Read Alouds We Love {Valentine's Day}

It's February 1st, are you getting in the Valentine's Day mood? Less than 2 weeks left to get ready for some LOVE themed learning with your little sweeties.  I'm assuming most of you will celebrate next week Friday since Valentine's Day falls on a weekend this year. But if you are celebrating on Monday good luck to your brave little soul. I could NEV-ER survive a party on a Monday...you'd have to pay me A LOT and then peel me off the floor at the end of the day.  If you are in search of some great books to read next week, I've got you covered.

This would be such a sweet book the day before your class party.  I remember how excited I was the night before our classroom celebrations. Getting my valentines box ready, making cookies, stuffing my face treat bags with candy. So much fun.  I also like to have my class write sweet compliment messages to a secret friend the day before our party. Then they stuff them in their friends box and everyone gets an extra smile reading why someone thinks they are awesome. I like this personal addition to the monster high, ninja turtle, crazy sugar rush of a day.

Next up,  Love, Splat.  Have you met Splat? If not, you NEED to stop reading and grab one of his books. Like, now...seriously, he is just about the cutest stinkin' cat ever (Sorry Pete). He's always so worried, and nervous and I think the kids just love that they can relate to his predicaments.  Which makes this a perfect book for making connections. I also made a super sweet craftivity with my friend's class this year, and I just LOVE how they turned out.

"Love is...When my dad has time to play with me on the wii" So sweet!

My next recommendation is a classic, The Valentine Bears by Eve Bunting.  I remember my teachers reading this to our class when I was younger and its such a sweet story about Mrs. Bear who takes extra time and care to make a very special Valentine's Day for Mr. Bear even though they usually hibernate right through it.  A great message of showing the ones we love how much we care. I like to use it to have students practice inferring.  On the second page students learn that Mrs. Bear wakes up early from her hibernation. I find that this is a perfect place to stop and have them make inferences about why she would wake up early.  There are a lot of great clues in the text, pictures, and even the title/cover that support students making logical inferences instead of random predictions and guesses.

This book is a nice quick read, with simple text, great pictures and an imaginative storyline.  The father racoon is putting his baby racoon to bed and asks what type of kiss he'd like then suggests all sorts of kisses such as circus kisses, butterfly kisses, witch kisses, and more.  I like to read this book to my students without showing a few of the pictures and have them visualize what a particular kiss may look like.  Circus kisses always bring out some cute ideas.  There is not a lot of descriptive text to lead their drawings like many of the other books I use for visualization, but I love the variety that this activity brings.

And my last suggestion is sure to bring a tear to any parents eye.  This book is told from the perspective of a parent reassuring their child that no matter where they are, the child is always in their heart. I like to have students tell about all of the people that they have in their heart.  This book is especially perfect for military families that may experience longer periods of time away from their child.

Thanks so much for checking out my favorite Valentine books.  If you are interested in any of the activities I described above, be sure to check out my Read & Respond: Valentine's Day Pack here:

And just to show you how much we LOVE all of our teacher friends, we are having a little giveaway! One lucky winner will be able to pick out their very own pair of Tieks!

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