Use this activity to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

“In Honor of Alaska”

In this activity, students will reflect on the power of their names, choosing to focus on their own name, a new name, or a nickname.

Alaska explains how and why she chose her own name. It becomes central to the novel. Let’s take some time to ponder our own names. For this activity, you can choose your name, a new name you might like to have, or a nickname. Then create a poem about the name and its importance. While reflecting and writing, it might help to consider some or all of these questions:

• How did you get or think of this name?
• What does the name mean to you or to your family?
• How is it pronounced?
• Who calls you this name or who do you want to call you this name?
• What visuals, sounds, tastes, smells, or feelings connect to this name?
• How might the name be symbolic?

Share your poems in small-group presentations. Listen to your peers. Write a journal entry about the power of names.

Teaching Suggestion: This activity can help build community in the class.