Name Story, aka The Name Game

Subgroup Size

Entire group

Duration

1 hour

External Cost

No

Lesson Plan

Source

Stringer, D. M., & Cassiday, P. A. (2009). My name is. In 52 Activities for improving cross-cultural communication (pp. 157-159). Intercultural Press. 

Mick Vande Berg recommends this for teaching Competency 1 (Awareness of Self). 

Note: In Links, there is a link to a CNN article that features Melvin Carter, Mayor of St. Paul. The end of the article references Carter's grandfather's experiences as a Black pullman porter. Carter says that all Black porters were denied their own names and referred to as George, and connects that to the murder of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer. Facilitators may choose to share this article with participants as a part of this activity and incorporate it in to their discussions about the relationship between names and cultures. However, the facilitator should also be careful to approach the discussion sensitively and understand that it may be a triggering topic for some.