Candy Hearts and Kisses! Who says writing can't be fun?!

Writing is one of my favorite subjects to teach. Although, I admit sometimes it can be a bit dry. I constantly try to come up with creative ways to make writing more exciting for the kids and this Valentine's Day activity did just that! I found the initial idea on Pinterest...obviously. I decided to tweak it and make it my own and more appropriate for my 4th graders. I started by reading Froggy's First Kiss by Jonathon London. 

This alone lit the spark!! My focus was on understanding character point of view. The story is about Frogilina kissing Froggy at lunch on Valentine's Day. Froggy is disgusted by this, says "Blahh" and runs away from her. He is more excited about making his mother a valentine than being kissed by "the prettiest girl frog in the world." After the story the students assumed the point of view of either Froggy or Frogilina and wrote a letter to the other character. The challenge: using candy hearts as part of their sentences. 

Needless to say, I was cracking up reading these. The kids had a ball. We enjoyed a few laughs and got into the Valentine's Day spirit. It also made for a nice bulletin board.