First Grade with Harold and The Purple Crayon! I have always loved this story, simply because of the endless imagination and creativity that can come from something as small as one colored crayon. I really thought this was a great way to end the year because the students are able to use their imagination and all of those ideas they have and incorporate them into a story using only pictures.
We first watched the video and I had them really pay attention to the different things that Harold was drawing in the video. After the video, I asked the students to recall the different things that he had drawn in his purple crayon adventure. We came up with a great list and then I asked them about different places they could go if they were drawing their very own imagination adventure story.
We made a list on the board of all the different places they came up with that they could go to in their stories. Once we had that list made, then we decided that we should probably think about what we would see there! Since we couldn't use words (even though some students chose to) we wanted to think about what we would need to add to make sure anyone looking at our drawing could tell what it was or where we were planning on going. We also talked about drawing in how we would get there, if that was walking, driving, flying or even sailing to our destinations! I could really tell that the students were beginning to have some lightbulbs going on in their heads. I would have loved to have the students make a list of the places they were going to go and what they were going to see there before they started drawings. I think this would have allowed them to think through their idea a little more clearly before they began drawing, but they really did a great job anyway! I required them to show where they were going, how they were going to get there, what they would see when they got there and what they were going to do when they got there. Having them include these things really made sure they were spending a little more time on their drawings and not just trying to get through the places they were going.
This was such a great end to the years lessons, because it only took up one class period (and could totally take more if needed) and got the kids thinking about using their imaginations again and taking that idea with them into the summer is exactly what I wanted!
The learning objectives for this lesson are:
We first watched the video and I had them really pay attention to the different things that Harold was drawing in the video. After the video, I asked the students to recall the different things that he had drawn in his purple crayon adventure. We came up with a great list and then I asked them about different places they could go if they were drawing their very own imagination adventure story.
We made a list on the board of all the different places they came up with that they could go to in their stories. Once we had that list made, then we decided that we should probably think about what we would see there! Since we couldn't use words (even though some students chose to) we wanted to think about what we would need to add to make sure anyone looking at our drawing could tell what it was or where we were planning on going. We also talked about drawing in how we would get there, if that was walking, driving, flying or even sailing to our destinations! I could really tell that the students were beginning to have some lightbulbs going on in their heads. I would have loved to have the students make a list of the places they were going to go and what they were going to see there before they started drawings. I think this would have allowed them to think through their idea a little more clearly before they began drawing, but they really did a great job anyway! I required them to show where they were going, how they were going to get there, what they would see when they got there and what they were going to do when they got there. Having them include these things really made sure they were spending a little more time on their drawings and not just trying to get through the places they were going.
This was such a great end to the years lessons, because it only took up one class period (and could totally take more if needed) and got the kids thinking about using their imaginations again and taking that idea with them into the summer is exactly what I wanted!
The learning objectives for this lesson are:
- The learner will be able to RECALL details from the book “Harold and the Purple Crayon” to help contribute to the class list of things he drew with his purple crayon
- The learner will be able to CHOOSE one color crayon they are going to use for the rest of the class period
- The learner will be able to DESIGN their own scene/story with their own colored crayon that they will share with their table group
- The learner will be able to verbally SHARE/PRESENT their story with their table group while taking turns