In 1938 Donald Crews was born in Newark, New Jersey.
His mother worked as a seamstress, and his father was employed by the railroad.
As children, Donald, his brother, and two sisters traveled to Florida
to his grandmother's (Bigmama) house. These summer experiences
help create two of his most popular books " Bigmama's" and "Shortcut".
Five day Lesson Plan
Day 1. I will introduce the Author, and introduce the word Transportion.
- I will define the different types of transportation( car, bus, boat,
plane, etc).
- I will read aloud the books " School Bus" and " Sail Away"
- The class will draw and color their very own school bus and boat.
- The students will come up with as many words as possible with
" oa" sound wich was previously learned. ( goat, boat, coat, etc).
Day 2. Field Trip on a boat ride.
- We will get to experience riding a school bus and boat.
- Upon return the students will complete a drawing of the experience
and complete a crossword/wordsearch puzzle using the vocab learned.
Day 3. I will read aloud the books " Truck" and " Flying".
- The class will draw and color a truck and an airplane.
- In complete sentences, the students will name 3 places they will visit out
of our social studies books, using an airplane and truck.
Donald Crews
by Aubrey Rice
Family and teachers encouraged his passion for drawing at a young age.
One of Crews highschool teachers, mad it his mission to get crews into
Art school. Crews graduated from Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York City in 1959.
Crews created several other books over time, in 1979 he created the book
"Freight Train", winning him a Caldecott Honor and the respect of other
artists in the field. His book " Truck " also won a Caldecott Honor.
Five day lesson plan Cont.....
Day 4 I will read aloud the book " Freight Train"
- The class will draw and color a train.
- The class will come up with word that begin with the sound " Tr" (try, tree, train, etc).
Day 5 Field trip to a train ride.
- We will have lunch outside and discuss the book and the train ride
- Upon return the class will comple a crossword/wordsearch puzzle using the vocab from the book and learned on the field trip.
Marrying another graduate from his college, graphic
Artist Ann Jonas. Crews was drafted into the army in 1963,
sending him and his wife to Frankfurt Germany. Nina, his first
daughter was born in Germany, and thier Second daughter was
born in New York a year later.
In Germany He worked on many pieces for his
portfolio. One piece of work is the book " We Read: A to Z" This book relies on abstract ideas, other than normal ABC books.
Photo credits: 'horizon' by pierreyves @ flickr