Student Contributor: A LaFrance
2 on a crayon gives students a minute for a brain break. It breaks up the day, lets the kids have some fun, brings calm into the classroom, and most importantly helps students work together.
When the class begins to get crazy and order needs to be restored, try two on a crayon. Have students buddy up with the kid sitting next to them and pass out one crayon and one piece of paper for each pair. Tell everyone they both have to hold the crayon the entire time and color until the song is over and that there is no talking about what to draw. Once everyone is situated, turn on a song and begin coloring. When the song ends, get the students attention, look at the art and talk about how there are leaders and followers and its okay to be either. This activity is a chance to talk about fighting for dominance, being too passive, and ideally sharing the power. It teaches and helps the students understand that we all need to work together to get the right picture. Sometimes we will be leaders, sometimes we should follow, and that is okay either way
This actively is entirely supportive. This activity is spur of the moment during a time of misbehavior or chaos. It is not intended to punish students or to prevent behavior, but rather to support the students. This activity is also student directed. There really isn’t any teacher input, all you do as the teacher is facility the activity. The actions are done by the students, the artwork is the students, it was directed by the students. They lead the activity, what they are going to get out of it and why this task needs to happen. Two on a Crayon is beneficial to help students learn how to work together as students and teammates.
More Information –
Tool Source: Gus Nollmeyer
2 on a Crayon, Grade 5, 14 students, Urban
This tool was very easy to prepare for. It required about a minute of preparation, which was mostly used to just gather the necessary materials. This tool was very easy to teach/implement as well. It was quick and simple, yet effective. My students loved this tool as well! My class has been having some issues with working together, which has had a negative impact on the learning environment and causes negative behaviors. When I implemented this tool into the classroom, they instantly started working as a team. It was a super fun activity for them to do as well, and had such a positive impact on the environment. There was nothing but smiles on their faces for the rest of the day. The students understood their roles perfectly. They understood that they needed to work together to create a good picture. Although this might be a tool intended for younger grades, it definitely helped these 5th graders so much, and could be used with any grade level!