Colour Poems
Students unpacked a poem about the colour green.
Green is the colour of spring.
Green is renewal.
Green is the colour of envy.
Green is a new crayon.
Green tastes like a crisp apple.
Green smells like fresh cut grass.
Green sounds like a croaking frog.
Green feels like soft, velvety moss.
Green looks like shiny emeralds.
Green makes me go.
Green is my favourite colour.
As a class, we identified the repeating sentence starter “Green is” noticing that the five senses were used to describe the colour using similes. Individuals identified how the adjectives added interesting detail to the poem.
Students then chose their own colour to write a poem about. Creating a brainstorm around our colour was the next step. Answering questions about the colour in their brainstorm was a key element of the activity.
- What things LOOK green?
- What things SOUND green?
- What things SMELL green?
- How does green FEEL?
- What makes YOU FEEL green?
- What things TASTE green?
- What EXPERIENCES or IDEAS seem green?
- Can you think of green PLACES?
As a class, we read The Day the Crayons Quit By Drew Daywalt.
Then students went into Google classroom and opened their colour poem template. The student’s learning intention was to use descriptive language.
The student success criteria that we made together as a class:
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I can follow a poem template
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I can use similes to describe a colour.
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I can use adjectives to add detail to my description.
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I make sure I don’t repeat my ideas.
The poems were revised and, checked it against the success criteria, conference with the teacher for final proofreading, and suggestions made for improvements.
Blue is the colour of a glistening lake.
Blue is the open sky.
Blue is the colour of cheeky smurfs.
Blue is a fresh blueberry.
Blue tastes like a delicious lollipop.
Blue smells like a damp forest and big raindrops.
Blue sounds like a humongous whale.
Blue feels shiny.
Blue looks like a large river.
Blue makes me feel sad and lonely.
Blue is my favourite colour.
Purple is the colour of a fresh eggplant.
Purple is violet flowers.
Purple is the colour of big juicy grapes.
Purple is cool leaves falling in the breezy wind.
Purple taste like yummy grapes growing on vines.
Purple smells like brand new grass.
Purple sounds like a purple crayon unraping his clothes.
Purple feels soft, cozy and warm.
Purple looks like a t.shirt laying on carpet waiting to be worn.
Purple makes me feel evil .
Purple is a big bowl of food colouring.
Purple is my favourite colour.
Yellow
Yellow is the colour of a big, big, big banana
Yellow is a fresh juicy pineapple.
Yellow is the colour of sticky Icky slime.
Yellow is a big dinosaur.
Yellow tastes like sour Lemon.
Yellow smells like fresh honey.
Yellow sounds like a busy bee buzzing.
Yellow feels like a creepy roller coaster ride.
Yellow looks like Autumn leaves.
Yellow makes me happy.
Yellow is my favourite colour.
Black
Black is the colour of a raven.
Black is car oil.
Black is the colour of coal.
Black is the tires on a car.
Black tastes like a black burger. b
Black smells like rotting birds.
Black sounds like a cat whining
Black feels like a smooth rock.
Black looks like a robber.
Black makes me scared.
Blue is my favourite colour, but I know this poem is about black but that doesn't matter.
Yellow is the colour of the hot steaming sun
Yellow is a new cool crayon.Yellow tastes like a crisp lemon.
Yellow smells like honey.
Yellow sounds like a buzzing bee.
Yellow feels like sticky honey.
Yellow looks like a working bee.
Yellow makes me fly up.
Yellow is my favourite colour.
My favourite line in my poem is: “Yellow is like Pack n Save”.
I enjoy writing similes. I know they make comparisons.
My favourite line in my poem is “Red is the colour of squishy meat”.
I know I used the same word too much in my poem so I had to make a change.
I wrote the simile: “Purple sounds like crispy leaves”.
Success Criteria
My circles show my knowledge of colour
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Warm and cool colours
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Primary and secondary colours
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Contrasting colours
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Analogous colours
The colour display in our classroom looks like fireworks and eyeballs.
I created a circle pattern with warm colours. It looks like a volcano.
My circles show contrasting colours, and warm, and cool colours.
I create a circle with rainbow colours.
I think our colour display looks like colourful marbles.
I think our colour display looks like Whirlpools and black holes.
We smudged the colour in our circles to create different colours.
Next Steps - Sharing is Caring
Our whole school inquiry learning focus is around the elements of Visual Art. Room 3 found, writing colour poems, a successful learning activity that we enjoyed sharing with some other classes in our school.
Curriculum Links - English Speaking, Writing and Presenting - language Features - uses oral, written, and visual language features to create meaning and effect
Keywords - colour, poetry, language features
Attributed to - Read, Write, Think, Materials - www.readwritethink.org The Day the Crayons Quit By Drew Daywalt, Wassily Kandinsky Colour Circles - www.nurturestore.co.uk
I have been teaching since 2004. I started teaching at Wairakei Primary School in 2011. I am married to Steve and we have two children – Myles and Amelia. Myles and Amelia both enjoyed their primary school years here at Wairakei Primary School. I am really proud to be part of this school and appreciate all the amazing opportunities that are given to our children.
I like working with children and teaching. I love the fun that can be had and the feeling of being a part of a child’s growth and development. My favourite subject is maths. I appreciate the patterns and connections that can be found in numbers and I enjoy problem-solving. I have trained as a Math Specialist Teacher (MST).
My family and I love living in the Taupō area. When I’m not teaching I enjoy spending time with my family, walking my dog and mountain biking - which is a particular family passion.
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