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Opinion Writing with “The Day the Crayons Quit”

In my opinion, teaching opinion writing is the most difficult genre of writing for our little learners to grasp… see what I did there ??!

But, with the right mentor texts it doesn’t have to be.

“Red Is Best” and “The Day the Crayons Quit” are two of my favorite opinion writing mentor texts! I use both of these mentor texts over the course of two weeks, as we dive deep into opinion writing.

Launch your opinion writing unit with these 10 daily opinion writing lesson plans, including opinion writing anchor chart, opinion writing graphic organizers, opinion writing prompts and The Day the Crayons Quit opinion writing craft! Create a The Day the Crayons Quit bulletin board display with the adorable crayon craft! These The Day the Crayons Quit activities are perfect for introducing opinion writing in kindergarten, first grade and second grade!

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Opinion Writing with “Red Is Best”

I begin our opinion writing unit with “Red Is Best.” Of course, we have to graph our favorite colors after reading the story.

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I just use a simple pocket chart graph, and I have the kiddos color their name with their favorite color.

Launch your opinion writing unit with these 10 daily opinion writing lesson plans, including opinion writing anchor chart, opinion writing graphic organizers, opinion writing prompts and The Day the Crayons Quit opinion writing craft! Create a The Day the Crayons Quit bulletin board display with the adorable crayon craft! These The Day the Crayons Quit activities are perfect for introducing opinion writing in kindergarten, first grade and second grade!

After we are finished with our color graph, I have the students work in pairs to share their opinion by completing the talking stem: I think ___ is the best color because ___.

On the next day, we create an anchor chart stating all of the reasons why the girl liked red best. As we read the opinion writing mentor text and encounter that reason in the story, we color it on our opinion writing anchor chart.

Launch your opinion writing unit with these 10 daily opinion writing lesson plans, including opinion writing anchor chart, opinion writing graphic organizers, opinion writing prompts and The Day the Crayons Quit opinion writing craft! Create a The Day the Crayons Quit bulletin board display with the adorable crayon craft! These The Day the Crayons Quit activities are perfect for introducing opinion writing in kindergarten, first grade and second grade!

Then, the students state their opinion, provide one reason and restate their opinion using this graphic organizer.

Launch your opinion writing unit with these 10 daily opinion writing lesson plans, including opinion writing anchor chart, opinion writing graphic organizers, opinion writing prompts and The Day the Crayons Quit opinion writing craft! Create a The Day the Crayons Quit bulletin board display with the adorable crayon craft! These The Day the Crayons Quit activities are perfect for introducing opinion writing in kindergarten, first grade and second grade!

Opinion Writing with “The Day the Crayons Quit”

During the second week of our opinion writing unit, we read the “The Day the Crayons Quit.” My kiddos are absolutely obsessed with this story! They love the structure and format of the text, as well as each crayon’s unique personality. Their favorite is always the peach crayon. I won’t ruin it if you haven’t read the story, but that peach crayon is sure a hoot!

The Day the Crayons Quit
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Then, we each get to work creating a list of things we can draw with our favorite color.

Launch your opinion writing unit with these 10 daily opinion writing lesson plans, including opinion writing anchor chart, opinion writing graphic organizers, opinion writing prompts and The Day the Crayons Quit opinion writing craft! Create a The Day the Crayons Quit bulletin board display with the adorable crayon craft! These The Day the Crayons Quit activities are perfect for introducing opinion writing in kindergarten, first grade and second grade!

We use this list to help us organize our opinion about whether our favorite crayon should or should not quit.

Launch your opinion writing unit with these 10 daily opinion writing lesson plans, including opinion writing anchor chart, opinion writing graphic organizers, opinion writing prompts and The Day the Crayons Quit opinion writing craft! Create a The Day the Crayons Quit bulletin board display with the adorable crayon craft! These The Day the Crayons Quit activities are perfect for introducing opinion writing in kindergarten, first grade and second grade!

This little craft is also the perfect opportunity to review the five parts of a letter… heading, greeting, body, closing and signature.

