Several years ago, my then 4th grade son came home and unloaded his backpack… lunch bag, accordion folder, homework, and library books. I was surprised to find that one of the library books he had chosen was a picture book. It was The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt.
I say I was surprised, but not because I felt my son was ABOVE picture books. I use picture books as read alouds at times with my middle school students. Normally though, my son would choose realistic fiction books about sports or nonfiction from the Who was…? collection. So when he came home with The Day the Crayons Quit, it definitely stood out so I had to ask him about it.
Someone said that it was a really great book!” he shared. So I did what any reading teacher would do; I quickly read it while he was working on his math homework. Whoever the “someone” was in his class was right, it IS a great book with a great lesson for all ages. I suddenly had a bazillion ideas running through my head about how I could use it with 6th graders.
Summary of The Day the Crayons Quit:
Duncan’s crayons have disappeared from his desk and have left nothing but letters to him about why they have decided to go on strike. They are unhappy for a variety of reasons and want to be used in different ways. Your students will never look at their school supplies in the same way after hearing the hilarious perspectives of Duncan’s crayons.
Since I know that my older students LOVE picture books, I decided to create a BIG KID reader’s theater version of this story using colored pencils as the main characters and a more engaging storyline. And so, this is what I created!
In my version of the story, Brennan is a student who is putting forth minimal effort into his art project. His colored pencils take notice and decide that enough is enough; either he puts forth more effort and considers their suggestions, or they may not return.
If you like to use picture books with your big kids, try this fun reader’s theater script in your classroom! It is the perfect resource to incorporate so many reading literature common core standards, including: fluency, story elements, context clue word work, reader response questions, summarizing, and post-reading response writing.
This 12-character script and activities packet includes:
- Context Clue Word Work to enhance vocabulary
- Reader Response Questions to check for comprehension
- Summary Organizer for Interactive Notebooks
- Clear directions for immediate classroom use
- CCSS covered through student work
- Estimated Lexile Level: 920L
Your students will have a BLAST acting out this hilarious script. For extra practice, read the picture book The Day the Crayons Quit in order to have students compare and contrast similar texts.
If you like the idea of combining picture book read-alouds with text-based reader’s theater scripts, here is a bundle that includes all of my text-based toolkits for upper elementary to middle school students…
Check it out on my Teachers Pay Store by clicking this link!
