Children learn Spanish names for colors at Lincoln Public Library story time

 

[July 03, 2021] 

At Lincoln Public Library’s 'Storytime on the steps' Thursday, July 1, children got to hear two stories since last week’s story time was cancelled due to storms.

The first book was “Go Away Big Green Monster” by Ed Emberley. On each page of the first part of the book, a different part of the monster’s face is revealed. As Ms. Tegan read the story, Ms. Donna pulled away poster board to show another part of the monster’s face.



The monster has two big yellow eyes, a long bluish greenish nose, and a big red mouth with sharp white teeth, little squiggly ears, scraggly purple hair and a big scary green face.

Once the monster’s whole face is shown, the narrator says, “You don’t scare me, so go away big green monster.”

On the next several pages, the narrator tells each part of the monster’s face to go away until none of its face is showing



The book ends with the words “Go away and don’t come back! Until I say so.”

The other book Ms. Tegan read was “Green is a Chile Pepper: A Book of Colors” by Roseanne Greenfield Thong. In this book, children learn about all the bright colors around their Hispanic American neighborhood. These colors are found in everyday items they use, which are illustrated throughout the rhyming book.

For example, red is the color of spice and salsa on top of rice plus ribbons, bows and skirts for ballet folklorico.

Orange is the color of marigolds on the day of the dead and platos (plates) for special bread.
 

Yellow is the color of masa used in tortillas, tamales and sweet corn cake and the brightly flickering stars.

Green is the color of cornstalks, pails and a bench. Green is also the color of a spicy, hot Chile pepper along with the cilantro cooking in the pot.

Blue is the color of the sky and the narrator’s homemade crafts.

Purple is the color of the swirling and spinning rides and prizes they win.

Pink is the color of the candles that glow and pińatas you need to watch out for below.
Brown is the color of a warm and sweet churro and homemade chocolate, a special treat.

White is the color of flowers in a vase, sugar skulls, and handmade lace. In addition, the doves that chatter and coo and palomitas (popcorn) are white.

As the children learned about what items could be found in the various colors, it also gave the Spanish words for the colors. The children would later learn a song to remember the Spanish words for the colors.

The book ends by saying, “The world is a rainbow of color and fun, ribbons of colors rolled into one.”

A variety of colors can be found in ponchos and xylophones and “these beautiful colors are waiting for you.”

The children listened attentively to each story. Once Ms. Tegan finished reading, she led the children in the weekly wiggle time. To get out their wiggles, children were asked to touch their toes, then shake their arms, legs, tongues and finally whole body.

For music time, Ms. Tegan taught the children a song with the Spanish names for colors sung to the tune of Frere Jacques.

They sang each verse a few times to help them learn the words

The children quickly learned the following words to the song:

Rojo red, rojo red,
Azul blue, azul blue,
Amarillo yellow, amarillo yellow,
Verde green, verde green.
Blanco white, blanco white,
Negro black, negro black,
Anaranjado orange, anaranjado orange,
Rosa pink, rosa pink.
Café es brown, café es brown,
Gris es gray, gris es gray,
Morado es purple, morado es purple,
Los colores, los colores.

Several children said they enjoyed learning the new song.

Though there is no on-site programming for older children, they are still recording and turning in reading logs and picking up craft kits to do at home.



This week, kids from kindergarten to fifth grade colored and made shrinky dinks. Those in sixth through twelfth grade did turtle weaving with various colors of yarn.

As the program ended, Ms. Donna reminded children there will not be a story time on the steps Thursday, July 8. The next story time will be Thursday, July 15 with a story about a unicorn and a photo opportunity with the unicorn. Thursday, July 22 is the final story time, which will be a silly safari.

The children were asked to keep up on their reading logs and be expecting some special surprises in upcoming weeks.

[Angela Reiners]