A Box of Crayons

Inspired by the book “The Crayon Box That Talked“, this lesson will show children that when we all work together, the results are much more interesting and colorful.

By Eileen Urbanski [Eileen a teacher at Avon Village Elementary School, in Avon OH]

From Eileen:

I just finished a lesson in honor of Martin Luther King Day that I found to be one of the best of my 6 year teaching career. This truly is a great lesson I’d love to share!
~Eileen

What You Need:

• crayons, pencils, markers
• paper
• the poem A Box of Crayons
• Crayon Template

What You Do:

1. Read the poem “The Crayon Box That Talked” to your students. It is about the different colors getting along and liking each other. See below or click on link to purchase the book.
2. Then, children draw their portraits on a die-cut crayon pattern.
3. Place all the crayons into a giant box of crayons that you can create using construction paper (see photo).

Poem

Click here to view a Power Point of this lesson plan (complete with poem).

Click here to find the poem: The Crayon Box That Talked (pdf).

Click here for a fantastic video presentation of the poem: The Crayon Box That Talked.

Taking it Further:

Ms. Motta had each 1st grade student draw a picture of themselves holding hands with a friend on the inside of the crayon outline.  She then constructed a crayon box and die-cut the very end of the poem to hang up for the Black History Month music concert at the end of the month.

Karen Anderson’s students created 596 crayons! She began the year reading “The Crayon Box that Talked” and her K-5 students designed a crayon to express their uniqueness.

Connecting with History:

VIDEO:

THE CRAYON BOX THAT TALKED from tim webb on Vimeo.

Extra Poem to Hand Out to Students

Wouldn’t it be terrible? Wouldn’t it be sad?
If just one single color was the color that we had?
If everything was purple? Or red? Or blue? Or green?
If yellow, pink, or orange was all that could be seen?
Can you imagine just how dull the world would be
If just one single color was all we got to see?