Name Pattern

Curriculum Goal

Recognize, explore, describe, and compare patterns, and extend, translate, and create them, using the core of a pattern and predicting what comes next (#18).

Before students complete this activity they should have previous experience with patterns and constructing them.
All students will begin in groups of 4-6 then will eventually break off to work on their name pattern individually.

Name pattern grid (Appendix A or Appendix B depending on the number of letters in each student’s name)
Pencils
Markers

Tell students they will be using letters in their names to recognize patterns.
Students with 4 or 8 letters in their name will use Appendix A (7×7)
All other children will use Appendix B (8×8)
In groups of 4-6, students will write their name in the long box at the top of their grid (e.g. “ZACHARY”). This represents their building block.
Then students proceed by writing one letter of their name per box in pencil from left to right.
Students will repeatedly fill in the boxes with the letters of their name until all boxes are filled.
Students are then required to choose a different colour marker for each letter in their name (e.g. the name ”Emma” would have three different colours since both “m’s” would have the same colour).
Instruct children to trace over the letters they originally wrote in pencil with the appropriate marker colour.
The goal of this activity is to allow children to visually recognize the different patterns that their name creates.

How quickly and easily can children identify patterns using the letters of their names?
What skills do students use when identifying patterns?

Practice identifying, expanding and justifying patterns.

Students create patterns and describe them to a group.