Predictable Books

During my kindergarten September experience, I took a picture of each student's face. My master teacher and I then cut out the faces and glued them onto pages with the student's letter of his or her first name. For example if a student's name is Bella, her page would read "B My Name is Bella". We called this book, A My Name Is and every student got a copy of the book to put in his or her book bag, an extra large Ziploc, of "just right" books that each student keeps in his or her cubby.

Every student enjoyed reading the book, but our ELL learners read the book over and over. According to Fox, "predictable books-books with repeated phrases or sentences- hold a special promise because they bring English syntax and English words within easy reach of young children who are beginning to read a language different from the one spoken at home" (2008, p.231).

This book gave everyone success. The students were able to use the cue from the picture, the student's name, to not only tell the written word, but also hear the first letter sound, so they know the letter. With "B My Name is Bella". The student knows Bella because she's in his class, and by knowing Bella, he can stretch B-ella and relate the sound to the letter, if he was unsure of the letter.

This book was so easy to make, and the kids loved it. It is a fun, inexpensive tool that all kindergarten teachers could use in their classrooms.