Lesson video

Hi, everybody, my name's Ms. Gardner.

Welcome to your first lesson from our new unit, reading and writing persuasive letters.

In this unit, you are going to need access to the text, 'The Day the Crayons Quit' by Drew Daywalt, illustrated by Oliver Jeffers.

So if you need to, you can pause the video now to make sure you can get the book.

Okay, hopefully you now all have access to 'The Day the Crayons Quit'.

I'm really looking forward to this unit.

It's such a fun one and I hope that you enjoy it as much as I do, so let's get started.

In today's lesson from our 'The Day the Crayons Quit' unit, we are going to be reading the book for the first time and discussing the characters.

So, your learning outcome is I can engage with the plot of 'The Day the Crayons Quit'.

Let's start by looking at the keywords.

We'll do my turn, your turn, which means I'll say the word first and then you can say it back to the screen or to your partner or whoever you're with.

Fiction, character, letter, recipient.

Let's have a look at what these mean.

Fiction is when authors create made up stories with characters, places, and adventures which did not happen in real life.

A character is a person, animal, being, creature or thing in a story.

A letter is a written communication sent in an envelope by post.

And the recipient of a letter is the person who receives the letter.

So there are two sections of our lesson today.

In the first, we'll be reading 'The Day the Crayons Quit', and the second, we'll be looking at letters.

Let's start with reading 'The Day The Crayons Quit'.

So, 'The Day The Crayons Quit' is written by Drew Daywalt and illustrated by Oliver Jeffers.

It is a fiction text.

Fiction means it is a story which is made up or imagined, it's not real.

It doesn't contain any facts.

The peak characters are not real.

I wonder what the opposite of fiction is? Can you think? That's right, it is non-fiction, well done.

'The Day The Crayons Quit' is a children's picture book.

That means it was written to be enjoyed by children.

The pictures were illustrated by Oliver Jeffers, who has written and illustrated many other children's books.

He's a really well-known children's author and illustrator.

I wonder if you've read anything by Oliver Jeffers.

So, checking for understanding, true or false, 'The Day The Crayons Quit' is a non-fiction book.

Pause the video now.

That is false.

Can you use A or B to justify your answer? A, 'The Day the Crayons Quit' is a fiction text.

Fiction means it is a story which is made up or imagined.

Or B, 'The Day the Crayons Quit' is a storybook.

Pause the video now.

That is A, it is a fiction book with made up or imagined characters.

Well done.

So now, let's look closely at the front cover.

What characters can you see? What do you think the characters are doing? What do you think the book will be about? In a moment, you'll pause the video and discuss these questions with your partner or whoever you are with.

Remember, right now there's no right or wrong answer.

This is just what you think by looking at these pictures.

So pause the video now and discuss these questions with your partner.

Off you go.

Okay, let's have a look at a range of possible responses.

Yours might not be exactly the same as that and that's totally okay.

"I think the main characters are the crayons." "I think the book will be about crayons who want something to change because they are holding up signs like in a protest." "I predict that the crayons will be protesting because they don't look happy about something." I agree.

You can see the crayons are holding these signs and that's what you hold if you are marching or protesting against something or if you want something to change.

I wonder how similar your responses were.

So 'The Day the Crayons Quit' is a children's picture book.

The story revolves around a box of crayons owned by a boy called Duncan.

Oliver Jeffers' illustrations play a crucial role in this book because they visually bring to life the personalities and the emotions of each crayon character.

So the crayons are given a character and a personality.

They almost feel like a person.

The plot develops through the writing of letters from the crayons to Duncan in which they express their frustrations.

So they are writing because they are really frustrated about things and they are letting their owner Duncan know.

So if you were thinking earlier that by their facial expressions, they looked really cross, you were right, and they are writing in their letters about why they're cross and frustrated.

So it's time to start reading.

You need to read from the beginning of the story up to page 10 where there is an illustration of a grey elephant.

So pause the video now.

Okay, I hope you enjoyed reading the first 10 pages.

I want you to think now about this question.

What is your first impression of the crayons and why? So what do you think about the crayons? Why do you think they might be feeling a certain way? Pause the video now and have a go at discussing this question.

Okay, here is a possible response.

