We have been working very hard on a collaborative project which we are calling "The Class with the Purple Crayon." I'm sure most of you are familiar with the classic children's book by Crockett Johnson
"Harold and the Purple Crayon." That book was the inspiration for our class book. First, the students studied sequencing, and how stories tell a whole narrative- not just bits and pieces. The visual of the story drawn out in order on one strip of paper is a very powerful tool helping students to not segment ideas and thoughts when writing. The class was daunted at first when they were presented with a large paper and asked to draw pictures; however, once they got in there and started to draw, some very clever and creative ideas came out! The key to this part of the project is communicating effectively with neighbors making sure that the story and drawings are making sense in relation to one another. I was so impressed to see such collaborative ideas and sharing!
Once the drawings were finished we wrote the words to go along with the narrative. of course this required a bit of prompting, but it was so great to see the kids get excited about story telling, and problem solving in a creative way. They worked together to think of how to make all the pictures make a logical story in relation to one another. I think they did an outstanding job if I say so myself! The words were then typed and glued to the mural.
Once we finished adding the words, we cut the segments apart and made a class book. Below is a video of the kids reading their part of the book.
