing Names

A cute traditional rhyme for practicing "Me llamo ____" :

A E I O U
Arbolito de Perú
Yo me llamo _____;
¿cómo te llamas tú?

I like to play a game with this rhyme once the students have learned it. The students sit in a circle. The students recite the first two lines, I say the third and fourth, rolling a ball to a student who then answers the question. We then start again, the student now saying the third and fourth lines and rolling the ball to another student. The game continues until everyone has had a turn. For a silly twist, you can write out the students' names on cards, shuffle them and pass them out, making sure students get a name other than their own. Or you can write names of famous people or cartoon characters. Finding ways to practice the construction 'My name is ___' and 'What's your name?' in an interesting manner can be difficult, but this game works well, is fun, and of course, the rhyme is authentic so a cultural element is tapped as well.

A great quote!

While searching for quotes on language and language learning to decorate my classroom door, I came across this one:

"If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart."
- Nelson Mandela