"what's in a name" article

Voices from the Middle, Volume 14 Number 2, December 2006

Roessing | What’s in a Name? A Whole Lot of Talking, Researching, and Writing

What’s in a Name? A Whole Lot ofTalking, Researching, and Writing

Lesley Roessing

I t is important to make learningrelevant to students, and what is moresignificant than their names?

I stand there looking at a sea of faces—strangers.They look eerily alike on that first day. Some varia-tion of skin tones, hair color, gender . . . . Wait,three are wearing glasses (with the same frames).Tomorrow, the first full day of school, the roomwill be a sea of green, khaki, and white as theydon their school uniforms. Who are they? I thinkto myself. How will I ever tell them apart? How willI get to know them?

Who are they? Many of the students think asthey glance out of the corners of their eyes. Howwill I ever tell them apart—get to know them? Mystudents have the same problem as I.

Every fall in classrooms around the country,teachers and students spend the commencementof school learning each other’s names. My class-room is no different. Our names are the first partof ourselves that we share with others. Just the actof acknowledging a name makes a person feel im-portant and accepted. Many of my students do notknow each other at the beginning of the year, andI know none of them. I have about 75 names tolearn as quickly as possible so that my studentsfeel important and accepted. Sharing our namesshifts us from the role of strangers to acquaintancesand, eventually, I hope, even to friends.

During that first class period, l read the storyof Chrysanthemum, a little mouse who thinks hername is “absolutely perfect” until she starts school,where other students make fun of her name. Of-ten, this is the first time the middle-level studentshave seen a picture book since the primary grades,

and this concept, in itself, is interesting to them.Tomorrow, we will continue this new traditionwith A Boy Called Slow, the story of the re-namingof the Sioux chief Sitting Bull.

I ask the students to make name signs for theirdesks, forming each letter into an item that tellssomething about themselves (see Figure 1): an Scan be a flower stalk, an M two mountains with avacation home perched in the valley, an L mightbe a pencil and a paint brush, a P a hairdryer orhockey stick. During the time they are creatingtheir signs, students are chatting with their neigh-bors, sharing supplies and ideas, playing with eachother’s names, and communicating.

Figure 1. Kristin creatively conveys information aboutherself by molding action to letter shapes.

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In other words, these young

adolescents are learning how

to make the writing process

and the characteristics of

good writing work for them,

rather than simply learning

about writing.

As we look at the finished signs, I ask studentshow they got their names. Ears perk up. What?Amazingly enough, very few have thought aboutit. Even the “Juniors” and “the Thirds” may notbe sure why their parents chose that tradition, butthat does give us a starting point to discuss cus-toms and feelings and to begin an inquiry. (“So,how do you like being ‘Little Frank’ even thoughyou are two inches taller than Dad?”) I have caughttheir attention—and it is important to catch stu-dents’ interest from the beginning—because I havecapitalized on what adolescents like to hear about,talk about, and find out about—Themselves.

Research, observation, and common senseshow that students work more willingly on topicsthat matter to them, topics that interest them. InConversations, Regie Routman (2000) states, “Stu-dents have to care about their writing to write well,and they care about things in which they are in-terested” (p. 213). Ralph Fletcher (1993) writes,“It’s important to begin with the realization thatthere is little inherently interesting about any sub-ject. . . . It is not the subject itself that will holdthe reader but the writer’s relationship to that sub-ject” (p. 152). For the next two weeks, each classembarks on a search for the meanings and tradi-tions behind their names: given names, surnames,confirmation names, nicknames. We achieve thisthrough a combination of teacher lecture, printand Internet research, interviews with familymembers, and the exploration and noting of per-sonal feelings and experiences. But what I am ac-tually teaching—the lesson behind the lessons—isa study of the characteristics of good writing: con-tent, focus, organization, style (including voice),and conventions. [Note: These characteristics arereferred to as “domains” by the Pennsylvania De-partment of Education, who has issued a PA Writ-ing Assessment Domain Scoring Guide for itsstandardized writing assessments. The majority ofstates refer to the writing “traits” identified by theNorthwest Regional Educational Laboratory inPortland, Oregon: ideas, organization, sentencefluency, word choice, voice, and conventions. Inthis article, I use the term characteristics or the ge-neric term traits interchangeably.]

