Monday, January 27, 2014

Valentine's Day Activities Duet - "Characters + Conflict = Comprehension"

Love may be entwined hands, an arm in arm stroll on a sunlit beach or a conversation showing forgiveness.
The desire for love might fan the flames of revenge, loneliness or fury.

With this Valentine's Day duet of activities, students will bolster their reading comprehension by analyzing character and conflict in the literature that they have studied in school.

Activity: Matchmaker, Matchmaker, Make Me a Match

 For this Valentine's Day Freebie, students will choose the Best Couple of the Year from characters in any book or story that they have read for a class assignment over the years. At least one woman and one man must be from the piece that they are currently reading in class. 

Students complete an About Me card for each character they choose by using facts from the stories and by making inferences using the information that they have gathered from the books they read. Next, they analyze their answers and choose who would make the best match with the greatest chance of forming a permanent relationship. Finally, they defend their choices by explaining their decision. 

This is a fun way for students from grades 5-12 to show their reading comprehension and critical thinking skills.

Total Pages 3  Answer Key  N/A  Teaching Duration  1 hour




Activity: Valentine's Day- You Sent What??? Cards

Valentine’s Day isn’t always an occasion showcased by happy hearts, aromatic bouquets of flowers and luscious boxes of chocolates. Because of various conflicts, peoples’ words and actions might be prompted by feelings of revenge, sadness and selfishness instead of forgiveness, joy and giving. 

In this activity, Valentine's Day You Sent What??? Cards, students must consider the characters and their conflicts in the fiction or non-fiction work they are currently reading or in any other literature that they have read this year in school (teacher’s choice). 
Their finished project will show how these characters would handle Valentine’s Day.

A Teachers Notes page lists the Common Core Standards that fit this activity, as well as the Bloom's Taxonomy terms students will utilize to complete the project.  A Student Directions page details the assignment.Valentine's Day You Sent What??? Cards allows students to increase their comprehension levels by combining their understanding of the character and conflict elements of literature with higher level thinking skills.

This engaging activity will appeal to a wide cross-section of students, from grades 5-12.


Total Pages 4  Answer Key N/A Teaching Duration2 Days


These two activities will increase students' comprehension homes, will keep them loving learning and will create smile after smile for teachers and students.

Happy Teaching,

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