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rkelly1

rkelly1

Harold and the Purple Crayon

Harold and the Purple Crayon - Crockett Johnson

Harold and the Purple Crayon is a delightful story featuring a little boy named Harold. Harold uses his imagination, along with his purple crayon, to draw the entire setting of the book. Harold first sets off on a walk in the moonlight, but gets lost along the way. He uses his purple crayon to draw his way back home. It's a simple story, but that is why I like it so much. Imagination doesn't take much, a purple crayon will do. This book would work best in a lower elementary classroom. Discussions could be had about what a progressive setting is, as opposed to a fixed setting. I could discuss what a pun is, and give examples from the story. If I wanted to, I could talk about various art techniques, such as a vanishing point, or foreshortening for the upper grades. For lower elementary, students could make their own progressive settings using window markers, or by using a crayon and a long roll of easel paper. 1:1 Correspondence, Critical thinking, fine motor, odd/even numbers, can all be assessed by giving a student a piece of paper with small and large buildings and several cards with numbers and asking them to draw the number of windows that correspond to the numeral. They will have to use their critical thinking skills to match the smaller number to the smaller building and vice versa.