I also use this personal interest in the topic tohelp my students scrutinize the writing process asthey brainstorm and collect data and organize itmeaningfully in order to draft, revise, and edit theirwritings. In other words,these young adolescentsare learning how to makethe writing process andthe characteristics ofgood writing work forthem, rather than simplylearning about writing.Over the followingweeks, the studentsgather information, de-cide the most appropri-ate ways to present it (mode and genre), and learnhow the characteristics of good writing will letthem most effectively communicate their mes-sages. We begin by compiling ideas, or content,for the writing.

ContentContent is the information or details from whichwriting is composed. Students rarely have suffi-cient content in expository writing; before theyeven begin to write, they need to have enough dataavailable from which to choose what bits are themost effective or interesting. To help my studentsgather a quantity and quality, as well as variety, ofcontent for this project, I model several techniques.I share information on given names; the historyof names and naming; recent naming trends; tra-ditions in different cultures, religions, and timeperiods; meanings of names in various languages;statistics on name popularity; and so forth. Thisassortment of information is presented in a vari-ety of ways, and I present it for interest’s sake.There are no required notes, no quizzes—just alot of class discussion. The students pay attentionbecause “John” in different languages—Ivan, Juan,Ian, Sean, Jan—is intriguing and applies to themor their friends, as does the popularity of namesthrough the decades, and religious or cultural nam-ing traditions. The introduction of the nicknameis relevant because their friends bestow nicknames

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upon them, especially as they enter the sportsarena. My students find themselves jotting downinformation (taking notes!) because they wantmore knowledge about themselves. We brainstorma list of criteria that can be taken into account whennaming a baby so they can go home and ask par-ents about what influenced their choice(s).

I also explain how family names came aboutand the four basic types of surnames. They havefun changing their surnames to patronyms usingtheir fathers’ names or matronyms using theirmothers’ names. We check telephone books toidentify obvious patronyms (Johnson), place names(Woods), professions (Smith), and descriptive names(Short). Consulting their foreign language teach-ers, some students translate their names into En-glish from different languages (Bauer, farmer).Using these techniques, Frank Weiss, whose fa-ther, David, is a carpenter and who lives at the topof a hill becomes Frank Davidson, Frank Carpen-ter, Frank Hilltop, or Frank White.

After the students discuss the information pre-sented over the previous days and determine whatmay be applicable to their names, they generate alist of questions that they would like answered. “Ahealthy dose of ignorance is often helpful whenyou begin researching a subject. . . . It insures thatyou will be a learner. . . . It provides room for theimagination which, as the writer Bruce Brooks haspointed out, flows from what is known to what isnot known” (Fletcher, 1993, pp.153–4). Studentsgenerate many questions based on all their names:

Who named me? Why? How was the namechosen?

Does anyone else in our family have thisname? Was I named after him/her?

Were other names originally chosen? Whatif I had been a girl/boy?

What do my names mean?

How do I really feel about my names? HaveI always felt this way?

Has my name ever caused a problem?

Is my name popular? Was it ever?

Has our family name always been the same?When/why was it changed?

Who gave me my nicknames? Why? Howdo I feel about nicknames?

In After the End, Barry Lane (1993) writes, “Iexplain to [the students] that every story beginsby answering a question and some of their ques-tions make me want to write more than others”(p. 14). He continues, “The art of asking ques-tions is intrinsically linked with the art of havingsomething to say, of valuing your experience, andtrusting enough to share even painful experiences,first with yourself and then with others” (p. 16).

