It's Valentine's Day by Jack Prelutsky - Teaching Ideas

So many fun poems are included in this book. There are super short ones, and really long ones. Super silly ones and kind of sad ones. There is something in it for all of your students.

Even though it is holiday book, take the time and have a meaningful activity to go with it. Here are some ideas that I have come up with to extend the reading experience.

Reading level: 3.1

Theme/subject: Valentine’s Day, Holiday

Genre: poetry, general fiction

It’s Valentine’s Day

            Have students categorize the descriptions of inside and outside. If they don’t look at the pictures, have them draw those descriptions. Possible question to ask – What made the morning shine for the boy?

A Valentine for My Teacher

            Have students draw a picture of how the valentine in the poem is described and then have them draw what the teacher’s face would look like after getting the valentine.

A Valentine for My Best Friend

            Use this poem to talk about the senses and character. Have students find different words that they could categorize.

Our Classroom Has a Mailbox

            Have students explain why the girl is so nervous about how many valentines in the mailbox are for her. Have students explain what the girl means when she say she feels twenty stories tall.

I Made My Dog a Valentine

            Possible question – Would a valentine be wasted on a pet? Explain why or why not.

I Made a Giant Valentine

            Have students find the rhyming words and then add more to the list.

Oh No!

            Have the students explain why the boy is so mad.

My Special Cake

            Use this poem to talk about the author’s purpose or have them sequence everything he put in the cake.

There’s Someone I Know

            Have students explain how and why the character changed from the beginning of the poem to the end of the poem.

Mother’s Chocolate Valentine

            See if the students have a connection to this. Have they ever “sampled” a gift they gave someone?

I Love You More Than Applesauce

            Have the student study how this poem is written. Have them write a stanza or two of their own that follows how this poem was written.

Jelly Jill Loves Weasel Will

            Have students draw a portrait for each of the characters in this poem using their name as their starting point.

My Father’s Valentine

            Have students explain why the valentine got so small and what the boy could have done to keep it from getting so small.

I Only Got One Valentine

            Have students think about if they could only give/make one valentine what would it look like and who would they give it to. Have them make it.

These One Pager (one page for each poem) product is available in this Growing Holiday Bundle. Here is a preview of what is included for This book.

 The Growing Holiday Bundle will include One Pager activities for the different holiday books I find and want to include. The books included so far are:

Groundhog Gets a Say b Pamela Curtis Swallow
The Biggest Valentine Ever by Steven Kroll
Presidents' Day by Anne Rockwell
George Washington's Teeth by Deborah Chandra and Madeleine Comora
Abe Lincoln The boy who loved books by Kay Winters

Enjoy!