The Day the Crayons Quit

Crayons have feelings too, you know.

In the delightful new picture book The Day the Crayons Quit, written by Drew Daywalt and illustrated by Oliver Jeffers, crayons tell a little boy just how they feel about their workload, stereotypes and inter-crayon relations. The crayons’ complaints are funny and kid-friendly, but will also resonate with grown-ups, making this an ideal book to read aloud.

One day, when Duncan opens his crayon box to do a little drawing, he finds a stack of letters, but no crayons. Each of the twelve crayons in his box has written Duncan a letter explaining its reasons for going AWOL. Red is overworked, Purple has control issues, Beige is underappreciated, Gray seeks diversity in his tasks, Orange and Yellow are fighting and Green is caught in the middle. And so it goes.

As the crayons’ manager, can Duncan address his workers’ issues and get them back to work? To be successful, he’ll have to think outside the (crayon) box!

Nearly all the text in this book is in the form of short letters from the crayons to Duncan, making it well suited to reading aloud to a group. Each letter is accompanied by a picture featuring the complaining crayon. Before reading each letter, readers can ask listeners to predict what each color is unhappy about, and of course ask them to predict what Duncan will do to resolve the situation.

Both the story and the illustrations beg you to break out the crayons or to imagine what other toys or household items might think about their situation. Are your Legos dissatisfied? Do the dress-up clothes in your toy box lament being typecast? What about your kitchen appliances? Do they have DIY home improvement aspirations? Get your kids imagining and talking about the ordinary objects in their lives using this book.

The Day the Crayons Quit would work well when paired with other books about unhappy workers, like Click Clack Moo: Cows That Type by Doreen Cronin, or with books about letters like Toot & Puddle by Holly Hobbie, Dear Mrs. LaRue by Mark Teague or The Jolly Postman by Janet and Allen Ahlberg. And, you can always go the unorthodox color book route with Lemons Are Not Red by Laura Vaccaro Seeger.

No matter what you choose to read with The Day the Crayons Quit, the cheeky crayons and Duncan’s sympathetic and creative response to them will delight readers and listeners alike!


To receive credit for this online training, please fill out the form here.

Building readers, one child at a time

Last week, four-year-old Diana and her mother came to the Columbia Grove community room to check out the Read-Aloud program they'd heard about. Diana was far from convinced that this was where she wanted to be and clung tightly to her mother. 

A volunteer talked with Diana one-on-one to help ease her transition into the Read-Aloud program before bringing Diana and her mom to where the other kids and volunteers were reading. Diana sat on her mom's lap during the reading, but it wasn't long before she was pointing to things in the book and making her own balloon rocket. 

Diana tells about her Read-Aloud experience

At the end of the hour, I checked back with Diana to see if she'd changed her mind about the experience. She was grinning ear-to-ear and was eager to share that she'd be coming back. When asked what her favorite part was, she replied "When they read a book."

We hope all of the children and families that we serve feel the way Diana did about reading. In the past fiscal year, The Reading Connection reached a total of 1,824 children and gave them 12,498 books. The Read-Aloud program, which Diana participated in, reached 495 children in Virginia and DC with the help of more than 200 community volunteers. With your help, volunteering or donating to TRC, we can have an even greater impact each year to come.

Channeling high energy into active learning

A recent article in The Atlantic by author and middle-school teacher Jessica Lahey focused on making classroom environments more welcoming to boys. It got me thinking about ways to channel all kids' natural energy into active learning about books and reading.

Instead of endlessly shushing kids and telling them to sit still, why not tap into their natural need to move and inherent curiosity and creativity? The Atlantic article I mentioned above cites a study about classroom techniques that are especially successful with boys. It also points out that these methods can be used effectively with both boys and girls. Here are some of the techniques, adapted to pertain to reading aloud with a group of children.

While preparing to read with kids, look at the books you are using and think about ways you can:

• Make the experience more dramatic by using novelty or surprise.
  
  If the kids are expecting a straightforward read-through, delight them with props or change your voice to differentiate between characters. Use varied pacing as you read to build suspense. Have more than one adult read the story aloud together. Try Yo! Yes? by Chris Raschka with two people.

• Encourage independent, personal discoveries and realizations by helping kids connect what you are reading with something they already know. Allow time for discussion that lets the kids have an "Aha!" moment where they can connect something they already know or have experienced with what you are reading. While reading, ask questions like, “Does this remind you of anything?” or “How do you feel about what just happened?” Watch the light bulb go on over their heads and their excitement build as new knowledge clicks with old.