I think the crayons are annoyed with Duncan.

They are not happy with how they are being used.

Did you agree? Did you think that the crayons seemed annoyed as well? Let's check for understanding.

What was the red one complaining about? A, Duncan was using it too much, B, Duncan wasn't using it carefully, C, Duncan wasn't using it enough, or D, Duncan wasn't colouring in neatly with it.

Pause the video now.

That's right, it was A, Duncan was using it too much.

What was the beige one complaining about? A, Duncan was breaking it, B, Duncan was calling it by the wrong name, C, Duncan was using it all the time, or D, Duncan wasn't colouring in neatly with it.

Pause the video now.

It was B, the beige one was annoyed because Duncan wasn't calling it by its real colour name.

Well done.

Okay, it's now time to read the next part of the book.

You need to read from page 11 up to page 18 where there is an illustration of a book with a drawing of a farm on it.

So pause the video now and off you go.

Welcome back.

I hope you enjoyed those pages.

I want you now to think about this question.

Which crayon do you think has the most right to be frustrated? Which crayon do you think it's fair enough that they're annoyed? Pause the video now.

Okay, here is a possible response.

"I think it is fair that the black one is annoyed because it only gets used for outlines." Did you agree with that or did you think another crayon has even more right to be frustrated? Remember, there's no right or wrong answer.

This is just what you think.

Okay, so checking for understanding.

True or false, the yellow one thinks it is the colour in the sun.

Pause the video now.

That is true.

Can you use A or B to justify your answer? A, the orange and yellow ones are fighting because they both think that they should be used to colour in the sun.

B, the orange one thinks it should be used to colour in the sun.

Pause the video now.

That is A, the orange and the yellow one are fighting because they both think they are the right colour to be used when colouring in the sun.

Well done.

So now, you need to read from page 18 up to the end of the story where there is an illustration of a multi-colored crayon.

So pause the video now and off you go.

Okay, I hope you enjoyed the last few pages of the book.

Now, I want you to think about this question.

Do you think the crayons would be happy with Duncan's final picture? Do you think it was a good picture and the crayons are going to stop complaining? Have a discussion with your partner or whoever you're with.

Off you go.

Okay, here is a possible response.

"I think the crayons should be happy because they are all used in his picture." Did you agree, or did you think actually one colour deserves to be still frustrated because Duncan used another colour for totally the wrong object? Again, no right or wrong answer, but I hope you enjoyed discussing this question with your partner.

So now that we have just explored the story, we are just going to discuss our own thoughts and feelings about the text.

So it's time for task A.

You need to answer the questions in the grid with a partner.

Be honest about your thoughts and make sure you listen to your partner's opinion.

So you're going to think about what you liked about 'The Day the Crayons Quit'.

What caught your attention? What made you want to keep on reading? You could use these sentence starters to help you.

"I enjoyed," or, "My favourite part was." Then, you'll think about your dislikes.

Was there anything you didn't particularly like or didn't understand? You could use these sentence starters to help you.

"I was unsure about," or, "I actually wanted to know more about." And then, you'll think about puzzles.

Was there anything you found strange or surprising? And you can use these sentence starters to help you.

"I wondered," or, "I was surprised by." So pause the video now and off you go, discussing your likes, dislikes, and puzzles of 'The Day the Crayons Quit'.

Off you go.

Welcome back, everybody.

Here are some possible responses.

I wonder if you agree or disagree with any of these.

Likes.

"I enjoyed looking at the amazing illustrations.

I liked the use of facial expressions and body language to show the characters' emotions." Dislikes.

"I didn't like how Duncan never used the pink one because he thought it was the colour a girl would use." Puzzles.

"I wondered why the crayons hadn't threatened to quit before.

And I was surprised that the red one was annoyed because at least it was being used." Okay, I hope you enjoyed discussing these things with your partner and well done for task A.

Let's now move on to the second section of the lesson where we are looking at letters.

A letter is a piece of writing that someone sends to someone else.

Letters can be written for lots of different reasons.

When have you written a letter? When have you or someone in your house received a letter? Pause the video now and discuss these two questions with your partner or whoever you're with.

Off you go.

Okay, let's hear some possible responses.

