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Welcome to the "Who Am I?" program! Our first lesson has to do with you and who you are. The music you like to hear, the food you like to eat, favorite sports and hobbies, favorite movies and books; all of this can tell others who you are. But do you know how important is your name? If you did not have a name, how could you identify yourself? Who would you be without a name? It is how you identify yourself. It is how others identify you.

Names give us a unique power for life. Given names of people can influence our impressions of them. We associate certain characteristics with certain names. We develop these associations through our experiences with names of famous people in history, literature, mythology, and television and through our folklore. This is why certain names are more or less popular in one country than in another. Surnames often reveal an ancestor's occupation or place of origin and also have different connotations in different countries. In some countries the children take the surname from their father's surname: Evans, Sepúlveda, Smith or Vega. In other countries names are taken from the father's first name: Stefansdottir (daughter of Stefan), Jonsson (son of Jon), Vasilievna (daughter of father Vasilij) and Tokmakov (children of Tokmak).

Discussion Questions

1. Introduce your class or group to those who are participating in our program module. Include your school or group name, number of students, your town, village or city and country.
2. What is the most popular name in your family? Why do you think it is so? In your school? What is the most popular name for a boy? For a girl? In your country? If you could have a different name, what name would you choose?
3. Some nicknames are a short form of a name and other nicknames are made-up. Do you have a nickname? Why do people use nicknames?
4. Do you know the meaning of your name? Do you know the meaning of the names in the rest of your family?
5. If a child gets a very long or complicated name, it is more difficult for the child to learn how to write his or her name. Can you mention a few of those names?
6. Is it important to call a person by his or her name and to pronounce it correctly? How do you feel when others don't use the correct characters in your name when they use electronic communication?
7. Can you see how a name can tell us something about the person's ethnic origin, nationality or history?
8. Different cultures, languages, and religions in different parts of the world have resulted in different ways of giving and using names. In your country: How do you use surnames? Do all family members have the same surname? Mother, father, and children?
9. Do you have a pet? What is your pet's name? What does the name mean? Why did you select the name? Do you think there are special names for different animals? A different name for dogs, cats, birds or horses?
10. Do you create your own music? What is your favorite music? Why is it your favorite over the others? Is there a special music for dancing? Do you know any ethnic music and dances?
11. Who is your favorite pop singer? Why is he or she your favorite? Do you think his or her name has anything to do with their fame?
12. Which is your favorite musical group? Do you know the meaning of its name? Do you think the name was well chosen? Why? If you were the group's manager what other name would you give it? Why?

Activities

1. Construct a life-sized collage with the names of the students in your class. Send a picture of it to your online friends. Construct a smaller collage with the printed pictures sent by your online friends. Ask your online friends about the special punctuation marks in their names. Practice writing some of their names.
2. Look in a baby-naming book for the meaning of the names of your friends and family. Send a list of the names of the students in your group with their meaning to your online classmates. Ask them to guess which are girls' names and which are boys' names.
3. Ask an elderly relative in your family what were the favorite names used when he or she was a child and make a list of those names. Bring to class and compare the names that are favorites now. Is there a difference?
4. Make an acronym of your name. Add a drawing. Make a web page with all the acronyms of your group and invite your online friends to visit your page.
5. Divide the class into 7 small groups. Each group will be in charge of a different continent. Localize the seven continents on a large world map. Give every student in each group an individual map. Choose any country on your assigned area and go to the Kidlink Nations page. Check to see if there is someone from that country registered in Kidlink. If there is, mark the spot with a blue letter K. If there is not any child from that country try to explain to your group why this may be so.
6. Go to Kidlink's public database of registered kids and make a search for the name of the country you have chosen in the last activity. Look through the letters from students in that country to find their names and make a list. Can you tell if it is a girl or a boy's name? What is the most popular name for a girl? What is the most popular name for a boy? See if they have any pets. What type of pet? Check to see if the student mentions their pet's name. Look for their favorite singer, group or type of music and write it down. Make a table with the information you have: name of student, gender, kind and name of pet, type of music, name of favorite singer, etc. Compare your findings with those of the other groups of students in your class and those of your online classmates.
7. Interview your parents and ask them how your name was given. Who decided and why? What is the meaning of your name and how was your name decided? Do any relatives have your name? What is the history of your name? What is the symbol of your name? Is there an interesting story about your name? What are your parents' feelings about your name? Add a photograph of yourself to the interview if you like and share it with your class and by email with the students from other classes participating in the program module.
8. If it is possible, bring your instrument to class and play your favorite piece. If you do not know how to play an instrument, bring a recording of your favorite music or group. What does this music mean to you? If it is a song, what is the meaning of the song? Why is it special for you? Ask your online friends about their favorite songs and music.
9. Do you know any ethnic dances? Do you have to wear special costumes for these dances? Share them with your group and take pictures of the costumes and dances. Make recordings of the music. Construct a web page with pictures of the costumes and dances. Insert sound files with the music, you may add diagrams of the dances or even a movie file with the dance so everyone can enjoy. Share this page with the students participating in the program module. Ask your online friends about their dances and costumes.
10. Write the answer to the question "Who Am I?". Tell about your likes and dislikes, and the things that make you what you are. Save this answer on a disk where you will add the answers to the next three Kidlink questions.

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