Shades+of+Meaning


 * Shades of Meaning Activity **

Collect some paint cards from a paint store in various shades of browns, tans, and off-whites. (Try to get 2”square cards if you can, it will make Part 2 and 3 work better.) The idea is to get as many shades as there may be of skin tones. Make sure you get extras so there is lots of choice for all the students.
 * Part 1 **

You will a sheet of black and a sheet of white construction paper.

Put out a sheet of white construction paper and a sheet of black construction paper. Ask the students whether they are black or white. Most students will respond one way or the other.
 * Part 2 **

Now give the students the paint cards. Students compare the paint cards with the colors of their own skin in order to find their colors. The neat thing with paint cards is that they have such cool names and the students get to say things like "My skin is vanilla cream but yours is applewood."

Now compare the paint cards with the black and white construction paper. Discuss the fact that many people describe human beings in terms of being black or white or yellow or brown or red, but it appears from looking at the paint cards that all kinds of skin are shades of brown. Some of them are very light brown and some are very dark.

Have students pick one of the following two prompts to work on in class: 1. //Color Me //: Now that you have picked the paint card that best resembles your skin color, write a self-description that begins, “Color me _ (write the color) because…” (250 words)
 * Part 3 **

2. //Color Idioms //: You may have heard of the idiom, “I’m blue” when someone is sad, or other colors used to describe emotions. Now invent three to five new idioms dealing with the paint card you chose that matches your skin color. You can use metaphors, such as “I’m blue,” where you give an emotion a color. <span style="font-family: 'Times','serif'; font-size: 13px;">(NOTE: A metaphor is a word or phrase applied to an object or action that cannot be taken literally) <span style="font-family: 'Times','serif';">. You can use an action with an implied metaphor, such as, “I’m seeing red,” where red represents the emotion of anger and the action of seeing is part of that metaphor’s vehicle. Then write a few sentences (not definitions or explanations) for each new Color Idiom so that readers can understand what the idioms for your skin color mean (between three to five sentences).

<span style="font-family: 'Times','serif';">

<span style="font-family: 'Times','serif';">

<span style="font-family: 'Times','serif';">

<span style="font-family: 'Times','serif';">

<span style="font-family: Times,serif;">