My students next divide their lists into threetypes of questions: interview questions to ask fam-ily members, research questions to check in booksand on the Internet, and personal questions tobrainstorm themselves (see Figure 2). Pairing off,they discuss and share their personal feelings abouttheir names, building community in the new class-room. Regie Routman (2000) validates the impor-tance of building a community: “Establishingcommunity in the classroom is likewise necessaryif we and our students are to be able to work atour best” (p. 226). She adds, “Today, we know thattaking the time to get to know each other and buildcommunity in the classroom is one of the best waysto get the mind working well” (p. 539).

Figure 2. Students used the Internet, among otherresources, to research questions about name origins,meanings, popularity, and history.

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After completing their questionnaires, thestudents are always excited about what they havediscovered and are delighted to disclose the infor-mation. The divergent questions elicit a varietyof content—statistics, facts, reasons, examples,anecdotes, family folklore. Chris found out howpopular his name was the year he was born andwhat percentage of the U.S. population is namedChristopher. Amanda Grace shared her mother’smusical version of Amazing Grace, and Brittanycomplained that her name was too common whileothers wished for more popular names. John dis-covered that he, in fact, is not a “Junior,” becausehis middle name is different than his father’s.

Stephanie never noticed that she shared herfather’s name (Stephen), and Sarah discovered thatall the women in her family for the last four gen-erations had one of two names—Sarah or Barbara,or, in some cases, both. Ian George determinedthat his names reflected heritages from both sidesof his family, Irish and South African, and was sur-prised to learn that his White mother could beSouth African (prompting a mini social studieslesson). And the stories went on.

Unbidden, students bring in coats of arms andgenealogy charts. Everybody has something to say,an anomaly for an eighth-grade heterogeneousclassroom. The young adolescents talk together

SIDE TRIP: IF YOU PLAN IT, THEY WILL COME (AND SUCCEED!)

From a human development standpoint, a unit where students can learn more about themselves and theirfamilies couldn’t come at a better time than middle school. The search for identity and need for affiliationare well known among middle school learners. Like any journey, it begins with knowing where you camefrom. Leslie Roessing feeds that need by providing her students with the means and the space to begin todiscover who they are.

Planning is key to the successful implementation of a unit like this in your classroom. It is helpful toassemble a variety of materials tailored to the research needs of your students. As with any researchassignment, be sure to discuss the importance of accurate information. Source materials and websites onname origins abound. Consider bookmarking websites on your classroom computers that can offer mean-ings of names of representative cultures. Many of these sites are intended to help new parents name theirbabies. Be sure to screen them carefully before students use them, as some ask for a subscription fee ormarket other services.

Books deserve an equally close screening. While there is a wide variety of books that describe the mean-ings of names, some offer dubious information. Encourage your students to verify using two or moresources of information. Two books with excellent background information include:

Norman, T. (2003). A world of baby names (rev. ed.). New York. Perigree.Stewart, J. (1996). African names: Names from the African continent for children and adults. New York:

Citadel.

As a follow-up to this unit, consider extending your students’ understanding of the role of family in thewords and phrases of the English language. For example, words and phrases associated with father (patri-arch, patron, “father knows best”), mother (alma mater, matriarch, maternal, matrimony, “mothertongue”), brother (brethren, fraternize, “brothers in arms”), sister (sorority), children (kindergarten,pediatrician, pedagogy), and family love (affiliation, fidelity, Philadelphia, genealogy, genetics, “blood isthicker than water”) abound.

—Nancy Frey

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about what they have in common, and, equallyimportant, listen in interest to the dissimilarities.For once, students who may view themselves as“different” have information that other studentsfind fascinating, such as Fazil, whose Malaysiansurname actually is a patronym; and James, whosesurname comes first in his Korean culture. Every-

of the data that I have collected would be appro-priate support, and we highlight it on my infor-mation sheet. We choose the focus that either hasthe most support or is the most interesting to meas the author.

