Read Together: Spicy Hot Colors #1

© Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Department of Early Education and Care (Jennifer Waddell photographer). All rights reserved.

STEM Key Concepts: There are many different colors; A color can have many different shades (from very light to very dark

ELA Focus Skills: Vocabulary, Active Listening, Making Connections, Comprehension, Concepts of Print, Parts of a Book, Interpreting Illustrations

Do a picture walk of Spicy Hot Colors by Sherry Shahan with children. As you flip through the pages point to the color words. Ask,

• Does anyone know why there are two words for every color?
• Explain that the color words are written in English and in Spanish. If you have Spanish-speaking children in your room, invite them to say each word in Spanish as you read the text.

Set a reading focus for children by asking them to notice all the shades of a color on each page.

Before You Read
Show children the book cover and point to each word as you read the title in English and Spanish. Tell children spicy can mean two things: spicy food is food that has a peppery spice flavor, but spicy also means something that is lively and colorful. Ask,

• What do you think the author meant when she used the word spicy in the title of this book?
• What colors do you see on the cover? Ask children to point to and describe all the different shades of one color on the cover.
• Can you name a food that is light green? Dark green? 

As You Read
As you read, bring children’s focus to the explosion of colors on each page. Pause after each page and ask questions such as,

• Did you notice all the shades of red on this page? Let’s see how many we can find. Have a child point to a dark red shade, then a darker shade, then the darkest.
• Did you notice what color the iguana is? What color is its eye? What color are its spikes? Elicit children to use light, lighter, and lightest in their descriptions.

After You Read
Hold up a page in the book and ask questions such as,

• What other yellow foods do you know that are this color? Is it lighter or darker than this <corn>?
• Do you know any other green animals? Do they have different shades of green on their body?

English Language Learners: Point to the illustrations in the book. Invite children to make any connections to the colors and pictures to their own life. For example, point to an illustration as you say, These chili peppers are different shades of red. What do you eat at home that is red?