Geography Integrated Lesson Plan
Title: “The Naming of Names”: Where in the World…?
Subjects: Language Arts
Duration of lesson: two 45-minute class periods
Teacher: Karyn Schmidl
PURPOSE/OVERVIEW
The students will read the short story “The Naming of Names” by Ray Bradbury. The story
centers around the Bittering family and their struggles to adapt to life on the planet Mars. As the
story progresses, the Bittering children choose to change their “earthly” names for Martian ones.
The students will research the origins of their own names and the class will analyze the results.
ESSENTIAL OR GUIDING QUESTION:
What is country/region of the world do most of our first, middle, and last names originate?
VOCABULARY:
origin
Martian
WEST VIRGINIA CONTENT STANDARDS
RLA.O.8.1.4
analyze the defining characteristics, build background knowledge and
apply reading skills to understand a variety of literary passages and
genres by West Virginia, national and international authors:
 fiction
 nonfiction
 myths
 fantasies
 biographies
 autobiographies
 science fiction
 tall tales
 supernatural tales
RLA.O.8.1.
8
RLA.O.8.2.8
recognize connections among ideas in literary and informational text (e.g.
text to self, text-to-text, text to world connection) and recognize that global
awareness promotes understanding, tolerance, and acceptance of ethnic,
cultural, religious and personal differences.
conduct research by gathering, evaluating, and synthesizing data from a variety
of sources:
 Internet
 databases for periodicals/newspapers
 interviews
 reference books
 card catalogue
 miscellaneous resource materials
GEOGRAPHY STANDARDS
Standard 1: How to use maps and other geographic representations, tools, and technologies to
acquire, process, and report information from a spatial perspective.
Standard 9: The characteristics, distribution, and migration of human populations on Earth's surface.
21ST CENTURY LEARNING SKILLS AND TECHNOLOGY TOOLS
21C.O.58.1.LS.1
21C.O.58.2.LS.1
Student, when presented with a problem, identifies the information needed, uses
text, people, online databases and search engines to filter relevant information
efficiently, analyzes information for biases, synthesizes information gathered and
creates an effective and efficient response to the problem.
Student engages in a critical thinking process that supports synthesis and
conducts evaluations by applying comprehensive criteria.
MATERIALS: (include resources)
1. Laptop (mobile lab)
2. Handout (included at the end of plan) with political world map on the back
3. Wall map of the world
MAP INTEGRATION:
1. Political map of the world
2. Wall map of the world
PROCEDURE: (include activity sheets)
1. The students will have read the shorty story “The Naming of Names” by Ray Bradbury
prior to starting this lesson.
2. The teacher will discuss with the students possible reasons why the Bittering children
chose to change their names to Martian names. Then the class will discuss what the
word origin means when associated with names.
3. The teacher will ask the students what countries/regions they believe the majority of
their names originated. (We’ll see if they are right.)
4. The teacher will hand out the Where in the World…? project sheet to all students.
Once all of the students have a project sheet, the teacher will read the instructions
making sure the students are aware of the expectations.
5. The teacher will provide a few reputable websites to search for name meanings by
writing them on the board:
1. www.meanings-of-names.com
2. http://americansurnames.us
3. Sometimes you just have to do a Google search: What does _____________ mean?
or What does the surname ______________________ mean?
(Some students will have difficulty especially with surnames. It might help to
change the spelling. Sometimes, they just aren’t available. In that case allow the
student to simply state that no information could be found and list the URLs used.)
6. Allow the students the rest of the class period to conduct research and fill in their
graphic organizers and mark on the map the country of origin.
7. On day two, the students will share their results with the class. Using the large wall
map of the world, plot where the first names of all the students in class originate.
Determine if the class’s hypothesis was correct. (Repeat with middle and last names.)
CONCLUSION/SUMMARY
At the end of this project, all students will know the origin of at least their first and middle
names. Most will have an idea of where there last names originated also. The class’s hypothesis
will be compared to the actual results.
AS A MATH EXTENTION:
The students could graph the results of their findings creating poster-sized representations of
each class periods first name origins.
ASSESSMENT (include assessment)
The students will be assessed on their graphic organizers.
Created by: Sherri Mitchem ad Danielle Spencer 2010
Where in the World…?
Directions: In the “Naming of Names” by Ray Bradbury, the Bittering children decide to change
their names to Martian names. Research the origin and meaning of your first middle and last
name, recording the information in the graphic organizer below and coloring in the country(ies)
or region(s) of origin on the map on the back of this sheet.
Name
First
Middle
Last
List of URLs used:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Meaning
Origin