Next, the students ask questions and decide ifI need to conduct additional research in that area.(Here’s a tip: “Teach students to replace ‘The End’with a list of five questions generated by a neigh-bor” [Lane, 1993, p. 17].) I may have thought Iwas at the end of my brainstorming, researching,and organizing, but their questions showed meotherwise. This step demonstrates the recursivenature of the writing process. With this modelunder their belts, the students review their owninformation and determine the focuses of theirwritings. Any data not pertaining to the selectedfocus is eliminated, at least for this writing; thisinformation can be transferred to their writers’notebooks for later consideration. Last, each writerdiscusses with a partner any additional questionsthat may need to be answered by adding informa-tion.

Style & Voice: Genre ChoiceStyle is what makes the reader want to read on;voice is the presence of the author communicatingwith the reader. As I explain to my classes, all writ-ing needs content, of course, or there would notbe anything to read, but one never hears a readerwaxing poetic over a writer’s organization or fo-cus or conventions. Style and voice, however, cancompensate for weaknesses in other characteris-tics.

Style can gain a reader’s regard even when thetopic is not of particular personal interest. I tellmy students that many times I have read articleson subjects of no particular concern to me just to“hear” the author’s voice, and I illustrate with anexample of John McPhee and his environmentalwritings. Besides a lead that captures the reader’sattention and a conclusion that leaves a memo-rable impression, style is determined by choice,use, and arrangement of words and a diversity ofsentence structure (Pennsylvania Writing Assessment

The students feel special as

they learn they are special,

and, sharing their stories and

collected data, they grow to

know more than each other’s

names. The content for their

writings becomes “substan-

tial, specific, and illustrative.”

one has a name—eventhose who may not reada book or write a poem;therefore, all studentshave something they canadd to our name discus-sions.

What they all dis-cover is that their familymembers spent a lot oftime and effort confer-ring their names and, inmany cases, there are

family, religious, or cultural traditions associatedwith their names—both given and surnames. Eventhose students who insisted that they already kneweverything about their names admitted that theyfound out new information because they had a newgoal—writing about their names. The students feelspecial as they learn they are special, and, sharingtheir stories and collected data, they grow to knowmore than each other’s names. The content fortheir writings becomes “substantial, specific, andillustrative” (Pennsylvania Writing Assessment Do-main Scoring Guide).

FocusAfter discussing the concept of focus as a single,controlling point made about the topic, the stu-dents are to look over their collected data to de-cide what point each wishes to make about his orher name. I share a transparency with the data Icollected about my name. Together the class brain-storms the possible points I could make about myname. They come up with three: that I have neverliked any part of my name; that my name reflectsmy heritage; that my name is more multiculturalthan I am. For each focus, the class decides which

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Domain Scoring Guide), which create a rhythm.Style also can be achieved by effectively using

an unexpected mode or an unusual genre, such asa comic book, as long as the writer is proficient inthat format. At this point, I usually discuss indi-vidual options for mode and genre, includingatypical genres, such as a eulogy or obituary for aname, or a persuasive advertising brochure. Some-times groups of students collaborate to draft mydata in different genres for practice; “The SadBallad of Lesley-Irene” will always be a favorite.

I have file boxes of samples of different genresand formats that students can examine and use asmodels if they wish to try a new type of writing,an idea borrowed from Linda Rief (1992, p. 26).While some students are more comfortable be-ginning the year with a familiar and practicedgenre, some accept my invitation to experiment.Over the years, students have taken risks and writ-ten in many divergent genres. Joel created a com-mercial storyboard for his name, while Stephaniewrote a commercial script for hers:

Stephanie is a name that is unique enough not to beheard everywhere, yet is popular enough that every-body knows it! It’s originally Greek for “crowned,”but this name is so great that many cultures just hadto have a version of their own! The Germans alsohave the name Stefanie; the Polish and Ukrainians haveStefania; the Russians have Panya, Stepanida, andStesha; in the Czech Republlic [sic], it’s Stepanka; theHawaiians have Kekepania and Stefana, the Frenchhave Etiennette; the list is endless. . . . Hurry! This is alimited time offer. (Also comes in Stephen.)

