Macaroni and cheese yellow, carnation pink, timber wolf gray are just a few examples of how your students can add more details to their writing. So what is the magic trick? A Color Dictionary! This resource is a book of color words that go beyond the basic red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. These words open a whole new world of color words. And these words are what can make your students' writing top notch. Adding details to writing can be done in various ways, but the Color Dictionary is a fantastic resource that your students will be excited to use.
What is a Color Dictionary?
A Color Dictionary is a book of colors with fabulous names. Students use it to add details to their writing. The goal of this resource is to bring something new to writing that will make students look forward to making their sentences more vibrant and engaging. Furthermore, it includes a visual aspect that encourages young writers to be more descriptive with their writing.
What You'll Need
Get started by purchasing a box of 96 Crayola crayons. If you've ever looked at the colors that are included in these large boxes, you'll notice the creative names given to the colors that will “tickle you pink.”
Next you'll need to download the Color Dictionary template, which will be how you display the colors for students to choose as they add details to their writing. To protect your dictionary, I recommend putting the pages in sheet protectors. There will be lots of little hands flipping through the pages, and you'll want it to last for several years.
Making Your Color Dictionary
Ok, let's do this! Here are the steps for creating your Color Dictionary.
First purchase a box of 96 Crayola crayons. Dump the crayons out and place them into shades of color groups–pinks, reds, oranges, yellows, greens, blues, purples, browns, and blacks and grays. This will make it easier when you begin filling out your Color Dictionary.
Next you will print out your Color Dictionary pages (in color) and begin coloring in the circles with a specific color. The colors are included on the printable pages, you'll just need to add color.
Once you've colored in the swatches, place them into sheet protectors to, well, protect them. You can place them back to back or single pages. It's up to you. Slip the pages into a binder or folder with prongs, add a cover, and there you have it, a Color Dictionary.
Feel free to make several copies. It's likely more than one student will want to use the dictionary at a time since they're a fun tool.
Benefits of Adding Details to Writing
Students will need to be explicitly taught how to add more details to writing. Many times, they'll add more words or pictures to a page just complete the task. However, giving students ways to add more details is beneficial for the students' growth in writing.
The Color Dictionary is a very specific way to add details to writing by adding colors. As you write your lesson plans, be sure set aside a block of time to demonstrate how the resource is used. Revising strategies for elementary students are few and far between, but the Color Dictionary gives students the opportunity to see revising in action.
Below you will find tips for incorporating the Color Dictionary into your classroom. These tips show students how adding details to their sentences make it more colorful. Furthermore, adding details to narrative writing makes stories more entertaining.
Classroom Tips for Adding Details to Writing
Introduce the Color Dictionary to your students and tell them the purpose of having it in the classroom–to add more detail to writing.
Tip One for Adding Details to Writing
Before students begin using it for writing, have your students practice describing pictures or items in the classroom. For example, have students use the Color Dictionary to describe the color of a pencil, eraser, and the color of their desks.
Tip Two for Adding Details to Writing
Write a simple sentence on the board. For example, The pig oinks. Now have the students look up a color to describe the pig. For example, The salmon pink pig oinks.
Demonstrate this with a few sentences. Then give your students a simple sentence to add a color detail to on their own. Have the students write their sentence and then share with the class.
Tip Three for Adding Details to Writing
Now is a good time to practice adding details to writing. Your students will need to take out some of their writing. Then have them choose one sentence. Ask students to add a color word to the sentence. Express to students that this is revising. A detail has been added to make writing better. Be sure to have students read their sentences aloud because you'll find them adding their color words to the wrong spots in their sentences.
The Color Dictionary is a simple tool, yet a highly engaging and effective resource for teaching your students how to add more details to writing. If there's anything I've learned about teaching writing, we need to build a toolbox for students. Some kids will love the Color Dictionary and some will prefer another resource. It's our job to give them those resources that will spark a love for writing.
