Valentine Challenges
J. Galbreath, B. Gasior, Gifted Resource Specialists
Academic Love Letters!
Basically -
Pick a point of view for a love letter! Could it be a historical figure, character from literature, or someone from pop culture? And, if you want to go more abstract, you certainly don’t have to stick with humans! Imagine if George Washington wrote a love letter. What ideas would he use to express his love? Washington loved things like:
- the constitution
- democracy
- bravery
He might write a letter that compares his love to the honor of a brave soldier. Perhaps he would reference when he crossed the Delaware, stepped down from the presidency, or lead troops into battle.
Or, let’s have a little more fun and imagine that Kylo Ren wrote a love letter. He might include references to:
- the power of Darth Vader
- using The Force for control
- anything that’s the opposite of Han Solo
What if the Sahara Desert wrote a love letter, it might compare its love using:
- dryness
- desert adaptations
- openness
Students could look up specific facts, such as humidity levels, temperatures, or famous features.
See the complete directions and explanation at Byrdseed.com!
Love Infographic Exploration? Try this.
When students read or create infographics, they are using informational, visual, and technological literacy. Here are some interesting infographics about Valentine’s day.
Valentine's Day by the Numbers
Let students compare the data contained in these similar infographics.
Candy Changes Over Time
The Necco Candy Company, maker of valentine hearts has a nice history page on their website.
A few other resources:
Valentine Sweethearts dating back to the time of Abraham Lincoln.
Here is a link to an article about the Effects of Candy to our Health.
Valentine's With an Academic Twist!
Here is another fun yet challenging idea from Byrdseed.com. Find the full explanation on the website.
Joyce Wan’s We Belong Together is a wonderful book highlighting items that “belong together” like milk and cookies, peanut butter and jelly, and eggs and bacon.
Merge this theme with curriculum to create Academic Valentines!
Examples:
Ask students to look at an academic topic, searching for ideas that go together “like peanut butter and jelly.” Here are some examples:
Social Studies
- You’re the Zeus to my Hera
- You’re the democracy to my Athens
- You’re the Sphinx to my Giza
- You’re the Lewis to my Clark
- You’re the Caesar Augustus to my Pax Romana
Math
- You’re the divisor to my quotient.
- You’re the origin to my coordinate plane.
- You’re the vertex to my adjacent angles.