Objectives  Classify and categorize; make predictions using picture and context clues;

Teaching Guide
ask and answer questions; develop observational skills
Colores escolares/School Colors
Materials  construction paper, clear plastic bottles, water, food coloring, index cards,
brown rulers, yellow pencils, 2 pink erasers, 1 blue pen, miscellaneous school supplies

30 minutes, Days 1–3

Build Background
Activate Prior Knowledge  Tell children: Today, you will learn about school
supplies and their colors. Hoy aprenderán sobre los materiales escolares y sus colores. Ask
the class to think about things they use at school. Have them look in their
desks and around the classroom to find the school supplies they use most
(books, blocks, etc.). Then have them tell you when they use those supplies
(during reading time, art, etc.).

Introduce the Focus Skill: Classify and Categorize  Tell children that
classifying and categorizing means putting similar things in the same group.
Explain that they will conduct a mini-experiment to classify and categorize
objects by color. Fill clear plastic bottles with water. Add a few drops of red,
blue, and yellow food coloring in separate bottles. Divide the class into three
teams. Guide each team to make orange, purple, or green by adding food
coloring to some of the bottles. Then ask the teams to put bottles with the
same color in the same group.

Acquire New Vocabulary  Introduce the following words to the class: red/rojo, yellow/amarillo, green/verde,
blue/azul, orange/naranja, pink/rosado, brown/marrón, purple/morado, violet/violeta, gray/gris,
white/blanco, and black/negro. Explain that in Spanish, some color words can end with “a” or “o.” These color words need to
match the objects. For example: carpeta negra (not negro). Point out the “a” in carpeta and negra. Turn to p. 2 and write the Spanish words
on the board. Write the words rojo and roja on separate index cards. Then guide volunteers to tape the corresponding Spanish adjectives
next to the words on the board. For instance: mochila roja, marcador rojo. Review all color words as a class.

Read and Respond  Display the book. Read the title and author name aloud as you track the print. Point out the different school
supplies used on each page as you read. Pause after reading the questions in English and Spanish, and ask volunteers to make predictions
about the answer using picture and context clues. Then turn to the next page and see if the predictions were correct. Have children repeat
the color name on each page. When reading is complete, encourage children to look for objects and colors around the classroom.

60 minutes, Days 4–5

+= Curricular Enrichment: Math  Gather the following school supplies: five yellow pencils, one blue pen, two pink
erasers, and four brown rulers. Guide children to tell you how many objects are in each group and what color they are in
MATH
both English and Spanish. Tell the class that they will make bar graphs. Distribute glue, scissors, and construction paper that
matches the color of the objects. Have children use rulers to measure and cut squares out of construction paper. Children will
count how many squares of each color they need to represent the objects. Have each child glue the squares for each object in
columns onto white construction paper (two pink squares represent erasers, five yellow squares represent pencils, etc.). Then
ask children: How many erasers are there? (two) ¿Cuántas gomas de borrar hay? (dos) What color are they? (pink) ¿De qué color son? (rosadas).
Guide children to answer your questions using complete sentences, such as: There are two pink erasers. Hay dos gomas de borrar
rosadas. Encourage children to use their bar graphs to answer the questions. Display bar graphs when completed.

Home Connection  (Teacher, you may want to photocopy NATIONAL STANDARDS

this activity for children to complete with a family member.)
Language Arts: K-12.1, K-12.3—K-12.12
Talk with your child about what he/she learned. Play “I Mathematics: Numbers PK-2.1, PK-2.2; Algebra PK-2.1, PK-2.3, PK-2.4; Geometry PK-2.1;
Spy”/“Veo veo” with your child using only colors as clues. For Measurement PK-2.1, PK-2.2; Data & Analysis: PK-2.1, PK-2.2; Communication PK-12.1, PK-12.2,
PK-12.4; Connections PK-12.3
example, say: I spy with my little eye something that is black (pot). Science: K-4.1, K-4.2, K-4.5
Social Studies: Geography: K-12.1, K-12.2, K-12.4
Veo veo. ¿Qué ves? Una cosita negra (olla). Repeat the complete Visual Arts: K-4.1, K-4.2, K-4.3, K-4.5, K-4.6
phrase to reinforce Spanish usage of feminine/masculine   Foreign Language: K-12.1, K-12.3, K-12.4, K-12.5

(i.e. olla negra, gato blanco).

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