Few things sweeter than a third-grade Valentine

Valentine’s Day celebrations in elementary school are about the sweetest celebrations ever. It is heart-warming to be a part of this day of friendship and to watch as children excitedly share their cards or little gifts with others. It’s equally as enjoyable to listen to the words of appreciation shared by the receivers, as they realize that they have so many friends who thought of them on this special day.

In our school, students are expected to make Valentine’s for their classmates, instead of purchasing commercially-made cards. This way, they are putting their time and talents into their friendships. It’s amazing to see the clever and creative ideas they come up with to share with their classmates. In addition to hand-painted and drawn cards, students have made beaded zipper pulls, bookmarks, handmade crayons, origami gifts, sewn and knitted items, hand-written poems and riddles, items from the kitchen, and many other meaningful creations.

To help warm up their creative thoughts, we practiced writing poems in 3rd grade this week, based on the traditional Valentine’s poem of “Roses are red, Violets are blue…” As with the introduction of most new skills, there were varying levels of understanding at first, but with peer and teacher support, most of the students eventually produced poems that fit the modeled cadence and form. They chose a wide range of topics. Their love for animals came through, as demonstrated by the following poems:

Pandas are cute. Turtles are, too.

The best thing for me is being with you.

Dogs are adorable. Cats are, too.

Happy Valentine’s Day to you.

Horses are lovely. Ducks are, too.

But the thing I love most is being with you.

While helping a student write a beautiful poem for her mom, who is an amazing cook and makes soup for our class, we started out with, “I love you, Mom. You make good soup…” We paused as we started considering words that rhyme with soup. And then a ripple of laughter started going through the class. You don’t brainstorm words that rhyme with “soup” with a group of 3rd graders!

The food theme was carried out by several others in the class, as is evidenced below.

I like cookies. I like cake.

I like everything you make.

Sugar is sweet. Lemons are sour.

I love you, all of the hours.

If you were thinking of dropping your gym membership, you may want to reconsider if you get a poem like this:

Roses are red, Violets are blue.

Jello is jiggly, And so are you.

Nature and family also scored as topics with:

I love winter. Summer, too.

Spring is pretty, and so are you.

Chores are good. Pets are, too.

Being with my family is the best thing to do.

Have a wonderful Valentine’s Day! May your day be filled with lots of homemade poems that make you smile. And if you’ve had an especially busy week or a rough day, I hope you receive a bedtime poem like the following on your pillow:

Roses are red. Daisies are white.

I love you. Good night.

Diana Sloan-Basner is a 3rd grade teacher at Birchtree Charter School. The Valentine poems were written by her 3rd grade students.