Also experimenting, Calvin composed a rap, Chriswent back in time to meet an ancestor who couldeducate him about the family name, and Bridgetfashioned an instruction manual for new parents,Baby Naming Tips. A budding playwright, Debbie,wrote a three-act drama starring her parents: Act1—The Announcement; Act 2—Pregnancy,Month 6; and Act 3—The Birth and The Nam-ing. In Act 3, Peggy, who has been contemplatingthe names Rachel or Tiffany, “looks up at Ken,tears streaming down her face as she sees her babyfor the first time. She pauses for a moment:‘Deborah Elizabeth, my little honey bee.’”

Two of the most creative products have been

Dan’s comic book featuring a research hero, NameBoy, and Nicole’s multi-stanza limerick that be-gan:

It was time to look in the book.Some names made them laugh ’til they shook.They each made a listOf names that they wished.Then they exchanged them and then took a look.

and ended . . .

My mother was glad I was a dame.What happened next, she was to blame.A girl I was bornFrom chosen ‘Melissa’ I was tornBecause “Nicole Danielle” I became.

Two components of style are word choice andsentence structure. I find that students want to usestrong and picturesque words when describingscenes inspired by their names or when portray-ing their feelings. An example is Krista’s memo-rable lead, “In a cozy brown leather chair, Krista

While some students are

more comfortable beginning

the year with a familiar and

practiced genre, some accept

my invitation to experiment.

hit a roadblock on thehighway of writing.” Asshe writes about hergrandfather’s enlistmentin the WWII Army, shedescribes the front of therecruitment center: “Amammoth American flagwas waving in the chillyDecember air”; she describes the recruiter, Ser-geant Walker: “His name gleamed in the brightlight of his lamp. His khaki uniform was in pris-tine condition and newly pressed.” He spoke “in acalm and collected voice that instilled fear in manyof his inferiors.” We talk about varying sentencestructure and type and the power of sentencelength. We even discuss the situations in which afragment can be used effectively. Like now. Hope-fully, this beginning induces students to thinkabout style or voice in informational, as well ascreative, writing.

OrganizationThe next step is for the students to decide on themost logical and effective arrangement of theirdata and the development of that information

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throughout their writing. We discuss the fact thatevery genre, even a poem or a letter, will have abeginning, middle, and end. The students reviewtransitions and transitional devices and practiceusing them appropriately within and betweenparagraphs, sentences, and ideas (or stanzas andcomics frames). Beginning her third paragraph,

Victoria wrote, “Even though my first name didnot come from one of my family members, Tatiana[her middle name] did.”

As the students look at their information, theyask themselves and each other questions aboutwhat they really want to discover or say about theirnames. They then practice drafting their leadsusing a few methods (quotation, statistic, surpris-ing fact, provocative question, dialogue, setting orcharacter sketch) to see which works best with theirfocus and genre and to practice drafting differenttypes of leads for future writings. One memorablelead was Andy’s fictitious anecdote, written inflashback, about an ancestor in County Cork, Ire-land, meeting a friend and discussing her baby’sname, Andrew. The story then fast-forwarded tothe present time to his mother in America, meet-ing a friend and discussing naming her baby Andy.It was quite effective in illustrating the folkloricquality of naming practices, and this lead arousedinterest in the facts that followed.

Bobbi took a storybook approach and beganat the beginning (literally):

It was a snowy December day at the hospital when ababy girl entered the world. She was tiny, pale, andhad light brown strands of hair peeking out of hermagenta hat. A blanket, fuzzy and pink, was wrappedaround her small, fragile body as she rested atop thetiny bed as if she were a queen upon a throne. Sheopened her rather large, hazel eyes and glanced intoher joyful parents’ proud eyes.

