Los Colores De La Primavera

For most everyone, thoughts of spring conjure up vivid images of blue skies, green meadows, brightly colored flowers, and fluffy white clouds. "Los Colores de la Primavera" (The Colors of Spring) is Music K-8's first song in "Spanglish" and is a celebration of these images.

Lyrically, this catchy chorus is easy enough to be sung in Spanish even with some primary grades, and the verses are designed to teach a Spanish word (in this case a color) within an English context. The idea is to have your students identify and remember a new word in Spanish by connecting it with a phrase in English.

Melodically, "Los Colores..." should also be a breeze as it is limited in range to less than an octave (with the cued D for the low A) as well as rhythmically very straight ahead and repetitive. But don't be fooled by a simple melody line. The lively and percussive latin accompaniment provided on the tape is sure to get your kids singing and moving. If, for some unthinkable reason, you're not using the tape, "Los Colores..." is easily accompanied on either piano or guitar.

For those of you who really want to challenge your kids, we have offered verses entirely in Spanish. (Refer to the excerpt on the previous page.) They are almost exact translations of the English verses and will work very nicely with the written melody and rhythms (with slight adjustments, as indicated). A written pronunciation guide has been provided to help you and your students with the language (p. 37).

Some other common colors that you may want to include in your Spanish lesson are marron (brown), gris (gray), and negro (black). Though perhaps representative of some aspects of spring, they were not used in the song, as we wanted "Los Colores..." to focus on the brighter, more romantic imagery of the season.

Finally, we would like to send special thanks to Kristan Shumway at St. Catherine's High School in Racine, Wisconsin, for her help on "Los Colores...". Muchas gracias. - KJ