© 2000, Mariana Mincheva-Rizova, Ilian Rizov,  MODELS FOR TEACHING THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD (I-IV grade)

"1) The child shall be registered immediately after birth and shall have the right from birth to a name, the right to acquire a nationality…"
(Article 7 from "The Convention on the Rights of the Child")

"1) States Parties …are obliged to respect the right of the child to preserve his or her identity, including nationality, name and family relations as recognised by law without unlawful interference."
( Article 8 from "The Convention on the Rights of the Child")

ACTIVITY

Aims:

• Every pupil should learn (or remember) what the meaning of his/her name is.
• To arouse pupils’ interest in the meanings of their and their classmates’ names and thus to stimulate the process of getting to know each other and positive interpersonal perception.
• To develop skills for positive self-introduction by appreciating the meaning of their personal name.

• cardboard (a piece for each student)
• envelopes ( bigger or smaller in size) and slips of paper
• colour pencils (crayons) or felt-tips

Hand out to each student a piece of cardboard and ask him or her to write down their names at the top of the pieces of cardboard. Then tell them that you have prepared a surprise for everybody. It has been hidden in the envelopes that you are about to give them. In each envelope there is a slip addressed personally to each pupil in the class. The receiver will have the opportunity to read something about himself/herself which could have been a secret for him/her up to that moment. That secret is connected with the meaning of his /her name.

After you have handed out the envelopes you have previously prepared, on the slips of which you have written the pupils’ names and across each name - its meaning (e.g., “Irina - peace, quiet”; ”Murat - desire), suggest to the children on the cardboard under their own names to draw their self-portraits showing the meaning of their names.

Suggest to the pupils when they have already finished their drawings “to display” their self-portraits on an improvised art exhibition. It is necessary for everyone to choose himself/herself the most appropriate place in the classroom where to stick his/her self-portrait. You may allow the students to use the whole space in the classroom (walls, windows, door, floor, lights,…..blackboard, desks, etc.), in order to organise and arrange their drawings. On the one hand this would allow them to have fun, on the other hand - it will allow them to reproduce their positive or negative attitudes for self-perception. Thus the choice of place for a self-portrait can give you useful/valuable information about the self-confidence of the child and how s/he estimates/evaluates his/her position in relation to the rest of the children in the class.

After the “art exhibition” is ready encourage the pupils / participants to comment on their drawings. Let each “artist” clarify how his/her self-portrait should be perceived, by explaining for example how the shapes and colours s/he has used reveal the meaning of his/her name. Orientate the children to positive evaluation. Ask additional questions in order to help support the authors’ explanations. Encourage the rest of the pupils to also ask questions and to interpret their classmates’ pictures. In order to establish a positive style of peer evaluation, set the appropriate tone with your own comments.

It is expected that pupils will be intrigued by the revelation of the meaning of their names, as well as by the exposure/display of the self-portraits. You can use the exhilaration thus created to have a discussion that would help the pupils to reflect on what has happened.

Possible questions you may ask:

• Do you like your names?
• Did you learn something new about your names ? Are you surprised by the discoveries about the meanings of your names?
• Has every name got a hidden meaning (its secret)?
• Is there a reason for each one of the pupils to have exactly the name he/she has?
• Why do people sometimes don’t know the meanings of their names? And why they sometimes don’t know the meanings of other people’s names?
• Who is the first person that you are going to tell the meaning of your name?