When you are planning reading-related activities, think about ones that:

• Result in an end product.  Encouraging kids to apply their own creativity to a topic they've just read about builds both motivation and comprehension. Think superhero masks, rain sticks, flip books or anything the kids can create and take with them. The best kinds of projects are related to the theme and open-ended, allowing for creativity and interpretation.

• Require a combination of competition and teamwork. Sometimes we learn best from each other. Games and team projects allow kids to share knowledge and support each other's learning. Get kids to start accessing their background knowledge about a specific Read-Aloud theme by playing Jeopardy or a trivia game before you start reading. Or, strengthen their comprehension about the theme by playing a related game after reading. At a recent Read-Aloud at Columbia Grove about fish, a volunteer created a game with pictures of different kinds of fish that the kids, working in teams, organized according to different criteria:  fresh water vs. salt water, smallest to largest, predator and prey. 

• Require motor activity. Some kids learn best by moving. Physical activities such as doing puzzles or running relay races related to your theme, or acting out a story let the kids use a different part of their brain during the reading process. More generally, taking a break from reading to play Simon Says, Red Light Green Light, or using TRC’s activity cube or Energizers can help kids better focus on the reading experience.

Encouraging kids to use their energy to be actively engaged in listening to, thinking about, talking about and understanding books makes for better learning and more fun for everyone!


To receive credit for this online training, please fill out the form here.

Finding Read-Aloud books on A Mighty Girl blog

Like the Children's Book-a-Day Almanac blog (here is our write-up from last April), A Mighty Girl blog is another fine resource to help you compose a strong list of books for your Read-Aloud.   

While A Mighty Girl's mission is girl-oriented, this blog is an excellent resource whether or not you have girls in your life. It provides a fun and savvy slice of family life for anyone who works with, lives with, or is interested in the universe of kids in 2013. 

The book lists in particular are a valuable resource and are especially helpful when putting together a themed Read-Aloud. Click on the "Books" tab at the top left of the navigation bar to find the book lists. 

The next time you find yourself needing just a few more books to complete your Read-Aloud theme, use A Mighty Girl's general interest lists. The site is strong on categories such as food/gardening, animals/nature, creative arts and other subjects that are frequent Read-Aloud themes. Open any of these and you'll find an easy-to-scan page (here is the one on creative arts, as just one example) that offers book options that could work for your particular theme. Each book is represented by its cover, followed by a synopsis, a description from a review source or Amazon, recommended age range, number of pages, price, publisher, etc. 

The books on a theme page are not presented in any particular order, but even so, it is quite easy to find the books appropriate for most Read-Alouds. Picture books are obviously identified because their cover photos are larger than those of chapter books. 

For example, if you’re trying to complete your book list for an air travel Read-Aloud (details here), click on A Mighty Girl's "Transportation" category. From the picture books listed, you might choose Violet the Pilot by Steve Breen as an addition to your book list. Violet is a young girl who loves to build things, including a plane that she enters in an airshow. Another option is Amelia and Eleanor Go For a Ride, beautifully illustrated by Brian Selznick, which features double-page spreads of Washington, DC, and recounts a night-time flight taken by Amelia Earhart and Eleanor Roosevelt. In a snap of the fingers, you have two great books to add to your air travel Read-Aloud!

The blog's other sections (Toys, Movies/TV, Clothes, Parenting, etc.) are as helpful as the book lists. We're happy to spread the news about this informative and well-designed site.  


This post was written by The Reading Connection's intern Margaret Fogarty.


To receive credit for this online training, please fill out the form here.

How I spent my summer: interning at TRC

College students all across the country compete for internships that will develop skills and build résumés. Some dream of a "Washington internship." Everyone wants one with great coworkers and many valuable experiences. At The Reading Connection (TRC), I got all of that and more.


As a rising junior studying early childhood education at Wheaton College in Norton, MA, I don’t think I could have found an internship that fit better with my professional plans. Throughout the nine weeks I have been with TRC, I have been able to learn about the day-to-day and long-term operations of an influential nonprofit, plan and help run many Read-Alouds, help coordinate volunteers, work on fundraising projects and assist the staff with tasks that needed completion. I’ve even learned how to get jammed card stock out of a printer! Although I was here for a short time, the staff welcomed me with open arms and made me feel like a regular staff member. I was included in all staff meetings and lunches, and even got to interact with some of the many friendly and dedicated board members.

