Valentine's Day Informational Text Classroom Activities for Second and Third Grade

Looking for an educational activity to do with your second and third graders on Valentine's Day?

Try using their excitement for the special day and get them engaged in reading with an informational text passage about CANDY HEARTS!

They are everywhere in stores and classroom parties but what do the kiddos really know about them or how this famous little treat came to be?

There is one informational text passage written at the stretch complexity band for second and third grade. It comes with one page of text-dependent questions and several culminating activities. One that I love is where the students have to look back at the reading to create a love note candy of their own based on the history of how candy hearts have changed over the years. There is also a descriptive writing portion and an opinion writing piece. These are our focus questions/prompts to set the purpose for reading.

 If you think you might want to bring a little sweet history into your February before it ends, you can find the packet and read the full description at my Teachers Pay Teachers store {here}.

Other teaching resources for February themes at my store include a packet for dental health, a February Writing Kit, Black History Month items and everything Valentine's Day!

:)

A Sweet Valentine's Day Activity for Second Grade: Candy Hearts Science Experiment FREEBIE

Hi everyone! Are you all set for your Valentine's Day activities? Maybe you need just one more idea... :)  I might have a great one here for you to try! This year, rather than the traditional Valentine's Day candy hearts graphing and all of that other great stuff I'm pretty sure my students already did last year, I am going to mix up our fun with conversation hearts!

You may remember how much my class loved our experiment with gummy bears, so I thought they might really like trying a similar experiment with a different treat! Your class might love it too and you probably already have what you need!

My readers know how much I LOVE teaching science! I used to work as our district science specialist teaching only hands-on science to elementary students, so it's sort of my thing! Because I have not done this in about fifteen years, I don't have step by step photos for you (yet), but the idea is to observe to see what happens to the candies in a variety of liquids. 

Supplies:

• conversation hearts
• water
• vinegar
• Sprite
• bleach
• small plastic cups
• one large clear glass

I don't want to be too much of a spoiler and give it all away, but it is really neat to see what happens to the candies. In vinegar, they fizz and the hearts dance when placed in a tall glass full of a clear carbonated beverage. Experimenting with the bleach is one I model in front of the class for obvious reasons.

Of course, we always need a lab sheet to record our steps to the scientific method! We will do the lab write-up on only one of the experiments, not for every liquid. 

If you like it, you can grab this freebie lab sheet {here}! 

Maybe you can round up a few supplies and work in some Valentine science fun with your class too!

 If you give it a try, let me know how it goes!

:)

A Peek at OUR Week in Second Grade! Five for Friday in February

Happy Friday! I hope your week was great! I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching to share some highlights of our really fun, but short week! It was a completely mixed up one for many reasons, so I'll start with the end of the week and work backward!

It is always a great feeling to finish our monster of a monthly bulletin board! It's a combo for Valentine's Day and our 100th day! 

The look we were going for was sweetheart candies. The colorful papers we had were perfect! The heart shapes have doilies behind them. Where the word love would be, we added a cute heart shaped sticker!

The class did a great job with some close reading activities about groundhog burrows. They got to use their new close reading bookmarks for the first time. It was REALLY helpful for them to have one to keep on their desk, so they didn't have to keep looking up to see the poster that I used to display on the SMART Board. We printed them on colored cardstock in lots of fun colors. The kiddos are really excited to have this special tool to keep!

Our penguin unit wrapped up this week with the completion of some penguin reports! This cute flip book report is just one activity in an awesome unit from Primarily Speaking. It is just the cutest thing ever! The class LOVED it! It was nice to see that they took such pride in their work. 

 This was a fun activity we did with Judy clocks and dice. All clocks are set to a given hour. Then, they roll two dice and move the minute hand to that number on the clock. The students draw clock hands to show the time as needed and compete in a game of tic-tac-toe. They love to play against the teacher! 

All of our students participate in some sort of community service each year. We call ours Coins for Critters! The whole school participates in this fundraiser. During the fundraiser, we read many books about rescued animals. This was day one but our jars are filling up quickly! The second graders have to count and roll all of the coins. The donations go to the Humane Society.

The first two days of the week, school was closed. For my friends who experience the seasons through the photos I share...this is the view in every parking lot! We have mountains of snow! 

You can imagine how life gets complicated with this much snow to dig your way through!

Because of the snow days, the fun for Groundhog Day was spoiled. My plan book is also a hot mess, but with all the carry over activities, lessons for next week are almost done!

 So that was a recap of our short but sweet week. 

:)

Creative Valentine Boxes and a FREEBIE!

Hello friends! With Valentine's Day right around the corner, I thought I'd share what I am doing with my students for Valentine boxes! I usually have an organized craft that we make to hold the treasures on the big day. This year, I decided to mix it up a bit and I am doing absolutely nothing! The kiddos are! 

