Color Box 3: Grading Shades

Presentation

1
Take out the seven tablets of one color and place them at random.
2
Look over the tablets and choose the darkest; place it at the left.
3
Find the next darkest each time and place it to the right, touching, until all seven are in a line.
4
Look along the line; if one tablet seems out of place, swap it and look again.
5
Give a three-period lesson with three tablets: "dark, darker, darkest", then on another day "light, lighter, lightest".
6
Return the tablets and invite the child.

Extensions, easiest to hardest

Grade two colors, then three, at the same time.
Grade all nine colors, each in its own line.
Arrange all nine colors in a circle with the darkest shades in the center.
Find the tablet one shade darker or lighter than a tablet shown, from a distance.

Control of error

There is no mechanical control; a tablet out of order shows as a jump in lightness that the eye sees when looking along the line. The guide can also mark the back of each tablet discreetly for self-checking.

Ready to move on when the child…

Grades one color correctly without help
Uses dark/darker/darkest and light/lighter/lightest correctly
Grades several colors at once