ELL Strategy: Learning Students' Names
Getting students' names right is a critical first step in getting to know your students and establishing a positive relationship with families. It's an important sign of respect — and it's also critical to ensuring that students' names are entered correctly in school databases.
The following activities and discussion questions accompany our related resource collection on learning students' names, which is part of our Supporting ELL Success Educator Guide.
Tips for Educators
Tips for educators
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1. Learn how to say students' names.
- When you ask students to say their name, listen carefully and repeat it until you get it right.
- Ask students to record their names for you so that you can hear their pronunciation. (You can ask them to send you a voice recording or use an online platform like NameCoach.)
- Share recordings with colleagues who work with the students so that they also pronounce the students' names correctly.
- Model the correct pronunciation of students' names to the class so that all students can say it correctly.
- Use students' names when greeting them each day.
2. Teach students how to appropriately correct mispronunciations.
- Consider asking students to share examples of how people mispronounce their name and how that makes them feel.
- Refrain from coming up with a nickname or a version of the name that's easier for you to say.
3. Make sure students' names are spelled correctly.
A misspelled name in the school database can impact the services and instruction a student receives.
- Ensure that students' names are written correctly in student databases, especially as schools move to more online systems.
- Encourage your colleagues to check students' names as well.
4. Consider what the impacts are of mispronounced or misspelled names.
Learn more about different naming conventions in your students' cultures and languages. For example:
- Children may have multiple given names and naming conventions may be different than in the U.S.
- Parents spell English names differently like Estefany. Use students' names exactly as they're spelled.
5. Try some activities that celebrate students' names.
Assign a multimedia or written project in which students share:
- the meaning or story of their name
- an acrostic poem of their name
- an artistic presentation of their name.
You might also read aloud books from our booklists on names for children and young adults. After listening, students can record, write, or draw stories about their own names.
Tip #1: Learn to say students' names
Tips for Educators
Discussion Questions
Extension Activities
Related Videos
Watch the following videos. What are your takeaways from these videos?
- When you ask students to say their name, listen carefully and repeat it until you get it right.
- Ask students to record their names for you so that you can hear their pronunciation. (You can ask them to send you a voice recording or use an online platform like NameCoach.)
- Share recordings with colleagues who work with the students so that they also pronounce the students' names correctly.
- Model the correct pronunciation of students' names to the class so that all students can say it correctly.
- Use students' names when greeting them each day.
- What do you think the impact of mispronouncing a student's name might be?
- Is your name regularly mispronounced? If so, what is that experience like?
- Read the section about names in 10 Strategies for Building Relationships with ELLs. Choose one activity you can try with your students to celebrate their names.
- Read the article about NameCoach. What are the impacts of mispronounced names at graduations or other special events? Then try the demo, or ask students to send you recordings of them saying their names.
Professional Learning Resources
Professional Learning Resources
Reflection & Discussion Questions
- What is the story behind your name or someone's name in your family?
- What do you think the impact of mispronouncing a student's name might be?
- Is your name regularly mispronounced? If so, what is that experience like?
- What impacts do you think a misspelled name might have in the school setting?
- What are some things you can do to create a positive classroom culture around students' names?
Explore More
- Read the section about names in 10 Things You Need to Learn About Your ELLs. Think about how student records are maintained in your setting and how different systems interact. What could the impacts be of misspelling a student's name in your school databases?
- Read the section about names in 10 Strategies for Building Relationships with ELLs. Choose one activity you can try with your students to celebrate their names.
- Read the article about NameCoach. What are the impacts of mispronounced names at graduations or other special events? Then try the demo, or ask students to send you recordings of them saying their names.
- Read one of the recommended articles or posts. What new insights or considerations did you discover?
- For more in-depth information, see the IES reference guide on student naming conventions and the My Name, My Identity course. You can also share the My Name, My Identity campaign and pledge with your students!
Professional Learning Activities
- Watch the featured videos with authors Hena Khan and Juana Martinez-Neal. What are your takeaways from these videos?
- Choose a couple of picture books to read from the My Name: Books for Kids booklist. Look for name-related themes across the titles, as well as unique experiences and perspectives in each book.
- Choose a book from My Name: Books for Young Adults for a book club read to share with a group of colleagues or as a read-aloud/featured book for your classroom. Include name-related questions in your discussion questions.
- Watch the featured video with teacher Lori Dodson. Think of some sentence frames you could use to help students correct others who mispronounce their names.
Recommended Resources
Recommended Resources
See our resource collection on students' names, which includes the following:
Getting It Right: Reference Guides for Registering Students With Non-English Names
This set of naming conventions guides from IES and REL Northwest can serve as a reference for accurately and consistently entering students’ names in school, district, and state databases as well as address and greet parents and other family members in a culturally responsive and respectful way. The guides are available for students with home languages of Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Korean, Russian, Somali, Spanish, Tagalog, Ukrainian, Urdu, and Vietnamese.