I have a really creative bunch this year. To give them a chance to let their creativity shine and to coordinate a fun at-home bonding experience, I am letting the students decorate their own box! They are super excited about it!

 The first of the boxes arrived just in time to bring you this post!

 Isn't this just the cutest thing????

We're not holding a contest or anything. The students are encouraged to decorate their box however they choose. I don't expect all of the boxes to look like this masterpiece! I explained to the class that they could use items they already had at home. We brainstormed lots of ideas that wouldn't involve a trip to the craft store.

I recently sent a note home that explains the project. It went home early enough to give the families time to gather their supplies. I even excused the students from their homework this week so they have some extra time to work on it. I want this to be fun, not stressful. I know how busy life with kids is!

I'm excited to share more photos of the finished projects with you! If you think you might want to mix things up a bit this year, you can download the note I sent home {here}.

There is an editable version available {here}so you may type in whatever you like! 

The download also includes some writing pages. This will be our writing activity on the day we celebrate Valentine's Day.

I hope you can use these with your class or file the idea away for another time!

:)

A Valentine's Day Gift Idea for Your Students

Happy (almost) February to all of you! The Weekend Warriors and I are back this month to tell you what we HEART for February to help you get a head start with your Valentine's Day planning! I am here to share a little something I came up with for a special made with love gift for students! It's something educational and definitely unique!

It's a Valentine bookmark with Scholastic books in a heart!

  :) 

 Why a Scholastic book order form?   

I wanted to decorate my bookmarks in a hearts, books and reading theme to go with the saying! 

 I had lots of fun painting! This was all done using only red and orange watered-down tempera paint. The background ink on the order form came through to reveal other beautiful colors. Once the papers had dried, I created a tracer and cut out some small hearts.

I made sure to trace in areas where a book cover could be seen.

I tried the designs out on various colors of cardstock, but ended up selecting white because the heart really pops! 

 Once laminated, the images get really vivid! 

 I think my kiddos will LOVE comparing their bookmarks with their classmates and looking for books they enjoy inside the hearts.

If you think you might want to try this idea out, all of the patterns, including the bookmarks and tracer heart, can be downloaded {here}. 

In the file, I also included some freebie bookmarks that can be printed on colored cardstock if you are out of time for painting this year. You can always color them if you like too!

I hope you can use them for your class or even use them with your own children to make a special valentine for their classmates! 

 I HEART how adorable the book order bookmarks turned out. 
 It is a one-of-a-kind gift that my students will use and hopefully keep! 

To celebrate Valentine's Day, we have fun-filled learning activities planned for the children too. It's not an official party day in our district so we have to keep it educational until it's time to pass out valentine cards. 

If you are looking for some fun academic activities for the special day, you might like this center for reading or word work! 

Check back soon for more February ideas and projects! In the meantime, you can find lots of ideas on my Valentine's Day Pinterest board.

InLinkz.com

Valentine's Day Freebies

I am just about set for Valentine's Day classroom fun on Friday! This year I'm sticking with my favorite crafts, games and party activities, but with a few new additions!

I recently posted a freebie at my TPT shop to share with you!

It wouldn't be a holiday without a cute poem in our room! 

I retyped Hug O' War by Shel Silverstein for our poetry binders. 

You can download a copy if you like from my Dropbox!

Lots of other fun learning activities are prepped and ready to go too! 

 Take a trip down memory lane with me to see last year's festivities here. 

I also found these adorable homework coupons from A Teachable Teacher at Teachers Notebook!

What a find and just in time!

I'm getting them printed and ready to attach them to my treat for the kids!

Won't they just think a night of their choosing without homework will be oh so SWEET?

Hope you can use some of these freebies in the coming days! 

Rest up for a Friday full moon party. 

It could be a wild ride!

The Best Valentine's Day Party and a Winner!

It was not the most creative party I have ever had, but I got to plan this one alone and it was the calmest and most organized one yet! In the words of one student, "It was the best day ever!" I love when they say that!

Every year, I get wiser and simplify my parties and activities a little. Too much excitement just sets my little ones up for failure with self-control. They really can't help it! The students were much more calm and had just as much fun as when there are a million crafts and games and tons of food and sweet treats.

Valentine's Day was filled with theme-related learning activities and projects. Here are a few things we did:

an estimation station

 candy heart toss for sums to 20

candy heart graphing

These are from my candy math pack.

 Each student had a dixie cup I filled ahead of time.

Here's a storage tip~ 30 bathroom cups fit perfectly in this Sterilite container (Walmart). It comes with a lid to keep counters like this clean until you are ready to use them. 

This year, we wrapped cereal boxes in white paper (twice) and I added the belly to the pandas to hide the box design that wanted to peek through. In the past I had spent around 30 dollars ( and a lot of time running around to craft stores) on white bags and the boxes worked out just fine with the patterns I had.

A few students at a time passed out their valentines while the others waited with their mailbox on their desk. This went well and gave each child a chance to thank their classmates and actually see what they were getting. 

When this was finished, the students opened, read and sorted their valentines. At their seat was a recording sheet my teammate had shared. This was the best idea ever! I'm not sure of the source, but it was genius!  The kids had to record how many of their cards had animals on them, how many came with candy attached, how many were folded in half and a few others too. They loved this!

While all this was going on, a few volunteers ran the activities in the shared area outside of the classroom.

We enjoyed one simple treat. The office provides a tray of these cookies for every class. They were huge, so nothing more was needed. Perfect.

We added red and silver glitter to our owls and our room looked very festive! 

The students listened to Arthur's Valentine and watched Charlie Brown Valentine while the volunteers and I cleaned up the very little mess afterward. 

 However... I have to admit, I was envious when I saw this masterpiece!

This was a Dairy Queen ice cream cake donated from a parent for the party in the classroom next to mine. The envy quickly faded to relief. I was thankful I did not have to keep it cold, cut it and serve it or clean it up. But they did share a piece with me and it was THE BEST!

Hope your party was lots of fun too!

Congratulations to Jaime P. who won the owl set and five items of her choice from my shop! Thanks to everyone who played along too! It's always nice to hear your comments!

I'll be gone for a while this week to Kalahari Water Resort! I've never been there before and am looking forward to a fun little getaway with the family! I wish it was sunny and 85 inside the water park :)!

 Michigan winter pale skin + bathing suit = trip to the tanning salon tomorrow

I Heart a Giveaway!

Are you all set for your Valentine's Day activities? There are still a few days to get some last-minute goodies for your classroom on Thursday! This is a peek at my plans for the big day:

We are making these hugger panda bear mailboxes or our Valentine goodies and cards. One of these days, I'll get together the patterns to share! It's on my to-do list! It's pretty easy to make your own! 

These activities are for writing, word work and math!

 We'll be working on our "Owl" Always Love You project to decorate the room! This craft and writing pages to go with it are available at my TPT and Teacher's Notebook Shop!

Use the easy Rafflecopter to enter to win 5 items of your choice from my shop! Good luck! I'll announce the winner on Friday!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Congratulations to Michelle! I'll be sending the owl your way!

Valentine's Day Math Center Activity and a Giveaway

What a nice surprise it was to have an ice day today and get caught up on some things! I'm trying to get ahead with my February planning! 

As you know, I've been making my way through the common core checklist and using that checklist to guide my planning while trying to work in various monthly themes for January like penguins, Dr. King and of course for February, Valentine's Day!

This is a fun activity I will use as an educational center during our Valentine's Day celebration. It's a shake and toss (on/off) activity with conversation hearts and a mat. I used a similar activity last year for St. Patrick's Day with green bingo chips and my firsties loved it! I modified the activity so my second graders that looped up with me can use it this year with sums to twenty. 

I found these large candy hearts that I like better than the tiny ones for this kind of activity. After the game, each child will get a small box of untouched :) hearts as a prize for playing along! That way, I can reuse the large hearts next year.

To see more click on the picture below! The set comes with directions, a fun, colorful game mat and two versions of the recording sheet. One has sums to ten, the other sums to twenty. It's just $1.25 at my TPT shop. 

I also added some more practice pages and some posters for properties of addition and strategies for addition to my new addition with four, two-digit numbers set. My kids are really starting to get the hang of this and I have seen great progress in their written responses too!

As usual, with new items, leave me your email in the comments below and I'll randomly select three to get them free! :)

I'm looking for an easy, inexpensive whole-class activity or project for 100's Day. I need an idea for a 20 minute rotation with four second grade classes that can be managed with just little old me~ so Fruit Loop necklaces are out!! I'd love to hear your awesome suggestions! 

This week, we continue with our penguin nonfiction unit and research reports. I'll be back soon to share some photos, ideas and a links to some awesome penguin purchases I made that you may want to check out too!

Hooray for another four day week!

January and February Literacy Centers

I hope that you enjoy a peaceful and joyous Christmas Eve with your loved ones! If you have little ones at home, enjoy your Christmas Eve traditions and the excitement of waiting for Santa!I miss setting out the cookies and milk and sprinkling reindeer food on the lawn. Santa does not come for my big kid any longer. :( Where did the time go?

Anyway, I am thinking ahead while on break and getting some new centers ready for my winter thematic units. I just finished a Valentine's Day Antonyms Center I think is really cute! I hope you will like it too. I will set up ten pair of matches and the recording sheet each week for a month of February Daily Five Word Work centers! Click on the pictures below to get a closer look at what's included!

This one is for January.

I will try not to work too hard on my vacation! I am thankful to have a little time to do some new creating, give some of my oldies but goodies at my store a makeover and to catch up on bloggy stuff! 

See you in a few days! Have a magical Christmas!