I’ve been working with my younger students on Color, Shape, and Number concepts so I created some adapted books to target these basic skills.  I made a set of 3 adapted books which all target color concepts.  The series includes “What Color Do You See?”, “I See Colors”, and “Let’s Find Colors”.  Each week I used one of these books and paired it with a different follow-up craft or activity.  My students have been loving these books and the activities.  I used my “What Color Do You See?” adapted book and paired it with a simple apple craft.  This was a perfect combo!

The book targets 10 color concepts and the student has to match the correct color circle piece to the color of the item on that page.  I paired visuals with many of the words so the students have the extra support as we read the words.  I like to point to each square as I read the page.  I always like when my student point to the words/boxes as we read the book.  Some of my verbal students will help me read (say) the words as I read them.  Especially when we get to the word “see” we point to our eyes and my verbal student usually can say “see” with me.

After we finish the question across the top of the page, “What color do you see?” we move to the bottom of the page for the next sentence.  I read “I see a ….” and then point to the picture in the middle of the page to see if the students can help me identify the color.  Some of my verbal students will say the color and find the correct color circle to attach into the book.  Other students will just find the correct color and attach it into the book.  For example “I see a black dog” and the student puts the black circle in the empty box.

For some of my student, I gave them a choice of 2-3 colors to select from and place on the page.  You can even fold the color pieces behind the book if they are too distracting for students and only present 2-3 colors at a time.  Just change the prompting depending on your student’s skill level and ability to attend to the book.    

After the student attaches the color to the bottom of the page we read the whole sentence again.  For example, “I see a yellow sun”.  Some of my students like to read the whole page again after they put the color in the right spot.  I think it makes my students feel successful because with the added visuals and repetition of each page they can help read the book.

I decided to have my students make a red apple after we finished the book but you could even make a yellow sun or any of the other objects in the book.  I like to do simple crafts so it is easy for me to prep but more importantly we can focus on language concepts while completing the craft.  The goal is to work on attending to the task, following directions, and requesting while making the apple.  All you need is a small paper plate, construction paper, glue. 

First I have my student request red paper.  I cut the red paper into strips.  After the student requests “red” or “paper” either verbally or with visuals I give them one strip of red paper.  They can point to “want” on a core board, exchange a red color piece from their PECS book, or make a verbal approximation to request the paper.  Anything for a communication intent I’ll take.  Then I have the student rip the strip of paper into small pieces.  You can also have them cut the strip of paper if they can use scissors.  I have them request another 2 strips of red paper.

When they finish ripping or cutting the paper I have them request a paper plate.  Many times I put a few dots on the paper plate so they know where to put the glue.  After they request the glue they can put some glue onto the dots.  I do this so we can work on counting as we add the dots of glue and add the red paper but also to make them need to request “glue” multiple times to complete the craft.  The students can sign “more”, use visuals, or verbally request glue again.  The more requesting the better!  When you have enough red on the paper plate you can add a green step to the top and you are done.  Super cute and super simple!

If you are interested in this series of adapted books you can find them on TPT with the link – Color Adapted Book Series