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In this section of our education blog, we give tips for tutors and teachers on how to teach subjects, keep kids passionate, and more. Subscribe to our newsletter (on the left or below on mobile) to get bi-monthly updates in your inbox!

5 Fun Valentine’s Day Literacy Activities

A cheerful family gathered in a cozy bedroom, celebrating Valentine's Day with festive crafts and heartfelt moments. This image highlights family bonding and creative ways to enjoy Valentine's Day together.

Tired of the same old Valentine’s Day for your kids? Create magical memories for your children with these Valentine’s Day literacy activities that make hearts and minds grow!

Homemade Valentine’s

Instead of buying pre-made Valentine’s Day cards, have your children write their own. Encourage them to write a thoughtful Valentine to a parent or grandparent that uses more descriptive adjectives and complex words to explain why they love them. These also extend to their classmates, siblings, and friends! Even if the cards are a little messy, the effort and personal touch will mean the world to grandparents, siblings, and friends.

Writing Poetry for Valentine’s Day

The classic poem “roses are red, violets are blue, sugar is sweet and so are you” can be easily adapted to teach kids about rhyming. The last two phrases can be re-written with just about anything that rhymes with blue. Try helping your kids write their own Valentine’s Day poetry to give to their friends and family.

Secret Message Decoder

Turn your little ones into detectives with this Valentine’s Day literacy activity that introduces them to entertaining secret messages! They’ll love cracking the code while learning new problem-solving skills!

Start by assigning each letter a unique symbol, such as a heart for “A,” an arrow for “B,” and so on. Write a secret Valentine’s Day message for your child to decode, like “You are loved!” or “Be my Valentine!” Hand them a “key” showing what each symbol stands for and let them crack the code.

Once they’ve mastered decoding, let them create their own secret messages for friends or family to decipher. This activity is perfect for sparking creativity while also practicing problem-solving and literacy skills.

Love-Themed Word Games

A close-up of a Scrabble game featuring Valentine’s Day words like "LOVE", "ME" and "YOU." The image emphasizes fun literacy activities for families during Valentine's Day.

Get creative with letter tiles: Grab some Scrabble tiles (or make your own!) and see who can spell the most heartfelt words before the timer runs out. Making up your own rules adds a personal twist and keeps the game lively for everyone. Set a timer and try to assemble 5 words that begin with the letter “L” for “love” or “V” for valentine within the allotted time. Or work together to use all of the letters to build a crossword of words that are all connected.

I “LOVE” the Alphabet

Begin with a word that begins with the letter “A.” For a Valentine’s Day theme you could start the game with the word “adore.” The next person chooses a Valentine’s Day word that starts with a “B” like “beautiful.” Then next  “cute,” “darling,” “envelope,” “friends,” etc. until you cover the entire alphabet.

If you need to get inventive and stretch the rules a bit, that’s okay! The letter “x” can be a difficult one, so use the symbol for hugs and kisses “xoxo,” which is perfect for Valentine’s Day! Want to level up the game? Challenge everyone to remember the full list of words—it’s a memory test with a Valentine’s twist!

Love Languages Dictionary

One of our favorite Valentine’s Day literacy activities will have your kids learning about the many ways to express love while boosting their vocabulary!

Build a “Love Languages Dictionary” that features words for love in different languages, such as “amour” (French), “amor” (Spanish), and “爱” (Chinese). For added fun, encourage your kids to draw pictures or use stickers to illustrate each word. Try this: Next to “amour,” they could draw a heart or a couple holding hands.

Your kids watch their dictionary come alive filled with love—and they’ll pick up a few new words along the way!

First Letter, Last Letter (Valentine’s Day-Themed)

Perfect for spontaneous fun and it does not require any props or pieces. The game starts when someone says a word related to Valentine’s Day. The next person has to say a love related word that begins with the last letter of that word. If the game begins with the word “kiss,” then next word could be “swoon” and then next word could be “nice” and so on. Perfect for kids in grade 3 and up, or who can read and are comfortable spelling words on their own.

Two children sitting at a desk, using paper, markers, and stickers to create personalized Valentine’s Day cards. The image showcases creative activities that encourage heartfelt expressions.

Beyond the candy and cards, Valentine’s Day opens doors to word play and vocabulary building. Ready to make learning an adventure?

Ready to spark your child’s love of learning? Connect with School is Easy today to discover more creative educational activities tailored to your child’s needs.

5 Pros and Cons of Social Media in the Classroom

5 Pros and Cons of Social Media in the Classroom

Social media is an increasingly prevalent part of modern society, especially for kids and teens. In most schools, phones and mobile devices have been banned from being used during the school day, and social media websites like Twitter and Facebook have been blocked on school computers. However, a new question has emerged: should social media be allowed in school? Some schools are beginning to take a different approach by introducing social media into the educational system itself. Here are some pros and cons of social media in the classroom and how it is being used for educational purposes.

5 Pros of Using Social Media in the Classroom

1. Social media sites can increase student collaboration

Social media sites provide an avenue for students to easily contact one another regarding school projects, group assignments or for help on homework assignments.

