Photo by Kimberly-Little Chute Public Library

Love is in the air! As the calendar flips from January to February, we anticipate the arrival of Valentine’s Day, which is celebrated every February 14. The winter season is chock full of religious and national holidays for you to center lessons, discussion or activities around, and Valentine’s Day has got a ton of great material. Whether you are an early childhood educator, an elementary school art teacher, a high school English teacher or anything in between, using Valentine’s Day as a springboard is an excellent way to devise engaging and meaningful lesson plans.The Internet is full of great ideas for how to bring Valentine’s Day into your classroom. To save you the trouble of sifting through them all, we’ve compiled our short list of the best Valentine’s Day activities for kids and teens:

Valentine’s Day Cards
When you think about Valentine’s Day, you think about a heart-shaped box of chocolates and a gushy card. Some of your students will be making Valentine’s Day cards of their own to send to their crushes, boyfriends or girlfriends, so you might as well give them the opportunity to make the cards with you in the classroom. You can explain that Valentine’s Day cards can be sent to anyone you love: a parent, grandparent, pet or friend; this way, those students who don’t have a Valentine in mind will be able to make a card of their own and will feel included. Use these Valentine’s Day card ideas to give your students different options in terms of what kind of card they want to send. You can incorporate a language arts lesson by having students compose their own poems to use as the text in their cards.

Valentine’s Day Scented Flowers
This arts and crafts lesson is perfect for students in elementary school and is a great way to spruce up your Valentine’s Day crafts repertoire. In this activity, students create their own flowers out of paper to give to their Valentines. The added sensory aspect of giving these flowers a scent makes this a memorable activity and something your students can get truly excited about.

How to Say “I Love You” Around the World
Although Valentine’s Day is not celebrated in every country, the language of love is universal. Units or lessons that teach traditions from around the world tend to be a great way to pique your students’ interest. Begin your lesson by asking any of your students if they know how to say “I love you” in a language other than English. Once you’ve exhausted all the languages your class has to offer, use this reference to teach them how to say those three little words in new tongues. As homework, you can ask your students to compile a list of as many ways to say “I love you” as they can find.

Mend My Broken Heart
This matching activity originated as a way to review and teach math concepts to elementary school students, but can be used in many different subjects, including (but not limited to) history, language arts, foreign language and science. In short, the lesson involves cutting out pink or red hearts, writing a math problem on one side and the answer on the other, then cutting the hearts down the middle (leaving one half with the problem and the other with the solution). After distributing these pieces to your students, you ask them to find their match in order to “mend the broken heart.” This is a fun way to get your students moving and thinking within the context of Valentine’s Day.

Valentine Sonnets
William Shakespeare’s plays and poetry are excellent material to use on Valentine’s Day for high school and middle school students. This activity uses his Sonnet 130 as a springboard for the study of the sonnet form, and for a fun and engaging Valentine’s Day project. Students study the poem and learn about its structure, use of language, rhyme and meter. After working to understand the poem itself, they then work to craft their own sonnets to put in Valentine’s Day cards. Writing a sonnet is no easy task, so use this activity only if you have advanced language arts students with a flair for creativity.

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Photo by Cindy Siegle

If you are interested in becoming a teacher in Pennsylvania or if you have already secured your Pennsylvania teacher certification, then you are also probably thinking of ways to keep your students learning and engaged. While lesson plans should be your central focus, organizing a fun and educational field trip can be an excellent way to change the pace and to keep your students happy. Here’s our list of five great field-trip destinations in Pennsylvania to help you plan your class’ next field trip:

1. Eastern State Penitentiary
Even though it may sound scary to some of your students, taking your class to visit the Eastern State Penitentiary is a great way to learn about the history of Philadelphia and the history of the prison system in the United States. At one time, Eastern State was the biggest and most expensive prison in the entire world. It was famous not only for its impressive and revolutionary architecture, but also for the level of strict discipline maintained within its walls. The free guided tour is led by presentable, knowledgeable and engaging historians who really know their stuff. Take advantage of the group rates and discounts for students ($7 per student for high school, $4 per student for elementary and middle school), and remember to make reservations at least one week in advance. For more information, visit the Eastern State Penitentiary website.

2. Amish Farm and House
Thousands of people visit Amish country every year in order to experience the beautiful simplicity of the lives of the Old Order House Amish in Lancaster, PA. In a hyper-modern society like the one we live in, it is an extremely educational experience to witness an entire culture of people living their lives without modern technology. Most of your students probably can’t imagine going a week without their cellphone or their computer, so taking them to see how people are able to lead happy — albeit challenging — lives without any of the day-to-day electronics that most of us take for granted will be a memorable learning experience. Couching this field trip in a larger unit about Pennsylvania history or cultural diversity will definitely add to the visit. Group trips are encouraged and discounts rates are available if you call to inquire.

3. The Franklin Institute
Named after one of our country’s most notoriously inquisitive forefathers, the Franklin Institute is the consummate field trip destination and will surely spark some Franklin-esque curiosity in your students. Located in Philadelphia, the museum is always cycling through new and exciting exhibits, like “Giant Mysterious Dinosaurs” and “Next Stop Mars,” and has something for everybody. One of the highlights of the museums is definitely its planetarium. The Fels Planetarium has been one of Pennsylvania’s treasures since the 1930s but went through major transformation in the early 2000s and is now one of the most impressive planetariums in the country. Group rates tend to range between $7 and $10 per student depending on the time of year. For more information on youth group rates and planetarium show times call (800) 285-0684 or visit their website.

4. Hersheypark
Physics teachers take note: There’s no better way to help your students understand centrifugal force than for them to ride a looping roller coaster. Taking a field trip to Hersheypark, located in Hershey, PA, is an awesome way to get your students outside while continuing to teach them about physics. A great way to organize this field trip is to prepare a worksheet or packet so that students can apply physics concepts to real world observations and experiences. Have them calculate the amount of g’s they’ll be feeling when they spin through a corkscrew or how fast they’ll be going at the end of the highest drop. Planning a class trip to Hersheypark will not only be fun for your students, but it will be educational in a hands-on way that is not possible in the classroom. Visit the Hersheypark website for more details about group rates.

5. Independence National Park
Philadelphia is one of our country’s most historically rich cities, so taking your class to learn about U.S. history through a visit to Independence National Park is a must. The highlights of the trip are the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall. Together, they give an excellent look into the culture and history of our country in the late 1800s. The folks at the Independence National Park are extremely accommodating of school groups and even have educational programs, led by historians and education professionals, geared towards every age group. In addition, they offer a curriculum to be used in the classroom before your visit in order to complement your trip. Visit the Independence National Park website for information on hours of operation and group policies.

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