Unit 5 — Colors, Shapes, Sizes
Description
Students learn color, shape, and size vocabulary that enhances both target language and native language vocabulary development. The unit includes cultural color symbolism and geometric concepts. Students interpret simple shapes and color descriptions in authentic materials, communicate color and shape preferences, and create presentations combining visual art with descriptive language.
Essential Questions
- Why do we need to learn the vocabulary for colors, shapes, and sizes?
Learning Objectives
- Identify memorized and practiced color, shape, and size vocabulary in oral, viewed, and written language when supported by visual cues
- Respond to simple questions about colors, shapes, and sizes using memorized words and phrases
- Share basic preferences about colors and shapes using memorized vocabulary with gesture or visual support
- Communicate preferences and feelings about colors using memorized words and phrases
- Present very familiar information using color, shape, and size vocabulary that has been repeatedly practiced
- Recognize cultural symbolism associated with colors in target culture
Supplemental Resources
- Colored pencils and crayons for drawing activities
- Construction paper in various colors for art projects
- Shape cutouts and templates for tracing activities
- Posters displaying colors and shapes with vocabulary labels
- Picture cards with objects of different colors and sizes
Interpersonal Mode
Interpretive Mode
Presentational Mode
Students engage in conversations, listen to dialogues and authentic materials, read and write about Spanish language topics including family, clothing, colors, and weather. Students develop vocabulary and comprehension skills through reading Spanish texts and responding with written and spoken language.
Students count and identify numbers in Spanish, work with calendars and dates, and create data-based representations such as calendars, posters showing weather and seasons, and bar graphs of birthday information.
Students create visual representations including family tree projects, posters of seasons and weather, drawings based on descriptions, and engage with authentic songs and dances as cultural expressions of Spanish-speaking peoples.
Formative Assessments
- Identification of colors and shapes in pictures and descriptions
- Matching activities connecting color and shape vocabulary to images
- Question and answer exchanges about colors and shapes
- Simple dialogues describing objects by color and size
Summative Assessment
Draw a picture using basic shapes and colors and write a paragraph describing their picture; a partner will read the paragraph and draw a picture based on the reading
Benchmark Assessment
— not configured —
Alternative Assessment
Students may demonstrate understanding through pointing to or touching colors and shapes when named aloud, or by sorting pictures by color and shape with visual supports. A teacher may scribe student responses or accept gesture-based communication in place of written or spoken descriptions.
IEP (Individualized Education Program)
Students with IEPs may benefit from visual word banks pairing color, shape, and size vocabulary with pictures or color swatches to support both receptive and expressive language during oral exchanges and matching tasks. For the summative assessment, consider allowing students to dictate their descriptive paragraph to a teacher or aide, or to use sentence frames that scaffold the written output while still demonstrating vocabulary knowledge. Extended time and frequent check-ins during multi-step tasks — such as drawing, labeling, and describing — help students manage the cognitive load of combining visual art with language production. Highlighting key direction words and modeling the end product before students begin can further support access to the task.
Section 504
Students with 504 plans should have access to extended time during vocabulary identification tasks and the summative drawing-and-writing assessment, as combining visual production with descriptive writing can be demanding. Preferential seating near the teacher during oral question-and-answer exchanges about colors and shapes supports focus and auditory processing. A reduced-distraction environment is especially helpful when students are expected to read a partner's paragraph and interpret it visually.
ELL / MLL
Multilingual learners benefit from rich visual support throughout this unit, including color-coded vocabulary charts, labeled shape posters, and real objects or images that make target vocabulary concrete and meaningful. Teachers may allow students to gesture, point, or respond in their home language alongside Spanish when demonstrating understanding of color, shape, and size concepts, honoring the linguistic resources students bring. Simplified directions for partner and matching activities, along with a preview of key vocabulary before each lesson, help MLLs access content and build confidence in using new descriptive language.
At Risk (RTI)
Students who need additional support can be provided with a personal reference card featuring color and shape vocabulary alongside pictures, giving them a consistent entry point into oral exchanges and written tasks without relying solely on recall. Connecting new vocabulary to familiar, everyday objects — such as classroom items or colors in clothing — helps activate prior knowledge and make abstract terms more accessible. Breaking the summative assessment into smaller steps, such as completing the drawing before beginning the written description, reduces overwhelm and allows students to experience early success before tackling more complex output.
Gifted & Talented
Students who have quickly internalized color, shape, and size vocabulary can be invited to explore cultural color symbolism in greater depth — for example, by comparing how specific colors carry different meanings across cultures and reflecting on what that reveals about language and identity. In their summative work, these students might craft a more detailed or nuanced descriptive paragraph, incorporating size comparisons, spatial relationships, or emotional associations with colors that go beyond simple labeling. Encouraging students to consider how an artist or illustrator uses color and shape intentionally to convey meaning offers a rich interdisciplinary extension that deepens engagement with both the target language and visual literacy.