Words in Colour

Words in Colour is an approach to literacy invented by Caleb Gattegno.^[1] Words in Colour first appeared in 1962, published simultaneously in the UK and US. Later versions were published in French (French: Lecture en Couleurs) and Spanish (Spanish: Letras en Color).^[2]

"Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia" written using the Words in Colour system.

Words in Colour is a synthetic phonics system that uses colour to indicate the phonetic properties of letters.^[3] The system has been adapted for the use of deaf children,^[4] and for dyslexic children.^[3] Words in Colour was one of a number of colour assisted schemes, being followed by Colour Story Reading, Colour Phonics System and English Colour Code.^[5]

Colours

Colours of Diagraphs

Letters and Groups	IPA	Colour
t, tt, te, ed, d, pt, bp, ct, cht, th, phth, 't	/t/	Magenta
w, wh, u, o	/w/	Cyan
m	/ɱ/	Crimson to Yellow
e, i	Example	Red
s, ss, se, 's, c, ce, c sc, st, sw, ps, sce, sse, sch, sth, sz	/s/	Light Green
o, oe, ow, owe, oa, ou, ew, oh, ough, eau, oo, au, eo ol	/əw/	Brown to teal
p	/p/	Maroon
s, z	/z/	Purple
f, ff, ph, fe, lf, gh, pph, ffe	/f/	lavender
r	/	Orange
h, wh, j	/h/	Silver
l, ll, le, lle, 'll	/l/	Navy
e, ee, ea, i, y, ei, ie, eo, ay, ey, oe, ae, is	/i/	Red
v, f, ve, lve, 've, ph	/v/	Ochre
th, the, h, t, phth	/θ/	Canary
th, the	/ð/	Pink
g, gg, ckgu, gu, gh, gue	/g/	Grey
u,a,	/ʌ/	Yellow
d,dd	/f/	Green
e, ea	/ɛ/	Blue

See also

• Silent Way
• Initial teaching alphabet
• Phonics
• Look-say
• Whole-word method
• Whole language

Bibliography

• Teacher's Guide to Words in Colour Gattegno.