In this Valentine’s Day language arts activity, kindergarten students will work together to write and illustrate a Valentine’s Day book.
Academic skills students will develop include prewriting skills, vocabulary, creative writing, and fine motor skills. Materials you will need include paper, highlighters, pencils, crayons, construction paper, and heart stickers.
First, let the class know that they will be writing a Valentine’s Day book together. Introduce the book by writing the first page for them and read it to them, letting them know that they will be writing the rest of the story. The first page should read something similar to: I made a Valentine just for you and put it in the mail. The mailbox was so far away that I had quite a few adventures just getting there. Let your students know that they will be writing the adventures
Next, when your students are at centers, let them work with you or another adult to write their page of the story. Give each student a choice of what adventure they want their character to go through on the way to the mailbox by first asking each student if he or she want to goover something, through something, under something, or around something. Then ask them what object they want to go over or around. The adult can then write the student’s sentence at the bottom of the page in yellow highlighter (something like: I went through a mud puddle or I went over a haystack). Point out how the sentences you are writing begin with capital letters and end in periods. Once you have written the sentence, the student can write over the letters with their pencil and then draw an illustration for their sentence on the same page. Give each child a heart sticker to put in their character’s hand to represent the Valentine that is being delivered.
Finish the book off with a final page that says something similar to: Well, I finally made it to the mailbox, just before the mail truck came. I hope you love the Valentine that I made just for you. Decorate the page with any remaining heart stickers that you have.
Finally, bind the pages of the book together with a construction paper cover and read the book to your students and ask them what is missing. They should say a title when you show them the blank cover. Let the class brainstorm titles for the book and then vote on their favorite. Write the title on the cover and give credit to the class as the authors and illustrators of the book.
