Let's be Franco: A Day in the Life of a 5th Grade Valentine

What do you celebrate Valentine's Day in your classroom?

Here is a glimpse into my Valentine's Day!

Class Meeting:

In my class, around this time of year, the tensions tend to rise. The students have been with each other for months and their personalities start to get on each other's nerves. I don't know if this happens in any other classroom but mine...

To refocus the students' attention on being positive towards one another, we focus on what we love about each other! Out of construction paper, I cut out enough hearts for each student and put their name on top. Before we start the activity, I remind the students that we are all different and that is what makes us special! I ask them to think about what makes each person in the class special! We leave our hearts on our desk and I turn on some classical music to set the mood. The students and I go around to every desk and write something unique that they love about each other. I ask them to try to think of something original. For example: "Yes, we know Anthony is funny so that would be something we might want to write, but that is not all we love about Anthony, we also love..... Try to think of something different then all the other comments!"

When the students get to read their own at the end of class, their faces light up! I really think it makes a huge difference in their self-esteem, even if just for a moment.

Math:

How can I have fun on a day where the students are full of sugar and excitement? Well, I came up with an escape for Valentine's Day! The students will apply their problem solving skills and a little bit of logic to help Cupid escape before the students come to school and see him! I am one-to-one with Chromebooks so I made the escape easily accessible for Google Classroom users (and to save ink and copying time, because let's be real, who has time for that?). The students will complete a series of problems involving multiplying and dividing fractions all relating to Valentine's Day! I love these activities because the students can be very independent and leave me free to work with students that need reinforcement or extra help.

Cupid's Candy Mystery

Reading/Class Meeting:

Ok, maybe this doesn't have to do with reading necessarily BUT I think it is worth it to Spread the Love. We took 52 Kindness task cards that are focused on spreading love around the school. I gave the students the challenge at the start of February to finish by Valentine's Day! Each day, in our class meeting, we talked about what task cards they finished and how it made them feel!

Share the Love

Writing:

Poems! I mean who doesn't want to write a poem for Valentine's Day, right? I teach similes and metaphors and then have the students write a poem using them! They can focus on all the things they love! "Love is the steaming hot coffee that welcomes me into the day" (well that would be my first line at least ;) )