Bring Valentine’s Day Magic into Your Classroom
Love is in the air! Valentine’s Day isn’t just about candy and cards—it’s a fantastic opportunity to make reading and writing lessons more engaging. By integrating the theme of love, kindness, and friendship, teachers can encourage creativity, literacy skills, and student participation. Whether you teach elementary, middle, or high school, here are 15 fun ways to incorporate Valentine’s Day into Your Reading and Writing Lessons while keeping your students engaged and learning.
What are 15 fun ways to incorporate Valentine’s Day into your reading and writing lessons?
1. Valentine’s Day Poetry
Whose your favorite romantic poet? Lord Byron? Percy Bysshe Shelley? John Keats? Now is a wonderful time to get your students to write love-themed poems for fictional characters or historical figures to practice perspective writing.
2. Love Letters from Literature
Get those pens and paper ready. It’s time to do some writing! One of my favorite ways to incorporate Valentine’s Day into my reading or writing lessons. Assign students a classic novel or short story and have them write love letters from one character to another. They can rewrite famous letters (like those from Pride and Prejudice)
My favorite romantic classic is Wuthering Heights. Heathcliff and Catherine are my favorite star-crossed lovers. The depth of these two characters love runs so deep that it defied the grave. Plus, there are the three different love triangles. Juicy ❤️. You can have your students pretend to be one of the main characters and write a love letter. Of course, you can always let your students create original love letters based on a book they are reading.
3. Valentine’s Day Mad Libs
Create a Valentine’s-themed Mad Libs activity where students fill in parts of speech to create silly love letters or romantic stories. This reinforces grammar skills while making learning fun.
4. Heartfelt Book Reviews
Have students select a book they love and write a book review. Encourage them to explain why they “love” this book, what makes it special, and why they would recommend it to others. These reviews can then be placed on Valentine’s hearts.
5. Candy Heart Conversations
Use conversation heart candies as writing prompts. Give students a handful of hearts with different phrases and challenge them to write a short story, dialogue, or poem incorporating the phrases creatively. But, be warned that some students may try to “eat” these sweet treats.
6. Valentine’s-Themed Creative Writing Prompts
Provide students with Valentine’s-themed prompts like:
- “Write a story about a secret admirer who leaves anonymous notes in a library book.”
- “Describe the best (or worst) Valentine’s Day ever.”
- “Invent a new Valentine’s Day tradition for a futuristic society.” These prompts help spark creativity and improve narrative writing skills with a Valentine’s Day twist.
7. Secret Admirer Story Swap
Another of my favorite ways to incorporate Valentine’s Day into your reading and writing lessons is to play “secret admirer” story swap. Here’s how it works. Each student writes the beginning of a Valentine’s-themed story, then swaps with a classmate who continues the story.
I used to have my students start in rows. Next, give my students a topic. The first person starts the story. Then, that student passes the story to the next person on the row. I make sure that I don’t place more than 5 people per row. They go on until the story is complete. My students then read the finished stories aloud and enjoy. Finally, the whole class votes for the row or team with the best story.
8. Love Letter to a Book Character
Have students write a love letter to a literary character they admire. They must explain what they love about the character and why they resonate with them. This activity encourages critical thinking about character development and personal connections to literature.
I was given this assignment myself when I was in my senior year. My love letter went to Detective Sherlock Holmes.
9. Valentine’s Day Word Search & Crossword Puzzles
Create Valentine’s Day-themed word searches or crossword puzzles featuring literary terms, romantic vocabulary, or famous literary couples like Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy or Gatsby and Daisy.
10. Friendship Stories
Since Valentine’s Day isn’t just about romance, it also includes a celebration of love…the platonic kind. You can have your students write stories celebrating friendship. They can create a story about two best friends, a heartwarming tale of kindness, or a letter expressing appreciation for someone important in their life.
11. Rewrite a Fairy Tale Romance
I love using fairy tales to teach reading and writing. And, this isn’t just for the elementary school classroom. You can use fairy tales in your middle or high school classroom too. And, for Valentine’s Day, you can give this activity a twist. You can challenge students to rewrite a famous fairy tale romance from a new perspective. This activity enhances creative thinking and narrative development. And, for more ideas on how to use fairy tales in the classroom, be sure to check out my other blog post.
12. Valentine’s Day Reader’s Theater
Choose a romantic or friendship-themed play or short story and can turn it into a Reader’s Theater activity, or you could have your students turn it into a Reader’s Theater activity. Students can perform scenes from classic love stories or write their own scripts based on Valentine’s themes.
13. Figurative Language Love Notes
Teach figurative language by having students create Valentine’s cards using metaphors, similes, personification, and hyperbole. Another twist to this is to have your students analyze the lyrics of love songs and identify the figurative language used. You can even have them create their own love song using figurative language.
14. Valentine’s Day Persuasive Writing
Ask students to write persuasive essays or speeches on Valentine’s-related topics, such as:
- “Why Valentine’s Day is (or isn’t) important.”
- “Should schools celebrate Valentine’s Day?”
- “Why chocolates are the best Valentine’s gift.”
Persuasive writing strengthens argument development and critical thinking.
15. Create a Classroom Love Story Anthology
Have students each write a short Valentine’s-themed story, then compile them into a classroom anthology. Bind the stories together and allow students to illustrate the pages. This creates a fun keepsake while promoting storytelling skills.
By incorporatiny these engaging Valentine’s Day activities into reading and writing lessons, educators can foster creativity, literacy, and enthusiasm for learning. Whether your students write poetry, rewrite fairy tales, or craft love letters to books, these themed exercises make learning fun and memorable.
Happy Valentine’s Day, and Happy Teaching!!!
Other Videos:
Be sure to check out my Valentine’s Day Themed products:
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Punctuation-Review-Valentines-Day-Themed-2927832
Other Posts to check out:
https://2cuteclassroom.blogspot.com/2014/06/creative-ideas-for-teaching-fairytales.html