The Crayon Box That Talked

I know as a teacher, we have soooo many favorite books! I am always saying OMG! That book is my favorite! I can't help it! I love books!!! I will buy books all the time! It is so important to immerse our littles with good, quality literature.

So, on that note, I use this book every year to teach the kids that we are all unique but we must all work together to get anything done and to accomplish anything. You can not do it alone!!! I have been reading this book for 20 years. I just had to order a new one because my original book, the one I bought 20 years ago finally fell completely apart and scotch tape and staples could no longer keep it together!!! 

What book is it you ask?!!

It is The Crayon Box That Talked! It is written by an amazing man named Shane DeRolf! He is the founder of that amazing website, Big Word Club!!!

I always read this amazing book then we discuss what the author is trying to tell us! What is the central message! Then  I share the quote with them before we hang it up in our room!!!

click the quote for a free copy for your classroom!

My kids and I then take giant crayons made out of bulletin board paper and we decorate them with everything that we love. We then make a giant crayon box out in the hallway. This crayon box depicts the diversity in our room yet symbolizes that we are all a family that works together to create a harmonious environment in which we are all happy and successful!

Of course we end with a reading of the poem, The crayon Box That talked!

Click on the poem for a free version for your classroom!

Big Word Club

How many of you have tried to teach vocabulary and your children are just not that into it? Do they moan and groan or just zone out?

I have an answer to your prayers!!!

This program was created by Shane DeRolf, author if the amazing children's book, The Crayon Box That Talked!!

This program is amazing! My kids love it! 

There are 4 components.

Each week there is a new word for each day. The video for each day is animated. It shows the word written with the pronunciation written next to it. 

Then the definition of the word is seen and heard. 

Then they ask the kids to use the word in a sentence.  This is where I stop the video and have them turn to their neighbor and use the word in a sentence. I walk around and listen. Then I give 4 kids a warm call card so they know that they will be sharing their sentences. 

Click to see the video for the word.

Then after you do all the vocab words for the week, there is a review!!!!

Another component is the story! This is an animated story using the weekly vocabulary!

I play this everyday! The kids love it! They even begin using the words in their writing!

Another component is there is a song using the Vocab words for the week!

My kids sing along with the song. These songs are loved by the kids and easy to learn. They sing these songs as they write!

The last component is the Dance! Yes, they have a dance for the vocabulary words. This is an amazing feature for those children who learn kinesthetically!

Then I have taken this one step further and I have taken the story and typed it up on one page. My children each week work on their fluency using the story of the week. They time each other each day to see how far they can read. I also have made vocabulary review sheets for them to use. They love to fill in the blanks with the correct word and then drawing the pictures to represent each vocabulary word!

So this program is a great resource for vocabulary but also for fluency as well!

This is a program for all grades, PreK through 5TH. It provides all of the students with meaningful vocabulary instruction!

I love the quote that is on the site!

So click on the video below to see the Pilot of this awesome program and then click on the Try it for free button to try it yourself! I promise you, you won't be disappointed!!!!