Introducing Colors

Mouse PaintMouse Paint

One day three white mice discover three jars of paint–red, blue, and yellow. What will happen next?

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?

A big happy frog, a plump purple cat, a handsome blue horse, and a soft yellow duck–all parade across the pages of this delightful book. Children will immediately respond to Eric Carle’s flat, boldly colored collages. Combined with Bill Martin’s singsong text, they create unforgettable images of these endearing animals.

Harold and the Purple Crayon (Purple Crayon Books)Harold and the Purple Crayon (Purple Crayon Books)

One evening, after thinking it over for some time, Harold decided to go for a walk in the moonlight.”
Armed only with an oversized purple crayon, young Harold draws himself a landscape full of wonder and excitement.
Full of funny twists and surprises, this joyful story shows just how far your imagination can take you.Harold and the Purple Crayon has delighted readers of all ages since 1955.

A Color of His OwnA Color of His Own

Elephants are gray. Pigs are pink. Only the chameleon has no color of his own. He is purple like the heather, yellow like a lemon, even black and orange striped like a tiger! Then one day a chameleon has an idea to remain one color forever by staying on the greenest leaf he can find. But in the autumn, the leaf changes from green to yellow to red . . . and so does the chameleon. When another chameleon suggests they travel together, he learns that companionship is more important than having a color of his own. No matter where he goes with his new friend, they will always be alike.

Pete the Cat: I Love My White ShoesPete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes

Pete the Cat goes walking down the street wearing his brand new white shoes. Along the way, his shoes change from white to red to blue to brown to WET as he steps in piles of strawberries, blueberries, and other big messes! But no matter what color his shoes are, Pete keeps movin’ and groovin’ and singing his song…because it’s all good. Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes asks the reader questions about the colors of different foods and objects.

GreenGreen

How many kinds of green are there? There’s the lush green of a forest on a late spring day, the fresh, juicy green of a just-cut lime, the incandescent green of a firefly, and the vivid aquamarine of a tropical sea. In her newest book, Caldecott and Geisel Honor Book author Laura Vaccaro Seeger fashions an homage to a single color and, in doing so, creates a book that will delight and, quite possibly astonish you.

Too Many Balloons (Rookie Reader: Counting, Numbers, and Shapes)Too Many Balloons (Rookie Reader: Counting, Numbers, and Shapes)

This book is out of print but well worth it…one of our favorite books! A seven-year-old shares her colorful balloon collection with zoo residents.

The Day the Crayons QuitThe Day the Crayons QuitThe Day the Crayons Came HomeThe Day the Crayons Came Home

Poor Duncan just wants to color. But when he opens his box of crayons, he finds only letters, all saying the same thing: His crayons have had enough! They quit! Beige Crayon is tired of playing second fiddle to Brown Crayon. Black wants to be used for more than just outlining. Blue needs a break from coloring all those bodies of water. And Orange and Yellow are no longer speaking—each believes he is the true color of the sun.

Other Activities Included for Week 4: 

Center Ideas:

  • Use paint to mix colors. You can do this at an easel or using Q-tips at their desk.
  • Play dough letters (included)
  • Brown Bear Brown Bear book (included)
  • Cut/Glue/Color Apples/Leaves (included)
  • Mini Color books (included)
  • Cut pictures out of magazines that are all the same color
  • Add food coloring to a glass of milk and focus on that color for the day.
  • Sing the song “If you are wearing read, clap your hands”, or stand up straight or turn around, etc.
  • Play the Color Game (included)
  •  Have a rainbow week at school. Monday everyone wears red, Tuesday everyone wears orange, etc.
  • Do a scavenger hunt around the classroom or home for things that are one color.
  • Make a sensory bin:  Fill a tub with rice or white beans and bury colored manipulatives in the bin. Have the students try and find all the red bears.
  • Use Legos or Lego like blocks!!  Build something with only one color!

Story Time

  • Read a story and discuss sequencing. What came first?  What was second?  What was the end?  Too Many Balloons is a great story for this because the boy goes to the zoo and buys one balloon, then two, then three….in the end, he flies away!

Writing Center

  • Have the students do the favorite color writing prompt (included) They can draw and label their picture of things that are their favorite color.
  • Have students draw a picture of story sequencing…what came first? Second?  Last?  Use the Story Sequencing prompt (included)

 

Madreen Karle and Meeghan Karle Mousaw
Madreen Karle is a master first grade reading teacher with over 30 years of classroom experience. She taught reading in a special needs and English as a Second Language classroom. After retiring she wrote a reading program to help others learn how to teach reading. She is a trusted educator and author of 5 books to help teach children to read and write. In addition to her books, she is a mentor for 3 websites that give reading teacher tips (Mrs. Karle's Sight and Sound Reading, Mrs. Karle's Reading Patch, and Mrs. Karle's Handwriting Patch). Through her teaching she learned that confidence was the key to learning to read. A child who is not confident at reading does not like to read and struggles to read. Mrs. Karle created "sunshine moments" to help teach children how to grow their confidence and learn to read.

Meeghan Karle Mousaw (Madreen’s daughter) has her Master’s in Special Education. She has 7 years experience teaching children to read online. In addition, she developed a curriculum to teach children handwriting called The Handwriting Patch. With the Handwriting Patch learning is fun because children learn to draw and learn handwriting at the same time. In 2019 The Handwriting Patch curriculum became an amazon best seller the first year it was released, helping thousands of kids learn handwriting with a unique, fun method. She is mom to 6 kids, each with differently learning abilities and struggles.

The Reading Patch was established by the creators of Mrs. Karle’s Sight and Sound Reading. Together they have been featured on the NBC media outlets. Over the last 7 years in their online platform, Madreen and Meeghan have worked tirelessly with teachers, homeschoolers and parents looking to help children learn to read to become a trusted authority in teaching children to read and advocating early literacy skills. They often partner with other educational experts to deliver the most current information to the Reading Patch community.