The Crayon Box That Talked

On my visit to my former school, I walked through the halls and admired some of the leftover decorations from the International Festival they hold each year. Every classroom picks a country and studies it for a week (or more, depending on the teacher). On the last day, there's a big festival with food, celebrations and people from the community. Classrooms rotate around the "booths," learning about a different country every year. Among other things, last year we ate Eritrean cake, learned about steel drums from Jamaica and tried on wooden shoes in Holland.

I *love* some of the fun character and and multicultural education lessons they do as a lead-up to the festival. One great lesson is the integrated literature / character education / art lesson from the {wonderful} art teacher. First she reads The Crayon Box that Talked by Shane Derolf - it's the *cutest* poem about diversity, with the crayons all learning that they work together to create a bigger picture, and ask, "What would happen if there were only one color in the crayon box?"



Then she teaches them the basics of a self-portrait, and they draw themselves on a crayon that they add to a big crayon box she's made for the wall. The result is beautiful!

The {wonderful} art teacher also makes other beautiful displays. Check out her Pinterest account if you want to see more of her inspiration ...  Here are a few of my other favorites from around the school ...