Welcome to this Lesson:

The Color of Love

reflecting on colors and the positive images they evoke

This poetry lesson was created by
NNWP Teacher Consultant Karen McGee. Many of Karen's lessons can be found in the NNWP's Six by Six Guide for Primary Teachers.

The intended "mentor text" to be used when teaching this on-line lesson is the picture book I Love You the Purplest by Barbara M. Joosse. Before writing, students should listen to and discuss the writing style of this book's author.

Check out I Love You the Purplest at Amazon.com.

If you are a Washoe County teacher, click here to search for this book at the county library.

Three-Sentence Overview of this Lesson:

In the book I Love You the Purplest, a mother describes her love for her two sons by comparing that love to other things that she loves and hopes they love such as, “I love you the color of a cave in its deepest, hidden part where grizzly bears and bats curl up until night.” In this lesson, students will be invited to reflect on a variety of colors and the pleasurable things that those colors invoke. They then will write a poem about someone they love following Barbara Joosse’s style. Teachers: Click here to see the entire lesson plan.

6-Trait Overview for this Lesson:

The focus trait in this writing assignment is word choice; the writer’s goal is to “show” his love through the specific words he chooses, through sensory words and imagery.  The support trait in this assignment is organization; the writer will make discoveries about structure as he/she follows the model in Barbara Joosse’s book.

Recipient of the NNWP's
Excellent Writing Lesson Award:

Because of the quality of its resources and ideas, this WritingFix lesson was selected by the Northern Nevada Writing Project as May 2010's Writing Lesson of the Month. It was e-mailed to thousands of teachers who are members of the NNWP's Writing Lesson of the Month Teacher Network.

To access all past lessons, click here to visit the NNWP's webpage. You can start receiving all the new ones my creating a profile on-line at our site-sponsored Ning.