"My mum received a letter from the doctor." "I wrote a letter to my gran to invite her to see me in the school play." Or, "I read a letter from my pen pal who told me about their school in Canada." A pen pal is a person who lives in another country or city and you write to them to explain and tell them all about your life, so that you can learn all about the lives people lead in different countries.

So checking for understanding, true or false, a letter is sent from a computer.

Pause the video now.

That is false.

Can you use A or B to justify your answer? A, a letter is sent in the post.

The recipient opens an envelope to read the letter.

B, a letter is sent electronically.

Pause the video now.

That is A, a letter is sent in the post in an envelope.

B, a letter better sent electronically, we probably call them email.

Well done, everybody.

So letters are often written when the writer has a feeling or an opinion about something.

They might want to thank someone.

Maybe someone gave them a gift or took them out on a special trip.

So you might want to thank them for it and you can send a letter to do that.

They might want something to change because it's unfair.

So maybe you might write to your local MPs, the person in your local government, because you want to, you think it's unfair that the park closes early on a Sunday, so you want that to change.

They might want to persuade someone to think differently, so you are writing to convince them to change their mind.

Or they might want to tell someone about themselves.

For example, a pen pal, you are writing to tell your pen pal all about you and your life where you live.

The book is compiled, so made up of letters, from the crayons to Duncan.

The crayons use letters to explain why they're going to quit.

Duncan receives and reads all the letters, so we call him the recipient.

Let's do my turn, your turn.

Recipient.

That means he receives the letters and he reads them.

In every letter, we learn that each crayon has a different reason for writing to him.

They all have different reasons for why they're frustrated and want to quit.

So let's understand the different reasons the crayons write letters to Duncan.

Some of them think they are being too used too much.

They think they're overworked and overused.

They want a break.

Some think they're not being used enough.

They're just sitting there in the box being forgotten about.

So they're feeling neglected and ignored.

Some think they're being used for the wrong reasons.

They're being used to colour in for wrong objects, or they're not being used for an object that they should be used for.

And some think they are not being looked after.

Their wrapper is falling off, they're starting to break, starting to crumble.

Duncan isn't taking care of them, so they're writing to complain about that.

So, checking for understanding.

What were the reasons the crayons wrote letters to Duncan? Think about all the letters that you've read and discuss with your partner for different reasons the crayons wanted to quit.

Pause the video now.

Okay, here's some of the things you might have said.

You might have said more and different ideas as well.

So don't worry if these aren't exactly what ideas that you had.

They were annoyed about how much they were being used, they were frustrated by how little they were being used, they were disappointed that they weren't being looked after properly, and they thought that they were being used for the wrong reasons.

Well done, everybody.

Okay, it is time for task B.

You need to match the reason a letter is written.

Two, the likely recipient of the letter, so the person who will read the letter.

So here are four possible reasons you might write a letter.

To ask for the streets to be cleaned more regularly, to share stories about your country and life, to apply for a job, and to ask for extra playtime at school.

And so the four possible recipients of these letters are a pen pal, a local MP, your headteacher, or a company that is hiring people for jobs.

So pause the video now and draw lines from the reason to the most likely recipient.

Off you go.

Okay, welcome back, everybody, well done.

Let's go through the answers.

So, why would you write? Who would you write a letter to to ask for the streets to be cleaned more regularly? Your local MP, the person who works for your local government.

They have the power to make those changes, so they are the person you would write to to ask for those changes.

To share stories about your country and life is a pen pal.

You'd write to a pen pal about that.

To apply for a job, you'd write to a company that is hiring people for jobs.

They're looking for people to employ.

To ask for extra playtime at school, you'd write to your headteacher.

Really well done, everybody, great job.

Here is a summary of everything we've learned today.

'The Day the Crayons Quit' is a fictional children's picture book.

The book is compiled of letters from the crayons to their owner, Duncan, explaining why they're going to quit.

The illustrations visually bring to life the personalities and emotions of each crayon character.

Letters are often written when the writer has a feeling or an opinion about something.

And the crayon characters all have different reasons for writing their letter to Duncan.

Great job, everybody.

I hope you enjoyed our first lesson of 'The Day the Crayons Quit' unit.

Well done.