The Year I Stopped Drawing,

Learning Goals

• Use words and illustrations from "The Year I Stopped Drawing" to describe the speaker’s feelings about drawing.
• Notice how Grant Snider uses verse, including line breaks and descriptive language, to communicate ideas and emotions.
• Discuss what the title suggests about creativity, then revisit those predictions using evidence from the book.
• Create an illustrated poem about a creative activity and explain how its words and pictures work together.

Activity Steps

1. 1.Introduce the title and cover. Ask: “Why might someone stop drawing? What might they feel?” Record predictions without treating them as facts about the story.
2. 2.Read the book aloud, showing the illustrations and pausing at meaningful line breaks. Invite students to listen for words that reveal how the speaker feels about drawing.
3. 3.Revisit two or three passages. Have students identify a word, line, or visual detail that helps explain the speaker’s feelings. Discuss whether those feelings change, using evidence from the book.
4. 4.Examine one short passage as verse. Ask how its line breaks affect the reading and how its illustration adds meaning. K–2 students can discuss aloud; grades 3–5 can annotate a displayed or copied passage.
5. 5.Invite students to create an illustrated poem beginning “When I draw…” or “When I create….” K–2 students may dictate or write one to three lines; grades 3–5 write four to eight lines with intentional line breaks. Share poems, then revisit the original title predictions and name an idea about creativity supported by the book.