Learning Colors in Spanish
Throughout my Spanish classes, I have been using TPR (Total Physical Response) – a method that combines visual, kinesthetic, and auditory learning techniques. For example, we start learning colores with a song. I introduce colors one at the time, with a movement motion attached to each color. This movement helps students memorize the colors and stay engaged. Then I add music, doing the song in four different parts. This helps provide a lot of repetition, while also keeping it active! Once we learn the whole song, we will continue to practice for several weeks. Additionally, we do several activities and games with hand-made materials to reinforce the vocabulary.
Vocabulary: Colores, amarillo, azul, rojo, blanco, negro, café, anaranjado, rosado, morado, verde, gris.
¿Qué color es? What color is it? Students take turns saying the color I show them. Then, I spread color bean bags and say “rojo.” I name a student and ask him/her to pick the color, say it, and bring it to me. Students hear, speak, and move all with one color!
Colors soft dice: Students will take turns rolling the dice and saying the color on the top. I will give instructions each time we play. If they can say the color on their own, that’s great! If they need help, they will give me “Big Eyes.” When this happens, I first show them the motion of that color, and many times that is sufficient to remind them of the word in Spanish. If they still need help, I say the color, and they repeat after me.
Colores Memory Game: Using only construction paper and markers, I made a color memory game. I made two sets of cards with the colors on one side and the word in English and Spanish on the other. Kindergarten will take turns; each student gets to turn out two cards. As the student turns the card, I read the words on the front, for example: “verde” and the other side the card has the color. Then the student will try to find the match and turn the second card “green.” The goal is to find a color match. If the student doesn’t find a match, they will turn the card back showing the words and let another student have a turn.
Mi Libro de Colores: I have also created a coloring book to further expand our coloring lesson. PK3 and PK4 only color in the book, while Kindergarten will write the color and word of the animal or fruit in Spanish on their color sheet.
