Materials needed:

• A copy of the Maya syllabary for each child. These are available in several books such as Michael Coe's Breaking the Maya Code or on the internet. (A useful version is at www.halfmoon.org, along with directions for using the syllabary to write names.)
• A piece of paper for each child and colored markers, pencils, or paint.

1. Our writing system uses letters representing individual sounds that are combined into words. The Maya writing system is different in that words are divided into syllables. Symbols are used to represent these syllables. In English, we occasionally use a single symbol or "letter" to represent a syllable, like when we use "a" as a word as in "a horse." For children to write their names using Maya glyphs, they must first break their names into syllables:

Kate = "ka" + "te"

Some names are more difficult, because you must add an imaginary or silent letter:

Jon= "jo" + "ne"

Some names include sounds that are not found in Maya languages, like "r." You can use the syllabary to find a substitute or you may leave that letter out of your translation, as shown in this name:

Beverly= "be"+ "ve" + "li"

2. Have each child break his or name into syllables.

3. Have the children match the syllables from their names to the syllabary.

4. The syllables are then combined into blocks to form word glyphs. Examples of word arrangements are:



Have the children use glyphs from the syllabary to replace the English syllables in their own name in blocks on a sheet of paper.