Name Posters

So I had been planning to share with you all what I do with my students' names as one of the activities on the first day of school, however when I was looking through my pictures I found that I really didn't take any good pictures of them! They were above the windows in my classroom (which I LOVE because they let in tons of light), however I usually don't take pictures in that direction because bright light from the windows makes everything inside the room look really dark, which = not a great picture. 

So, the best picture have from last year is one that I took one day with the windows closed!

I also have this picture of some of the ones done by my students two years ago.

So now hopefully you have a picture in your head of what I'm talking about!

This is an idea I got from Katie, one of my wonderful cooperating teachers back when I was doing my student teaching!

To make their name posters, I start off with white and black sheets of 12x18 construction paper.

The black papers I cut in half lengthwise (I use these pieces to back the white pieces before I put them up on the wall).

Since the white pieces need to be smaller than the black ones, I cut the white pieces so that they are 11in x 17.5 in. 

Then I just hand-draw my students' names with a Sharpie and they are ready to go!

{blurry iPhone picture! Sorry!}

When I have my students color these on the first day of school, we talk about power coloring (which I also got from Katie)! Sometimes students have the tendency to draw really lightly with colored pencils, which looks nice up close, but from far away it can be hard to see! I show them how to "power color" by pressing down hard with their color pencils and the difference that it makes. I refer to power coloring many times throughout the year when we are using colored pencils, so this is great practice!

Here is my sample:

My kiddos color these on the first day of school, and then I keep them up all year long!

 I tell them that it is not just my classroom, but all of ours, and they love having all their names proudly displayed in the room!