A LITTLE LOVE GIFT

A Little Gift

This is a simple Valentine gift that parents will treasure. Let children wrap a small box or a piece of Styrofoam with wrapping paper and a ribbon. (It would be extra special if the children designed their own wrapping paper.) Add this note:

Here is a little gift
That you can never see.
The reason it’s so special,
It’s just for you from me.
Whenever you are lonely,
Or even feeling blue,
You only have to hold this box
And know I think of you.
Please never unwrap it,
And leave the ribbon tied.
Just hold the box close to your heart,
It’s filled with love inside.


Valentine for Parents

Let each child take off one shoe and trace around her foot on white paper. Cut it out. Give each child 5 small pieces of red tissue paper to wad up and glue at the end of each toe for toenails. Write “I love you from my head down to my toes” on the foot.


*You can also make thumbprint cards or handprint cards for parents.

Pointer
Children will be thrilled with a little heart pointer. Let them choose a sticker and attach it to the end of a craft stick. They can use it to read, identify letters, shapes, and so forth.



Check out my video to watch me demonstrate activities for February:
https://youtu.be/U-xYM_vp-N0

MITTEN SONG

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/WhctKLbvSVsvHmjSZfnjSNPQhBBZfmsTdhPgKkzbRczNldKsXTFPHJVMfzTGGSbmrVcwVWl?projector=1

LOVE GIFTS

Pointer
Children will be thrilled with a little heart pointer. Let them choose a sticker and attach it to the end of a craft stick. They can use it to read, identify letters, shapes, and so forth.

A Little Gift

This is a simple Valentine gift that parents will treasure. Let children wrap a small box or a piece of Styrofoam with wrapping paper and a ribbon. (It would be extra special if the children designed their own wrapping paper.) Add this note:

Here is a little gift

That you can never see.

The reason it’s so special,

It’s just for you from me.

Whenever you are lonely,

Or even feeling blue,

You only have to hold this box

And know I think of you.

Please never unwrap it,

And leave the ribbon tied.

Just hold the box close to your heart,

It’s filled with love inside.

Mouse Bookmark
Cut a heart about the size of a child’s hand from red construction paper. Fold in half. Open. Tape a 6” piece of string in the middle. Glue closed. Draw a nose, whiskers, and ears on the heart as shown to make it look like a mouse. Use for a bookmark.


Valentine for Parents 

Let each child take off one shoe and trace around her foot on white paper. Cut it out. Give each child 5 small pieces of red tissue paper to wad up and glue at the end of each toe for toenails. Write “I love you from my head down to my toes” on the foot.

*You can also make thumbprint cards or handprint cards for parents.


Check out my video to watch me demonstrate activities for February:
https://youtu.be/U-xYM_vp-N0

"LOVING" SKILLS

Are you working on your February lesson plans this weekend? Here are some "lovely" ways to tie the holiday in with skills and standards.

I LOVE YOU!

How many ways can you say, “I love you”? Teach children sign language for the term, and then challenge them to demonstrate other ways to say “I love you.” (For example, curl in your fingers and then touch your thumbs to make a heart shape. Hug yourself and then point to someone. Explain that people put “X O” at the end of a letter to represent a kiss and a hug.)

*Make a list of all the school helpers that you appreciate and make cards for them using thumbprints or hand print flowers with sign language for “love.”


LOVE IS…
Fold two sheets of paper in half and staple. Ask children to write predictable books starting each page with “Love is…” Younger children could draw pictures and older students could write detailed sentences.

LOVE WEB
Draw a heart in the middle of a sheet of paper and write the word “love” in the middle. Younger students could draw pictures of things they love, while older students could write synonyms for the word.

*This would be a perfect opportunity to demonstrate the use of a thesaurus.

ROOTS OF LOVE
Take the word “love” and use it for teaching tenses, comparisons, prefixes, etc.
“He love me.” What would sound better?
Love – unloved
Love - loving


STICKER POEMS
Put a heart sticker in the middle of a sheet of paper. Challenge children to write a poem about the sticker and around the sticker. They could also write an acrostic poem with the word “valentine” or “heart.”

POSITIONAL WORDS
You can use a paper heart or three-dimensional heart for this activity. Have children close their eyes while you hide the heart somewhere in the room in plain sight. When they open their eyes, they can stick up their thumb when they spy the heart. If they are called on, they have to describe where the heart is using positional words. For example, “The heart is under the clock beside the calendar.” That child then gets a turn to hide the heart.


