Valentine Activites

Can you believe it's February???  Whew!  Time is flying by... This week, let's peek at a few ways we can add some Valentine fun into our regular classroom practice!

Math Activities

Here's an activity that could easily be adjusted for various skills.  In the example below, the student must find two different ways to get the same answer to complete the heart.

How about figuring the area and perimeter of Valentine cards?  This cute idea came from The Clutter-Free Classroom.  Bump it up a bit and have students find the area of an irregular shaped Valentine!

Science Activities

I've seen this same activity with cookies from Mrs. Claus.  This version is The Case of the Valentine's Cookie.  Although it requires some prep work from the teacher, the kids really enjoy mixing, measuring, and figuring out the chemical reactions.  It is appropriate for upper elementary students.

Create a Valentine with a twist!  Challenge your students to be creative, clever and integrate your curriculum into the activity. Choose themes or have students write valentines to/from characters in your readings, a historical figure, a mathematical concept or a scientific idea.For example, a valentine from an electron to the nucleus:
Dear Nucleus, 
My world revolves around you.
Love,
Electron

ELA Activities

Looking for a new Readers' Theater script?  This FREE Valentine's Day Readers' Theater script is available on TPT.

What an amazing idea for getting kids to go beyond the book cover!  A blind date with a book!!!

   

Be sure to share your favorite Valentine activities with us! :)

Christmas Activities

If you want to put a little sprinkle of Christmas into your December lessons, take a peek at these ideas.  Don't forget to share your own ideas with us!

Math Activities

Mathwire.com has posted several winter math activities such as snowflake geometry, penguin patterning, problem-solving, and puzzles, snowman estimation, and more!

 

Kidzone has some math activities..my favorite is the Christmas nets for fifth grade geometry!

Science Activities

Click on the cover of Jan Brett's The Mitten for an inquiry science lesson to go along with the picture book!

 

There is nothing better than giving students real-world problems to solve.  Almost everyone can relate to the frustration of Christmas lights.  Have students explore parallel and series circuits with Christmas lights.  (Maybe they can get that strand of lights to work that has been bugging you since Thanksgiving break!) 

 

How about a sleigh race?  Santa will need a safe, sturdy, and SMOKIN' FAST sleigh!  Students could build sleighs or you could experiment with surface types.

No snow?  Older students can experiment with creating their own snow using a common polymer.  Read more about it HERE.

ELA Activities

A quick search of "winter" on ReadWriteThink.org brought up several ideas including winter in the Northern Hemisphere, how animals survive in the winter, poetry, and others.

I love having students write fractured fairy tales.  A holiday spin on this idea is "cracked carols".  We've all heard the parody "Jingle bells, Batman smells, Robin laid an egg..."  Have the kids get creative and write their own humorous holiday carol. 

Teacher Vision has a list of several Christmas reading and language arts activities HERE.

Miscellaneous

Stacy Bodin has a list of Christmas technology lessons and ideas HERE.  You'll definitely want to scroll through the activities to see which ones you think are best.  She has them divided into categories such as:  technology links, themed Christmas pages, ELA interactives, math, and even United Streaming links.

Don't forget about the old stand-by Smart Exchange!  You can select your grade level and subject area and search "winter" or "Christmas" for lots of activities. 

Thanksgiving

Looking for some meat and potatoes in your Thanksgiving lessons?  Here are a few ideas you might add to your plate!

The link below will take you to 5 fun Thanksgiving Writing Prompts!

A quick search of ReadWorks.org revealed Thanksgiving activities for several grade levels including paired text lessons, creating an outline from research, character and relationship changes, and MORE!  Click HERE for the search results, or create a search of your own!

Want to bring a little hands-on learning into your Thanksgiving lesson?  The Growing in Pre-K blog has an amazing post about growing Indian Corn and making butter.

Did someone say FIELD TRIP?  Scholastic has a virtual field trip that includes stepping aboard an exact replica of the Mayflower, a behind-the-scenes look at the life of Pilgrims, the day-to-day life of the Wampanoag people, or you might even choose from 12 Reader's Theater ideas.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Fall & Halloween Ideas

The Teaching Channel has created a Pinterest Board with links to fun Halloween activities such as pumpkins that glow, ooze, or explode, Halloween books and apps, and more!  Click on the candy corn to see their list.

Don't forget to SHARE your favorite Fall and Halloween ideas with us!