Frequently Asked Questions

No, our materials are an effective supplementary tool to enhance in-class instruction and engage students in a fun and memorable way. It is a resource that can be implemented within the framework of any existing curriculum in school or at home. Writing, like reading, is an ongoing developmental process that takes years to perfect. We provide both students and teachers with the foundational structure and the metalinguistic tools to discuss how students can make effective choices by expressing themselves creatively.

The Colors of English program is perfect for students of all ages, particularly those in kindergarten through 6th grade. However, our dynamic and flexible curriculum also works well in upper-grade classrooms. Some teachers have even used our materials for ACT/SAT prep in high school!

Learning the parts of speech is crucial for students! It's not just about memorizing categories; it's about understanding how they function within sentences. Many words can serve multiple roles depending on the context. When students grasp the roles of different parts of speech within sentence patterns, they gain the tools to make sense of the English language. This understanding helps them become better writers and readers, especially as they transition from learning to read to reading to learn.

Yes, the Colors of English provides materials for all learning settings, including at home! This program is an excellent way to keep students engaged over the summer, during the school year as a homeschooling program, or year round as an after-school supplement to in-class learning.

Every learner is different, so we teach each concept in more than one way. Students meet the parts of speech through character-based stories about each Word Bird, then see them in action with color-coding, mind maps, and graphic organizers that build understanding and vocabulary. Hands-on, tactile materials for games and activities, along with the rhythmic and auditory activities outlined in the instructor's guide, let students see, hear, and handle language. We have something for everyone! Check our research page to learn more.

We are here to tailor our program to your specific needs. The Colors of English program comes with an easy-to-follow instructional guide, complete with lesson plans for every day of instruction and additional ideas and activities to supplement learning. We also offer targeted professional development programs to provide success in all situations from home-school to district wide implementations.

We focus on birds because they are a universal concept, found everywhere and not limited by geography or politics. This helps students concentrate on the structural and syntactical elements they need to build strong foundational skills. Our Word Birds, with their unique personalities, make complex concepts easier to understand and process. Plus, they're cute, cuddly, and huggable, adding a tactile element that reinforces learning goals.

Color gives students a second way to see how words function within a sentence. Every word has a purpose, and when every part of speech has its own color and its own Word Bird, students can spot sentence patterns at a glance. Stopping to switch colors, even for a moment, makes students slow down and think about each word’s job, which keeps them focused. Research suggests that color draws attention and helps memory (Dzulkifli & Mustafar, 2013), and speech-language therapists use color-coded sentence parts to help children build longer, more complete sentences (Bolderson et al., 2011). And because the colors stay the same from book to book, students build on what they already know.

The Word Bird Sentence Lab is our online tool for color-coding, analyzing, and diagramming any sentence. Type a sentence, and the Lab colors each word with its Word Bird, explains how the sentence is built, and draws its diagram. Watch the free demo, try 10 of your own sentences free, or apply for our free Beta for teachers and homeschooling parents.

To integrate the Colors of English materials with other curricula, refer to our instructional guide for detailed guidance. Essentially, words are everywhere, and each word (and picture) offers a chance to explore language. Even pre-readers can use picture books or storybooks to discuss the rhetorical choices of authors and illustrators. For instance, you can have students go on a noun-hunt or create charts tracking the emotional journeys of characters. The possibilities are endless, and we love hearing how teachers and parents use our materials to engage their students.

The Colors of English curriculum is designed to ensure students meet Common Core and state standards. For more information on our scope and sequence, visit the link here.

Absolutely! You can purchase most items from the Word Bird Box individually. While the box is designed as a comprehensive resource for teachers or home use, we also offer classroom sets of workbooks and Word Birds. Plus, there are many additional resources available for our subscribers or for download. To buy items separately or as a complete program, just get in touch with us.

Each purchase is a license for one teaching adult, so please don't pass along your links or files. You're welcome to post student handouts to a password-protected class site for your own students. Colleagues can buy their own copy; for anything else, email us at info@colorsofenglish.com.

Your browser is sending PDFs to your Downloads folder instead of showing them. The file is there, and you can open it from Downloads. To have PDFs open in your browser instead:Chrome: Settings > Privacy and security > Site settings > Additional content settings > PDF documents > choose "Open PDFs in Chrome." If that is already selected, the Adobe Acrobat extension is usually the cause. Type chrome://extensions into the address bar and switch it off, or change its settings so it does not send PDFs to Acrobat.Microsoft Edge: Settings > Cookies and site permissions > PDF documents > turn off "Always download PDF files."Firefox: Settings > General > Applications > Portable Document Format (PDF) > choose "Open in Firefox."Safari: Safari opens PDFs by default. If a PDF downloads instead, check Safari > Settings > Extensions for a PDF extension.

Yes. This is a normal Adobe Acrobat safety prompt. Click "Open Link" to continue. If Acrobat offers the option to remember your choice for colorsofenglish.com, select it and the prompt will stop. You can also open our PDFs in your web browser, which does not ask.

Some school networks block video sites. Our videos are hosted on our own website's video service, not YouTube, but some filters still block them. Ask your IT department to allow colorsofenglish.com and video.wixstatic.com. In the meantime, try the video from home or on a mobile hotspot.

You may be using an older copy of the materials from before 2026. Download the current version from your purchase email, or contact us and we'll send you the updated links.

Please let us know which document, page, and link. We will fix it quickly and send you the corrected file.

Our slideshows are PowerPoint files, and browsers can't show PowerPoint files the way they show PDFs. When you click a slideshow link, the file goes to your Downloads folder and your browser stays on the page you were on, so it can look as if nothing happened.Open the file from your Downloads folder in PowerPoint, Keynote or Google Slides (in Google Drive, upload the file, then open it with Google Slides). Present it from there so the animations and click-to-reveal slides play as designed. Larger slideshows can take a minute to download.

No, that's expected. We mark our slideshows as final so they aren't changed by accident. Just present as usual: the animations and click-to-reveal slides work normally, and there's no need to click "Edit Anyway."