What can we learn from a box of crayons?

Main Activity:
Provide each student with two sheets of drawing paper, then allow each student to pick out one crayon from a box provided. Ask each student to draw a picture with only the single crayon. After five minutes, ask students to take out their own box of crayons and draw another picture on the second sheet of paper; students can use as many different colors as they wish. When finished coloring, ask the following questions: Which picture do you like best? Why? Which picture would you like to display in your classroom, the hallway, at home? "What a boring world it would be if we were all alike — like the picture drawn with only one crayon. The diversity in the world makes it like a wonderful box of crayons with endless colors."
Next, read “The Crayon Box that Talked”. Discuss how silly it was for the crayons to not like each other just because of their color. Each crayon had something special to offer to the picture; green for the grass, blue for the sky, yellow for the sun. Brainstorm the reasons it is important to accept people who are different and record responses on the board. Read a passage from an unknown author: "We could learn a lot from crayons. ... (They) all are different colors, but they all exist very nicely in the same box."
Assign students to groups of 3-5 students per group, each group will brainstorm ways that each student in that group is unique and different. Brainstorm ideas to share those differences as seen in the example video “The Heart of Our Team”. Plan a storyboard with ideas for movie.
Using crayons, paper, and other objects in the art room or from home, students (working in their assigned group) will photograph images in iMotion to create a stop motion animation about their differences.
Export and save final movies to photo library. Upload to teacher laptop and import to iMovie. Add music, sounds or video recordings.

Vocabulary: stop motion animation, time lapse, unique, storyboard

Materials: iPads (iMotion app), paper, crayons, storyboard planning sheet, laptop with iMovie (for combining movies at end of project)

Resources:
The Crayon Box that Talked (Random House, ISBN# 0679886117, $12.95)
“We could learn a lot from crayons…”
https://youtu.be/zEfqsx7zQNk
“The heart of our team” Stop Motion Example
https://youtu.be/7OklREvXqKs
Storyboard document
Pixar Storyboarding Mini Doc
https://youtu.be/7LKPVAIcDXY

Connections:
Common Core State Standards, New Visual Art Standards, Cross-curricular connections, etc.

SD Visual Art Standards
2.VA.Cr.2.1 Experiment with various materials and tools while demonstrating safe use of materials, tools, and procedures to create works of art or design.

2.VA.Cr.3.1 Discuss and reflect with peers about choices made in creating artwork using art vocabulary (such as the elements/principles of design).

2.VA.Cr.1.1 Brainstorm and implement multiple approaches, materials, and tools to solve an art or design problem driven by personal interests and curiosity or to repurpose objects to make something new.