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Year 3 - English

Exploring the characters' emotions in 'The Day the Crayons Quit'

'The Day the Crayons Quit': reading and writing persuasive letters

Unit Summary

In this unit, pupils write a persuasive letter, using the picture book 'The Day the Crayons Quit' by Drew Daywalt as their starting point. They learn about persuasive writing devices, including flattery and rhetorical questions. Pupils learn and apply a variety of conventions of letter writing.

Lesson Summary

You will learn to understand the reasons that the different characters write a letter in 'The Day the Crayons Quit' by exploring their emotions.

Key Notes

  • The crayons in 'The Day the Crayons Quit' use letters to explain to Duncan why they are going to quit.
  • They all share different emotions in their letters.
  • Simple sentences can be written in the simple present, progressive present and perfect present tense.
  • A simple sentence is formed of a main clause; a main clause contains a verb and makes sense by itself.
  • One type of simple sentence is the statement: it tells the reader a fact or an opinion.

Vocabulary To Learn

  • character: a person, animal, being, creature or thing in a story
  • emotion: the way a person is feeling
  • present tense: tells the reader the action is happening now
  • simple sentence: a sentence about one idea that makes complete sense
  • statement: a type of simple sentence that expresses a fact or an opinion and most often ends with a full stop

Common Mistakes To Avoid

  • Pupils may think that simple sentences that are statements can only give facts.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

1. Explain this English learning goal in two key points.

The crayons in 'The Day the Crayons Quit' use letters to explain to Duncan why they are going to quit. They all share different emotions in their letters.

2. Define this language term and use it in a sentence. 'character'

a person, animal, being, creature or thing in a story.

3. Correct this common English misunderstanding.

Mistake: Pupils may think that simple sentences that are statements can only give facts. Correction: Simple sentences can be used to state facts, opinions and emotions.

More Lessons In This Unit

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