Launch your opinion writing unit with these 10 daily opinion writing lesson plans, including opinion writing anchor chart, opinion writing graphic organizers, opinion writing prompts and The Day the Crayons Quit opinion writing craft! Create a The Day the Crayons Quit bulletin board display with the adorable crayon craft! These The Day the Crayons Quit activities are perfect for introducing opinion writing in kindergarten, first grade and second grade!

The kiddos particularly enjoy lifting the flaps to reveal each part of the letter!

Launch your opinion writing unit with these 10 daily opinion writing lesson plans, including opinion writing anchor chart, opinion writing graphic organizers, opinion writing prompts and The Day the Crayons Quit opinion writing craft! Create a The Day the Crayons Quit bulletin board display with the adorable crayon craft! These The Day the Crayons Quit activities are perfect for introducing opinion writing in kindergarten, first grade and second grade!

Our crayons always turn out so cute, and the kiddos do such a nice job stating their opinion, providing reason(s) for their opinion, and then restating their opinion!

Launch your opinion writing unit with these 10 daily opinion writing lesson plans, including opinion writing anchor chart, opinion writing graphic organizers, opinion writing prompts and The Day the Crayons Quit opinion writing craft! Create a The Day the Crayons Quit bulletin board display with the adorable crayon craft! These The Day the Crayons Quit activities are perfect for introducing opinion writing in kindergarten, first grade and second grade!

Launch your opinion unit with 10 days of lessons already planned out for you!

Launch your opinion writing unit with these 10 daily opinion writing lesson plans, including opinion writing anchor chart, opinion writing graphic organizers, opinion writing prompts and The Day the Crayons Quit opinion writing craft! Create a The Day the Crayons Quit bulletin board display with the adorable crayon craft! These The Day the Crayons Quit activities are perfect for introducing opinion writing in kindergarten, first grade and second grade!

More Writing Ideas for Little Learners

If you’re looking for more writing tips, head over to this post all about creating independent writers.

Writing Workshop can be one of the most challenging times during the day for our Kindergarten students, but not with these great writing tips, writing activities, and writing FREEBIES! This “growing” writing checklist is one of our favorite Kindergarten activities for improving our Kindergarten writing block and creating independent writers... one check at a time!

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Launch your opinion writing unit with these 10 daily opinion writing lesson plans, including opinion writing anchor chart, opinion writing graphic organizers, opinion writing prompts and The Day the Crayons Quit opinion writing craft! Create a The Day the Crayons Quit bulletin board display with the adorable crayon craft! These The Day the Crayons Quit activities are perfect for introducing opinion writing in kindergarten, first grade and second grade!

 
Ashley Sharp Pos Bio Image

Ashley Sharp

As a dedicated Kindergarten teacher for nearly 20 years, I believe the words “fun, play, and creativity” can sit right alongside the words “developmentally appropriate, engaging, and rigorous.” Learning is meant to be fun and messy!

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9 responses to “Opinion Writing with “The Day the Crayons Quit””

  1. Mrs D's Corner Avatar
    Mrs D’s Corner

    This is one book I have been meaning to add to my classroom library for months, and this writing activity is so absolutely adorable that I am definitely buying the book now! 🙂

  2. Peggy Means Avatar
    Peggy Means

    Your crayons did turn out so cute! I need to get this book! 🙂

    Peggy @ Primary Flourish

  3. Melissa Schultz Avatar
    Melissa Schultz

    This is one of my favorite books! I was very excited to see your activities to go with it. They are adorable! Can’t wait to use it. Did you just draw the crayon or did I miss seeing a link for it?

    Melissa

    1. Kristy Avatar
      Kristy

      I wondered the same thing!

  4. Jennifer Burger Avatar
    Jennifer Burger

    I love your crayons from “The Day the Crayons Quit”! Do you have the templates available for sale? If so, where can I find them? We are just starting opinion writing this week and I can’t wait to use this activity. I love the book!

  5. Ashlie Avatar
    Ashlie

    Hello,

    I love this activity. Do you have a link to the template of the crayon?

    Thanks
    A

  6. Darla Avatar
    Darla

    I love this idea and LOVE this book. I also wondered how you made the crayons and the writing piece. Do you have the worksheets and master for the crayons?

  7. Susan Avatar
    Susan

    I love this idea . Could I have a copy of the link to get materials

  8. Ashley Avatar