Teachers Up Resource Center
Digital Valentine´s Activities 
​By Vien Cao 
​
Resource Description: As your students are still learning remotely, it may be a little bit harder for them to celebrate Valentine’s Day as a class. But luckily, lots of digital tools are available and make it easier and fun. Here are some ideas from teachers:

Valentine Card Exchange via Google Classroom 

Erin Flanagan has a great blog post on Valentine card exchange via Google Classroom.
Teachers would assign a set of Google Slides in Google Classroom. Each slide would be for a student in the class. Students would then take time adding messages & inserting pictures on each student slide. Messages can be simple Valentine greetings or have students give each other compliments. Younger students can insert images if typing is a struggle.
A few things to note, before assigning, you will want to type a student name onto each slide. You can also add student photos.
Also, when you assign this in Google Classroom, you have two choices as to how to share:
  • Make a copy of the file for each student: Each student works on cards for their classroom on a separate slideshow. They turn this into you and then you would need to copy & paste slides together so each student ends up with their individual slides. I do not recommend this for large classes as it would take a lot of your time to put the final card together.
  • Allow students to edit the file: Students will all be editors of the same file. This may require some monitoring on your part and students should be well versed in using Slides to do this so they don’t “mess up” each other´s work.
Depending on your students comfort level with Google Slides, you can opt to assign the whole class slides all at once or divide it up and do a few at a time. Some teachers may even want to assign specific slides for students to decorate. If you have a large class, that may work best.

Valentine’s Day Writing
Older students might prefer creating a poem or other piece of writing than a card. If so, here are some good Valentine writing prompts:
  • Write a definition of love.
  • Write about a person that you love. What makes this person special?
  • Write about a time when you felt loved.
  • Why do you think we get off school for certain holidays, like Thanksgiving, but not others, like Valentine’s Day? Should Valentine’s Day be a school holiday?
  • Why do you think that love is often associated with the heart, as opposed to other organs in the body?
  • Write a twist on the classic poem “Roses are red, violets are blue…”
  • Write a Valentine to someone who deserves a little extra love and thanks this year. 
  • Is Valentine’s Day only for romantic love, or is it also a celebration of friendship and family love? Defend your position.
  • Before computers and email, people sent more hand-written cards and letters. Is the fact that we use emails and text more often now a loss or a gain? Why or why not?
  • How would the world be different if people could not feel love?

Valentine’s Day – A Little Bit of History
At BusyTeacher.org, you can find some excellent worksheets that provide students with the opportunity to learn a little more about the history of Valentine’s Day and practice reading comprehension skills at the same time. This Valentine’s Day Text and Activities worksheet provides excellent background information on the holiday, as well as three reading comprehension exercises, and so does the second worksheet Valentine’s Day Text and Activities # 2.

Valentine’s Day Word Search
This Valentine’s Day Word Search is a germ of a Google Slide and has two options: the basic word search (find 15 words) and the challenge word search (no words provided). You can make a copy of the word search here.

Valentine Love Letters
Nothing could be more appropriate for Valentine's Day than a reading of some of the world´s most famous love letters.  A great activity for advanced adult learners, it gives students a glimpse into the minds of famous novelists, politicians and world leaders as they poured forth their feelings for those they loved. Pick any of the love letters available at TheRomantic.com, read them out loud with your class, and discuss. Make sure you pick one that is appropriate to your students' level.
 
Valentine-Themed Templates for Google Slides and PowerPoint 
If you want to use a Valentine-themed template for your Google Slides and PowerPoint, look no further: 
Valentine’s Day Zoom Background
Don’t forget to use PowerPoint or Google Slides to make a Valentine’s Day Zoom background. You and your students can design one from scratch or use a free image source as a base, for example, Pixabay, and add a fancy font for the greeting and a heart symbol. After creating your unique background, save the slide as a .JPG and then upload the file into Zoom.
 
Sources:
  • https://blog.tcea.org/digital-valentines-day-activities/
  • https://blog.tcea.org/sharing-virtual-valentines-cards/
  • https://www.erintegration.com/2021/01/24/digital-valentine-ideas-for-virtual-classrooms/
  • https://busyteacher.org/4199-9-must-have-valentines-day-activities-for-the-esl.html
Disclaimer: This project was funded  by a grant from the United States Department of State. The opinions, findings and conclusions stated herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the United States Department of State.