POINTERS
Make pointers by attaching heart stickers to craft sticks. Children can use these for reading and also for demonstrating positional words. “Put your heart over your head. Put your heart under your chin. Put your heart behind your back…”

IDEAS FROM THE PAST

Remember the good old days when you got to go to conferences without a mask? What great memories I have of singing, dancing, and learning new ideas from all of you. Maybe you shared one of these terrific tips!

                           


End of Day Chant (Linda Wood)

Sit in a circle criss cross applesauce and start the chant with this rhythm:
Slap knees two times
Clap two times
Snap two times...
Child's name, child's name, what do you say?
What did you like (or learn) at school today?

*The child has to tell what they liked best that day. It’s a good way to recall what they learned as you reinforce oral language.


Focus Finger Play (Pat Kesler uses this before handwriting. It wires up the brain!)

Two tall telephone poles (Fists touching with index fingers pointing up.)

Across them a wire was strung. (Touch middle fingers.)

Two little birds hopped on ((Put thumbs up on middle fingers.)

And sung and sung and sung. (Swing fingers.)




Push the Wall
One teacher’s occupational therapist suggested that when children are waiting in the hall you tell them to put their hands on the wall and try to “push it down.” This builds upper body strength, releases energy, and focuses children’s attention.



Tummy Reading
Here’s another easy suggestion to help children build upper body strength. Let them do “tummy reading.” Children lay on their tummies and prop themselves up with their elbows as they read. Try it and see how it strengthens those arm and shoulder muscles.


Finger Math Game (Karen Rosenkranz)
This “show me” game can be used for math facts 1-10. The teacher says a number like “5” and holds up one finger. The children show 4 fingers to make "5". The teacher can easily see who knows the facts.

Noodle Sensory Fun (Kyle Kranes) 
Cut fun noodles into sections and let the children roll on their back, arms, legs, belly. It’s a great cool down and brain break – and perfect for sensory kids. 

Noodle Writing

Give children sections of noodles and let them use these to do invisible writing in the air.  They can make shapes, write letters, write numerals, spell words, and so forth.

Eye Ball Stories (Penny Salvato) 

Note!  If you read this far down on my blog today you're going to love this story.  I don't know if Penny is still teaching, but I'd love to be a kid in her class because she's got such a wonderful sense of humor.  

Penny said before making eye pointers she uses two stories to explain how she collected the eyeballs to make the pointers. 

1. When kids play rough on the playground and lose an eye I collect them. 
2. I also collect eyes from “bad” kids and put them on sticks.

LOVE IS...

Love Is… TEACHERS LIKE YOU!

Do a language experience chart where each child completes the sentence, “Love is…” 

*You could also make individual books where each child completes the sentence “Love is…” and draws things that she loves.

Pointer
Children will be thrilled with a little heart pointer. Let them choose a sticker and attach it to the end of a craft stick. They can use it to read, identify letters, shapes, and so forth.

 

Heart Puzzle
Cut 4" circles out of red paper. Cut 4" squares out of red paper. Give each child a circle and a square. Demonstrate how to fold the circle in half and cut on the crease to make two half circles (semi-circles). Can the children make a heart from the two halves and the square?

Valentine Concentration
Cut 4” squares out of red poster board. Take duplicates of valentine stickers and place them on the squares. Mix up the squares and place them face down on the carpeting. Play a memory game where children turn over two squares at a time and try to match up like stickers.

Will You Be My Valentine?
(Tune: “Do You Know the Muffin Man?”)
Will you be my Valentine, (Point to various friends.)
Valentine, Valentine?
Will you be my Valentine?
I’ll be yours if you’ll be mine! (Point to self and then a friend.)

Some are red, some are blue, (Hold up fingers.)
Some have lace and ribbons, too.
Some are funny, some are not. (Smile and then shake head “no.”)
I like the candy ones a lot.
*Download this book at drjean.org.


Bringing Home a Valentine
(Tune: “Baby Bumblebee”)
I’m bringing home a valentine for you, (Cup hands and move them to
One that says, “I love you.” the beat in front of your body.)
I’m bringing home a valentine for you
With a great big hug, and a (kiss) (kiss), too! (Hug self and then kiss
in the air.)
Softer….hum