Valentine's Day Treasures

Valentine’s Day is right around the corner. Are you ready for it? I’m not quite ready yet! But I’ve got some great ideas for this next week.

Develop Self-Worth

I teach in a low-income school. Many of my kiddos don’t hear words of affirmation on a daily basis nor do they come to school with a positive self-worth. Even if they do have an excellent home life, I still don't think there is much self-reflection going on in children's lives.

One of the things that I did last year and really enjoyed was having student reflect on what they loved about themselves.

 How often do you ask, “What do I like about me?"  Umm . . . I don't do it often enough.  There's so many negative messages that come at me throughout the day, and I'm sure my kiddos hear "you're not good enough" all the time, whether directly or indirectly.

Through this simple activity, students write about what they can do, who they are, and character traits that they have. Choosing one, students create a heart that tells what they love about themselves.

 Forgive the grammatical mistake!  Points if you can find it!

Here is our class brainstorm from last year.   I did have to refocus students and emphasize that this is something they love about themselves, not something they have externally.  I gave the example that I have curly hair (although I grew up hating my hair!).  We also discussed that family and friends are external things.

We have outdoor classrooms, so I laminated the hearts and put them out outside our classroom.  I loved that parents and families were able to see what students appreciate about themselves.  It is such a powerful skill to be able to say, "I'm good at ____." and believe it!

This is available as a freebie in my TpT Store.

Expand It 

This next one is a similar activity, where students reflect on what they love about themselves, but they also expand it to include what they love about their family and school. Students write and create a heart-shaped flap book. These flap books turned out so cute last year! And, it was a great keepsake for parents, too!

This is available in my TpT store as well.

Pinterest Ideas

If that isn’t enough, I have a whole Pinterest board full of ideas to make this week extra special for your students. Anything from valentines, to crafts, to writing and math activities. It’s all about the month of February.

Follow What I Have Learned's board February on Pinterest.
I hope you got some ideas that you can use this week in your classroom!  Come visit me at What I Have Learned to find more good ideas for your classroom!

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