Valentine’s Day in elementary school is always a bit hectic, but it can also be a fun break from the monotony of winter. In this post, I’m sharing my favorite Valentine’s Day ELA activities and resources for structured literacy classrooms.
“Quick Win” Valentine’s Day ELA Activities
Let’s start with some “quick win” activities that are low-prep, fast, and free. You can easily incorporate these into your small group reading time during the week of Valentine’s Day.
💜Two-Syllable Heart Decoding
Materials: Paper hearts
If you have students who are working on decoding two-syllable words, this is the perfect hands-on activity.
You will need some paper hearts with two-syllable words written on them. Have students practice decoding the words by folding the hearts to show where to divide the words into syllables.
🩷Valentine’s Day Phonemic Awareness Game
Materials: None
If you have students who are still working on phonemic awareness, here is an easy game you can play.
To start the game, you will say: “I’m going to tell you what my Valentine gave to me, and you need to figure out the rule.”
Example: “My valentine gave me… coffee, a green fleece, and candy. What’s the rule?” (Long E Sound)
To make it more challenging, students can take turns giving you words, and you can tell them whether or not each one would be allowed. (In the “long e” example, beans would be allowed, but jam would not be.)
Printable Valentine’s Day ELA Activities
❤️Valentine’s Day Decodable Reading Passages
Decodable passages can be festive, too! These Valentine’s Day decodable passages are great for your small groups who need a little extra support. Each passage also includes multiple-choice comprehension questions.
💜Valentine’s Day Grammar Review Worksheets
These Valentine’s Day grammar and ELA worksheets include dozens of skills, such as nouns, verbs, adjectives, pronouns, homophones, synonyms & antonyms, similes & metaphors, capitalization & punctuation, & more! Great for February morning work, centers, or small groups.
🩷Valentine’s Day Morphology Mystery
Looking for a more authentic and engaging way to teach morphology? Students will begin by reading a short introduction to the mystery. Each time they complete a task, they will discover a clue that allows them to eliminate possible answers. At the end, they will be left with one correct answer that solves the mystery!
My Favorite Valentine’s Day Read Alouds
❤️Heart String by Brook Boynton-Hughes
This is a short and sweet book about the invisible string that connects people’s hearts. Each page only has one or two sentences, but the concept provides plenty of opportunities for discussion.
The premise is that humans are all connected. We can share each other’s joy and sorrow. Even if we are separated by physical distance, we are still connected by an invisible heart string.
I remember reading this book to my third graders the year that one of my students lost a parent. It was a sad time in our classroom, and this book was a gentle reminder of the bond that humans share.
I like reading this story around Valentine’s Day because it allows for discussion around empathy, relationships, and community. I also love that the illustrations include many diverse characters.
💜In My Heart by Jo Witek
This book is all about feelings. Each page discusses a different feeling that your heart may experience.
While it’s geared towards primary students, it contains quite a few examples of similes, metaphors, and personification, so it may be useful for a figurative language lesson in upper elementary.
🩷Last Stop on Market Street by Matt De La Peña
This book doesn’t have the obvious Valentine’s Day theme, but its message fits. It follows a young boy named CJ and his Nana as they take the bus through the city. At first, CJ is full of complaints, but his Nana helps him to see the beauty in his surroundings and be grateful.
At the end, we discover that CJ and his Nana’s destination is a soup kitchen where they are volunteering. Overall, this is a heartwarming story with themes of gratitude, compassion, and giving back to your community. I love that it has an urban setting with plenty of diverse characters. It also contains plenty of figurative language.