After leads, we consider conclusions. I encour-age conclusions that share insights, that answerthe So What? Another similarly effective conclu-sion for this type of writing would be an observa-tion or understanding. Many students hadinteresting observations to share with the classafter conducting their research:

“I did not realize that my parents put somuch time and effort into my names.”

“My names contain a lot of our familyhistory.”

“My name doesn’t reflect who I am; itreflects who my parents wanted me to be.”

SIDE TRIP: READWRITETHINK LESSON PLANS TOSUPPORT NAME STUDIES

• Alphabiography Project: Totally You(http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=937)

Instead of writing their life stories in a linear fashion, studentswrite their biographies from A to Z in this nontraditionalautobiography activity, which was inspired by the book TotallyJoe by James Howe. After the entry for each letter in theiralphabiographies, students sum up the stories and vignettes byrecording the life lessons they learned from the events.

• Investigating Names to Explore Personal History andCultural Traditions(http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=878)

In this lesson, students investigate the meanings and origins oftheir own names in order to establish their own personalhistories and to explore cultural significance of naming tradi-tions. After Internet research and interviews with family orcommunity members, students write about their own names,using a passage from Sandra Cisneros’ The House on MangoStreet as a model.

• Avalanche, Aztek, or Bravada? A Connotation Mini-Lesson(http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=75)

Would you rather drive an Avalanche, an Aztek, a Bravada, aSuburban, or a Vue? In this mini-lesson, students examinefamiliar car names for underlying connotations, then proceedthrough a series of steps, increasing their control over languageuntil they learn to select words with powerful connotations intheir own writing.

Lisa Storm Finkwww.readwritethink.org

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Bobbi offered this end to the tale of her ac-ceptance of a typically “male” name and her kin-dergarten classmates’ teasing:

Loudly the girl asked, “Is it true that your name isBobbi? What were your parents thinking? That’s areally weird name.”

Bobbi continued to color her picture; she giggledon the inside as she simply stated, ‘Thanks . . . I like ittoo!”

ConventionsAs this is my students’ first writing, I do not spendmuch time teaching conventions. We talk aboutthe purpose of conventions—so that the readercan comprehend the communication. I point outthat conventions apply to all the genres—evenpoetry is punctuated—but many genres have theirown unique conventions. Since the writers will besharing this writing with their peers and families,they do look at editing lists and ask other studentsfor editing advice, and many rewrite another fi-nal, publishable copy, incorporating my conven-tion suggestions. However, for me, this writingserves as an initial formulative assessment to dem-onstrate the students’ strengths and weakness, andit lets me know what I must review or teach in myconvention mini-lessons that school term.

AssessmentMy assessment of this writing is based on the writ-ing characteristics, modified to reflect what I havetaught, modeled, and expected and to emphasizethe focus of this particular writing (generatingideas/content). I give my students a rubric in ad-vance so they can use it in their peer revision con-ferences as a point of discussion. I look for contentthat is substantial and varied—a blend of anec-dotes, statistics, facts, organization, examples—andrepresents a mixture of research, interview infor-mation, and personal feelings; I expect a focus thatis maintained with supporting details. I am alsolooking for organization that appears to be logi-cal and effective for the writer’s purpose. Subjec-tively, style is what keeps me reading and serves asa mirror to their interest in the topic, but objec-tively, I give weight to attempts to expand word

choice and use figurative language and varied sen-tence structures. Misuse of conventions aremarked and noted in this writing but not graded;they can use my comments to generate a personalconventions list.

