9 Valentine's Day Activities for Secondary Students
Valentine's Day will be here before we know it, and if you're looking for a fun activity that keep the focus on learning, we've got you covered.
The teachers of the Coffee Shop have put together a list of their favorite Valentine's resources, and there is such a variety of engaging activities that you're sure to find something you can use in your classroom. Enjoy!
Room 213:
This Valentine's writing challenge is an engaging way to celebrate the holiday with your secondary English students. It's not just a "filler" either, for it allows your students to work on important skills like collaboration, speaking, listening, and writing. It’s also a way to acknowledge that love is not just the romantic candy-covered emotion that gets all the press on February 14th. Many of our kids can find this a “lonely” holiday; this activity will get them thinking about other forms of love as well.
The Classroom Sparrow:
Help! Cupid accidentally locked himself in the chocolate shop and he needs your help to get him out. However, before he can be freed from the shop, you will have to successfully complete a series of tasks and challenges. This Valentine’s Day Escape Room is a win-win for all involved. Your students will be having so much fun, they will forget that they are learning!
Stacey Lloyd:
From decoding heart-related idioms to analyzing lyrics in popular love songs, these Valentine's Day Figurative Language Worksheets are a whimsical way to get into the spirit of things! While these are fun and engaging to complete, they also test students' knowledge of key figurative techniques, help them to critically analyze language, and provide solid writing practice opportunities. Enjoy!
Nouvelle ELA:
Even if you're not reading Romeo & Juliet this year, your students will LOVE this adaptation set to the tunes of five pop songs. This is an engaging activity to dive into the tempo of Shakespeare's language, talk about recurring themes across literature and music, and basically just get movin' and groovin'. Your students don't have to be amazing singers to have fun with this one.
Tracee Orman:
If you're looking for a fun activity or maybe you don't have time to do anything on Valentine's Day, my "Love Song or Love Poem?" activity and bulletin board can help! You can use just the bulletin board if you don't have time to spare. I also include a student quiz handout and presentation quiz. You can use either (or both) in class to stump your students. They are sure to have a new appreciation for and interest in poetry!
Presto Plans:
Try an anti-Valentine’s day twist by getting your students to write the perfect break up letter or text message! After students learn about what a perfect break up letter looks like, they develop two fictional characters and create a deal-breaking issue in their relationship. Have students do some pre-writing to develop the couple’s relationship, personality traits, and relationship issues. Then, after they create an outline for the letter or text message, they can start writing the heartbreaking message.
The Daring English Teacher:
One way to incorporate some Valentine's Day fun into your curriculum without deviating too much from your pacing guide is to include literary-based activities with the novel you are currently reading. These Valentine's Day Activities require students to use text-based evidence, and they work with any piece of fiction! My favorite activity is the character dating profile that students create using information they've gathered using direct and indirect characterization.
Addie Education:
I love having fun with words and fun with writing! Why not use Conversation Hearts to do both around Valentine’s Day? I use the candy hearts to inspire a creative short story or sweet poem. The hearts make a fun (and tasty) prompt and will help your struggling writers get started! If you can’t use real candy, I’ve included 40 paper conversation hearts for you to use instead. Planning pages and rubrics included.
Secondary Sara:
Accomplish standards AND have fun with this editable menu of Valentine’s Day writing prompts! These prompts and follow-up sentence starters help get any reluctant writer un-stuck, and you get writing samples for a portfolio or gradebook. The menu covers narrative, argumentative, informative, research, and vocabulary writing!
So, those are the lessons that we love to use on Valentine's Day because each one gives us the opportunity to have some holiday fun while keeping the kids focused on skill building. Hopefully you can find some inspiration to use in your classroom.
