Teaching Students to Color?

Do you teach your elementary students to color? I know that sounds like a funny question, but I'm serious! During the first week of school, one of the most important things I "teach" is how to color! My objective is for students to take ownership of their work. I want them to do their very best on everything. My other goal is to teach my expectations for taking care of their school supplies.

When I saw these in the Target Dollar Spot, I knew they would be perfect! liked these cute rainbows because they were the perfect size... just enough coloring but not TOO much coloring where it would take all day. :) 

When I teach my kiddos to color, I MODEL, MODEL, MODEL. 

I demonstrate how you can outline with markers. I show the difference between pressing hard to make the color dark and pressing lightly. I show the students how I can color realistically or creatively. I demonstrate how to add details and use a variety of colors. As I'm coloring, we talk through using different colors and different supplies. I ask my students questions along the way. "Would it look better to color the entire rainbow blue or should I use several colors?" I show the kiddos how I can color in the same direction and then how I can color all crazy. I ask them "which looks better?" :)

This sounds so basic, but you can't assume your littles really know how you want them to color. More importantly, I want my students to take pride in their work. This is true not just for coloring but for EVERYTHING they will do in school.

This isn't a long lesson. It's a mini lesson we work on all week. We keep adding to the anchor chart that will be displayed in the room all year.

Then I want the students to have the opportunity to show me their VERY BEST WORK! Next, I give them TIME. I don't want them to rush through it. In reality, they are probably going to take a little TOO long coloring today, but that's OK. I want to set the precedent that I expect their best. I don't want them to rush to just finish. 

I also like to have coloring contests throughout the year. This works great the week before a holiday or vacation. You can find tons of free coloring pages on Pinterest for every theme and holiday imaginable. I give it to the kids at the beginning of the week and whenever they have a few extra minutes they can work on their coloring contest page. At the end of the week, I have a judge decide on a few winners, and they get a prize from the treasure box. Holiday weeks can be so crazy, so a coloring contest is a great activity to do during potential downtime.