Reflections—My So What?It’s not often that middle school students expresstheir appreciation for a lesson unless it involves agame or prizes. Of course, as teachers, we feel thatmost of what we teach is interesting and valuable,but usually young adolescents do not acknowledgethis. Upon submitting this writing over the years,numerous students have mentioned that the ex-perience of researching their names and discover-ing their own family histories is not onlyinteresting and novel but also important to them.Besides learning and practicing the characteris-

Their own lives and their

histories fascinate my stu-

dents. Because of this interest

and because the writers want

to share this information as

effectively as possible, they

endeavor to write well about

themselves.

tics of good writing, stu-dents gain a sense of cul-tural, national, andfamily folklore. Alsovaluable to them is learn-ing that research can beconducted through inter-viewing experts in thefield, in this case, theirfamilies. In What aWriter Needs, RalphFletcher (1993) writes, “Iseek a subject to writeabout with two distin-guishing characteristics: it must interest me and itmust be something that I think I can write wellabout” (p. 152). Their own lives and their histo-ries fascinate my students. Because of this interestand because the writers want to share this infor-mation as effectively as possible, they endeavor towrite well about themselves. They accomplish thiswith assistance from mini-lessons about writingtraits (domains) and my models, not to mentionthe cooperative support of their classmates.

Mr. Fletcher continues, “A significant subjectis usually connected, however loosely, to my life”(Fletcher, 1993, p. 152). Students’ names are very

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closely connected to their lives, and they find outjust how closely through this unit, which makestheir names a truly significant subject to study andand to write about. The added bonus is that, bythe end of these writings, strangers have becomeacquaintances and future friends. I agree withNancie Atwell (1998) when she says, “We knowthat young adolescents value school friendshipsand social relationships far more than school sub-jects and teachers” (p. 66).

This Names Unit provides students with op-portunities to know each other and know abouteach other. During this two-week period, theseyoung adolescents are employing all the languagearts—reading, writing, researching in the libraryand computer lab, talking, and listening. Through-out the project, they are gathering information,which they then work to comprehend, apply, ana-lyze, synthesize, and evaluate. Students work co-operatively with their peers, sharing creative ideas,research materials, personal stories, writing strat-egies, and revision advice, which mimics howadults act in their professional lives. The unit ofstudy integrates academic and affective educationby capitalizing on age-appropriate social and in-dividual interests, community building, writingstrategies, research methods (including interview-ing), the reading of a variety of nonfiction sources,use of technology, and the recursive nature of thewriting process. I also integrate vocabulary les-sons, introducing terms such as onomastics and ge-nealogy, words that also lend themselves to thestudy of affixes.

This inquiry-based research and writing servesto prepare the students for paying attention to thecharacteristics of effective writing while also pre-

paring them for success in the school year. As abonus, it lets me become acquainted with my stu-dents through views of their families and theirlives—postcards from their 13-year trips.

Some Resources Used in the ClassroomBruchac, J. (1995). A boy called slow: The true story of

Sitting Bull. New York: Penguin.

Chou, J. S. (2004). Quick baby names. New York:America Media Mini Mags.

Dunkling, L. (1991). The Guinness book of names.Middlesex, Great Britain: Guinness.

Hanks, P., & Hodges, F. (1993). A dictionary of firstnames. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Hanks, P., & Hodges, F. (1994). A dictionary ofsurnames. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Henkes, K. (1991). Chrysanthemum. New York:Mulberry.

Naming Your Baby. (1993). New York: Mimosa.

Tutalo, G. (1995). What will we call the baby? BocaRaton, FL: Globe Communications.

Various websites: Search for “surnames” and “ethnicgiven names and surnames,” “naming history,” and“naming practices.”

ReferencesAtwell, N. (1998). In the middle: New understandings

about writing, reading, and learning (2nd ed).Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Fletcher, R. (1993). What a writer needs. Portsmouth,NH: Heinemann.

Lane, B. (1993). After the end: Teaching and learningcreative revision. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Rief, L. (1992) Seeking diversity. Portsmouth, NH:Heinemann.

Routman, R. (2000). Conversations. Portsmouth, NH:Heinemann.

Lesley Roessing has taught eighth-grade language arts for 16 years in southeastern Pennsylvania.She is a teacher–consultant for the Pennsylvania Writing and Literature Project and has publishedarticles relating to the various language arts. Email Lesley at [email protected].

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