Vocabulary Practice in Spanish: Colores (colors)
LOS COLORES (COLORS):
We practice this vocabulary by identifying colors we see every day. Teachers might name the colors of children's clothes and toys in Spanish, for example.
Rojo (red), Amarillo (yellow), Azul (blue), Verde (green), Naranja (orange), Pardo (brown), Morado (purple), Negro (black), Blanco (white), Gris (grey).
Workshop Activities:
What you will need: colored paper, tape, music, and black-and-white images.
Vocabulary and Reading
1) Teachers introduce colors through choral repetition while showing strips of colored paper.
2) Teachers read a book about colors like Oso Pardo [Brown Bear] by Bill Martin and Eric Carle and point out colors they see.
Musical march
1) Children and teachers work together to tape a different color paper to each of the four corners of the room.
2) Teachers play lively music and run, dance, skip around the room. Children are encouraged to join in through gestures. Teachers pause occasionally to shout out the name of one of the colors. Teachers encourage children to run to the color announced, expressing enthusaism when they find the right color.
Matching
1) Teachers hand out black-and-white images of iconic objects/items associated with each of the four colors on the wall (a sunshine, a fire engine, a tree).
2) Children match the black-and-white pictures with the color that best fits. Teachers may help children when they are stuck by asking paired questions and pointing to the options (¿El sol es verde o amarillo?)
Review:
Silent teacher and Closed-eyes suprise
As a review of colors in the following class.
1) Teacher takes out four colored sheets of paper. She points to each color and says its name (repeating the activity a couple of times).
2) Teacher points to each color, covering her mouth and cupping her ears (indicating that she would like to hear the words). She waits for children (or caregivers) to say the names of the colors they remember, but only if they want to.
3) Teacher hands out the colored sheets of paper to the children. She closes her eyes and reaches out with open palms asking for each color (one at a time) in Spanish. Each time she is handed a colored paper, she opens her eyes to see if the color is what she asked for. (This same activity could be used to review other vocabulary items).
Libros:
For more language practice at home check out the following books from the library’s Spanish collection
Oso Pardo by Eric Carle, What do I Say? By Norma Simon, My World of Spanish Words by Debbie MacKinnon, Colores, formas, tamaños by Angela Wilkes, My First Spanish and English Dictionary by Passport Books, Mi primer diccionario ilustrado by Editorial Cordillera.