We just finished up week two of kindergarten this past Friday! I always spent weeks two and three focusing on student names--both recognition and writing.  Most of my students come in unable to write their names, but sticking down name plates on their tables my first year drove me crazy--they were pricey to buy with reference materials on them, it was time-consuming tape them down, and then I would turn around to find they have picked at them and the tape was peeling up! We also eat in the classroom so they also become a magnet for food crumbs and spills. Halfway through first semester, I ripped them off the tables and had to scrape off the residue. Nightmare!

Last year, I got a pack of labels from the Dollar Tree, wrote their names on them, and hot-glued them on top of their pencil boxes--this saved so much trouble. They were away when they needed to be, accessible when they needed to be, and didn't get destroyed or covered in food! I ended up loving how it worked out, so this year I decided to design labels that were a little cuter and offered some other reference materials kiddos might need at their seats
I laminated a class set, and just wrote their names in Sharpie once I got my roster. I work at a high-motility school, so whenever a child leaves, I can write over the name in dry-erase marker to erase and re-use the whole nametag rather than creating a new one! To attach this year, I used velcro dots. I put one on each corner of them this year, and it works extremely well. While hot glue occasionally pops off and needs re-glued, these can be easily stuck back on in a second! You can also easily remove or switch out nametags this way if needed.

Overall, I am loving how these are working out in my classroom, and I especially love that the alphabet is readily available for my kiddos at their seats, not just up on the word wall or ABC line.  If you want to try them out for yourself, click the link below for the download:

Download Pencil Box Nametags Here!


Enjoy!

Ms. M