Level: High Beginning and Up
Pair with the Song: “True Colors” (Cyndi Lauper, 1986)
Recommended Videos: Lauper’s 2019 lyric video; Justin Timberlake and Anna Kendrick’s 2016 lyric video; a brother-sister duet by Joshua and Erin Evans; the Rubios’ Spanish-language version. (My students thought the lyrics in the 2016 Timberlake/Kendrick video were easier to understand than the Lauper version.)

The lyrics gap-fill exercise below targets the 10 adjectives in the song. Lyrics intended for nonprofit educational purposes only. (These lyrics work best with the Timberlake/Kendrick version of the song.) More teaching ideas are in the Lesson Plan.

true colors gap-fill.pdf          true colors gap-fill (webpage)

Preview:

Adjectives in the Song “True Colors”

Listen to the song “True Colors.” As you listen, write in the missing adjectives:

afraid     beautiful     crazy     discouraged     full     hard     sad     small     true     unhappy

You with the ________________________ eyes
Don’t be ________________________
Oh, I realize
It’s ________________________ to take courage
In a world ________________________ of people
You can lose sight of it all
And the darkness inside you
Can make you feel so ________________________
But I see your ________________________ colors
Shining through
I see your true colors
And that’s why I love you
So don’t be ________________________ to let them show
Your true colors
True colors are ________________________
Like a rainbow
Show me a smile, then
Don’t be ________________________ , can’t remember when
I last saw you laughing
If this world makes you ________________________
And you’ve taken all you can bear
You call me up
Because you know I’ll be there
And I’ll see your true colors
Shining through
I see your true colors
And that’s why I love you
So don’t be afraid to let them show
Your true colors
True colors are beautiful
Like a rainbow
If this world makes you crazy
And you’ve taken all you can bear
You call me up
Because you know I’ll be there
And I’ll see your true colors
Shining through
I see your true colors
And that’s why I love you
So don’t be afraid to let them show
Your true colors
True colors
True colors
Shining through
I see your true colors
And that’s why I love you
So don’t be afraid to let them show
Your true colors
True colors are beautiful
Like a rainbow

Songwriters: Billy Steinberg / Tom Kelly
True Colors lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC