Valentine’s Day Classroom Activities That Actually Engage Students During Reading Stations

Valentine’s Day Activities that actually engage students during reading stations

As elementary teachers, we’ve all been there.  It’s the week of Valentine’s Day and we’re dreading the impending sugar high and craziness that follows.  It’s the last holiday party of the year, and you’re tired.  The last thing you want to do is think about planning a party or making Valentine’s Day fun.  I get it because I teach first grade and my students not only get hyper, but they also seem to lose their mind that week.  Which in turn makes me feel like I’m losing my mind.

Valentine’s Day doesn’t have to be dreaded as a teacher

I’m here to tell you Valentine’s Day doesn’t have to be your least favorite holiday as a teacher.

If you teach at a school where you’re in charge of planning the party (like I do) then keep on reading because I’m going to give you some zero prep ideas that will keep your students engaged during reading stations.  You’ll actually be able to get your reading groups done while your students get to have fun and still sprinkle the holiday of love in.

Students should feel loved at school

Even though it’s not always fun, Valentine’s Day is fun for the kids.  My number one goal for Valentine’s Day at school is to let my student’s know they’re loved.  Of course I want them to feel that way every day, but making Valentine’s Day extra special at school is what many of my students need.

Foldable books keep kids engaged and are zero prep

Foldable books keep students engaged

If you’ve seen most of my Teacher’s Pay Teachers products, you’ll notice I love foldable books. Foldable books keep students engaged during literacy stations and allows them to feel independent. One of my goals during literacy time is to empower my students to be independent while I’m teaching reading groups. Foldable books are great because they don’t require any assembly aside from folding. Students can then keep them in their book tubs so they can read them independently during read to self. They can also take the book home and share with their family a book they can read.

Word searches are great for sight word practice

Word searches provide a challenge while giving extra practice with sight words

Word searches are a great way to provide a challenge to your students while peppering in sight words for extra practice.  I love making them and it’s fun to watch students get excited when they find a word.  Kindergarten and first grade students may need some scaffolding at first, but once they get the hang of it, they will not even realize they’re learning while having fun!  You can easily search word puzzle maker on Google and find lots of options.

Sight word searches keep kids engaged

Sight word searches are fun and engaging

Sight word searches are not only another great way to practice sight words, but it also helps with fine motor skills in our K-2 students. After a few years of disruptive learning, many teachers have noticed that handwriting has taken a toll. Our students are spending more and more time playing video games and on iPads and less and less time picking up a pencil and writing. This is one of the many reasons I created Handwriting Fundamentals to teach proper handwriting to students in small but doable lessons.

Finding the hidden message is so fun for students

K-2 students love color by number activities to find a hidden message

Nothing will make your students more eager to finish a math assignment than telling them there is a secret message to decode. Just think about Ralphie from A Christmas Story and how excited he was to get his decoder pin in the mail. Even though this isn’t a reading station activity per say, it can be used as a choice for Daily 5 or saved for math time that day.

Work on writing is more when students have autonomy

Use writing about things they love to entice them to work on writing

Over the past few years, I’ve realized that Work On Writing during reading stations needs to be guided for K-2 students.  So often we hear students complain that they don’t know what to write about.  It’s much easier for students to get excited about writing when they are allowed to write about things they love.  There’s no better day to do this than Valentine’s Day!  By giving students a prompt for their writing, we give them freedom to write but also structure to their writing.  You’ll love the writing prompt for Valentine’s Day in this zero prep activity set!

Teachers, don’t let Valentine’s Day overwhelm you. Even if it’s not your favorite holiday, grab some zero prep activities and make the day about spreading love and joy. We could all use a little bit more of that right now.

If you’re looking to transform your literacy block to grow more independent learners and finally get to all your reading groups on a daily basis, grab my FREE 10 step guide to walk you through the first 10 steps to transform your classroom.

First 10 steps to transform your literacy block