1st week assignment--Strategic Literacy

In my kindergarten class one of the skills I want my students to acquire is to be able to recognize color words.

Y--1. In the dramatic center the color words are posted on the wall. I also have the color words written in their corresponding color for a matching game. There are four cards for each color, such as in the "Go Fish" card game. This activity targets several of the nine target areas of development. Learning and recognizing color words provides students opportunities to meet the goals of instruction by providing phonological awareness, alphabetic principle, letter sound knowledge, and motivation to engage in text. Each of these target areas move the student in the direction of learning and reading color words.

Y--2. In the block center the color words are written on some blocks in black print with the correct color on the opposite side of the block for self-checking. Motivation to engage with text causes the student to continually manipulate these blocks to test himself/herself on recognition of the color words. In this way the student meets the objective of learning to recognize and read color words.

Y--3. Near the four student computers in the classroom is a correctly color coded list of color words. The student may type the color words from this list. They have been taught how to change the color and size of the font so that they may type the color words in the correct color if they desire. Many of the color words can be sounded out so they are using the target area of development of letter sound knowledge, as well as motivation to engage with text. They have the correctly color coded words by their computer for self-checking. Successfully typing the color words, whether in black or the correct color still moves the student toward the goal of recognizing color words.
Wilma Graham--K
Shady Point Elementary