TRC's book supply

The office fish

Getting to plan and help carry out the Read-Alouds was a great learning experience. Doing research and outlining the Read-Aloud elements were important practice for the many lesson plans I will be writing at college and as a teacher someday. It has been interesting to find out what works and what doesn’t.  This experience has really taught me to think on my feet and go with the flow.


The most valuable experience that I will take away from this great internship is the time I spent with the children at Read-Alouds. TRC is doing such important work and I was proud to help accomplish it. Seeing a young boy’s eyes light up when he learned that he could keep the book he had just chosen was just one of the many moments I will always be grateful to have had.

An afternoon project: create a bus Read-Aloud

This post was written by TRC's summer intern Margaret Fogarty. TRC has two intern positions open for the fall semester: one is a program internship, similar to the one described by Margaret. The second is a communications internship, working on electronic media outreach. For details on both positions, see the TRC website.   

To receive credit for this online training, please fill out the form here.

Providing back-to-school backpacks for TRC kids



Some of the backpacks filled and distributed in 2012.

Just as so many of us remember the joy of childhood reading, we probably remember the fun of new school supplies. Yellow #2 pencils,  boxes of new crayons, new composition books, all stuffed in a new backpack. 

You won't be surprised to learn that the parents of the children we serve often don't have the means to buy new school supplies for their children. To meet this need, we've partnered with The Boeing Company’s DC area offices for 10 years to provide backpacks, school supplies and books to the kids in our programs and other deserving agencies. 

This year, our goal is to provide 600 backpacks filled with age-appropriate school supplies -- pencils, notebooks, folders, scissors, glue sticks and crayons or colored pencils. And, because we're all about the fun of new books, each backpack also includes two new books.

As of today, we've exceeded our goal!  Boeing employees have once again donated generously to this effort and provided nearly $16,000 for backpacks, school supplies and books.  

Like our Facebook page, and then "like" the photos of Boeing, TRC and partner agency staff stuffing hundreds of backpacks.  It's an August ritual we've come to love!

Illusion and Imagination Create a Magical Read-Aloud Session

Volunteers on Team Three at ARHA recently put together a captivating Read-Aloud session about magic. Team Three piqued the kids' interest from the get-go when Read-Aloud volunteer Kevin produced his imaginary dog "Cupcake" on her invisible dog leash. You can imagine the excitement.

Kevin, who is a professional dog trainer by day, had answers to all of the kids' questions about Cupcake. To carry out the illusion, Kevin said that Cupcake needed a nap and put her in the crate (a prop he had brought along) when it was time to begin reading.

To get the kids thinking about magic tricks, Kevin had a brown paper bag and asked the kids to throw imaginary balls into it. When the kids threw their balls, Kevin made the motion of catching them in the bag and snapped his fingers on the back side of the bag to the make the sound of the ball hitting the bottom. The effect was so realistic that even the volunteers had to ask how it worked.

For the large group Read-Aloud, Ellen read Duck! Rabbit! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld. This book explores a simple optical illusion. If you look at the drawing one way you see a duck and if you look at it another way you see a rabbit. It was a great introduction to optical illusions, and the simple text and engaging illustrations kept the children interested. Volunteers talked with the kids about how many magic tricks use optical illusions.

After the large group Read-Aloud, the group watched a YouTube video featuring Steve Frayne. This video contains three tricks: he walks on water, puts a cell phone into a glass bottle and walks through glass. The team showed the kids the bottle trick and the walking through glass trick. All the kids (and the grown-ups) were amazed and unable to answer the inevitable question of "how did he do that!"

For small group reading, the volunteers read some of these books:

Abracadabra! Magic with Mouse and Mole by Wong H. Yee
Amazing Coin Tricks by Kirk Charles

The Big Book of Magic Fun by Ian Keable

The Magic Rabbit by Richard Watson

Possum Magic by Mem Fox
The Strega Nona books by Tomie DePaola
Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig
Young Cam Jansen and the Magic Bird Mystery by David Adler

For the activity, the kids learned how to do the imaginary ball in a paper bag trick. They were excited to learn how the trick worked after watching Kevin do it at the beginning of the Read-Aloud. To make this trick work, all the kids had to do was to fold down the top of the paper bag to keep it open and work on their finger-snapping and acting skills. With some practice, all the kids were able to succeed at the trick and could not wait to show it off at home.

The real trick to having a successful Read-Aloud about magic is to keep it as simple as possible. Easy props such as a magician's hat, cape or wand would also be great additions, even if you don't have an invisible dog!

To receive credit for this online training, please fill out the form here.