2. Using social media in the classroom can encourage more participation

Students who do not participate regularly in class may feel they can express their thoughts through social media.  Although this should not completely replace in class participation it can help build the students’ confidence and encourage them to find their voice and be able to participate in class.

3. Social media sites can be useful for homework help

When students have questions about a class assignment they can easily post a message asking if anyone can help. They can also write a specific question to the teacher on a wall that other students can see. This allows the whole class to have access to the feedback from the teacher.

4. Share resources quickly when using social media in the classroom

If the teacher needs to direct students to a particular online resource they can easily share the site through social media sites like twitter. If the teacher wants the class to visit a particular site all they have to do is tweet the website and the entire class can view it with one click.

5. Social media helps keep parents, teachers and students all on the same page

It is very useful for teachers to be able to post on social media sites about class activities, homework assignments and even school events This helps the teachers, parents and students all stay on the same page about what is going on at school. Sites like Facebook also allow teachers to easily communicate through private messages to parents and students without having to leave phone messages and wait for a call back.

5 Cons of Having Social Media in the Classroom

1. Social media can be a distraction in class

The first concern that comes to mind when using social media in the classroom is how it will be a major distraction to the students during lessons. Students could easily be sidetracked from an assignment and it could be difficult for teachers to tell who is paying attention or not.

2. Improper use of social media in the classroom

Students might take advantage of being able to access social media in the classroom and use it for personal interactions instead of for school related activities. If students are not closely monitored it will be hard to know how if they are using social media properly during class time.

3. Using social media in the classroom can detract from human interaction

If students are motivated to engage in class discussions via social media platforms, it may affect their aptitude for face-to-face interactions. In this technologically advanced era, it is essential for students to develop the skill of having conversations with individuals, despite the prevalent use of modern technology. This highlights one of the disadvantages of social media in education, as it potentially hampers students’ ability to navigate real-life interpersonal communication.

4. Cyber bullying on social media websites

Some students have experienced cyber bullying through social media websites. If social media is allowed in schools this could increase cyber bullying where students write hurtful messages targeting other students.

5. Posting inappropriate content on social media websites

One of the reasons social media sites are prohibited in schools is due to the inherent challenge in monitoring students’ activities on these platforms. Students might post inappropriate content, including pornography or offensive language, which can be both disruptive and harmful to their peers. Such content poses significant challenges in monitoring and can have distracting and damaging effects on students’ learning experiences. This highlights some of the disadvantages of social media in education.

So, Should Schools Use Social Media?

The integration of social media into the classroom prompts us to consider both its benefits and drawbacks. This raises a significant question: “Should social media be allowed in schools?”

While there are valid concerns about potential disadvantages, educators are exploring innovative ways to leverage social media for educational purposes while ensuring a safe and productive learning environment. This debate centers around the role of social media in education, its value as a learning tool, and how to mitigate associated risks.

3 Key strategies for supporting kids’ academic language skills

Kids’ academic language skills

If your child is learning another language, it usually takes time for them to go from participating in simple conversations to utilizing academic language in a meaningful way. However, providing extra support for language is not only helpful for English language learners and other second language learners. All learners can benefit from purposeful language activities. Here are 3 significant language teaching strategies to use in the classroom or at home: [Read more…]

What is the theory of multiple intelligences and why is it important when teaching?

Multiple intelligences important when teaching

In the past, we’ve written about the different types of learning styles. That is one theory which posits we should be teaching based on how our students like to learn, or how they learn best.

But there is another theory that, while sounding similar, is not. It brings about another opinion on how we should view our human ‘smart-ness.’ It says we should be viewing many forms of aptitude as ‘intelligent’ and thus, teach by recognizing a person’s core strengths. We’ll unpack that in a bit. [Read more…]

Benefits and methods of interdisciplinary learning for kids

Benefits of interdisciplinary learning for kids

Whether you are a parent, a tutor, or a classroom teacher, you have most likely wondered at some point or another how to give your kids a fun, exciting project that furthers their learning at the same time. A theory floating around in the education world known as ‘interdisciplinary learning’ can be a great way to engage your kids in a meaningful way. Keep reading to decode this educational buzzword and see what it actually looks like in reality.

What is interdisciplinary learning?

Myra Strober explains this term by thinking about a meal: if you have peas on a plate, this can be likened to a discipline of learning. If you add carrots onto the plate, you now have two disciplines, which can be labeled ‘multidisciplinary.’ But ‘interdisciplinary’ in this analogy would be if you then mixed the peas and carrots together to make a salad. Rather than being isolated, these two ‘disciplines’ have been integrated together to make something new. Through this lens, we can view interdisciplinary learning as an approach that integrates multiple disciplines to solve a problem.

Why is interdisciplinary learning important?

Real-world problems are interdisciplinary

Think about any big problem in the world. Chances are, the entire problem is not ‘I need to solve this specific type of math equation.’ Rather, a problem could potentially be related to poverty, sustainability, or transporting goods to a remote community (perhaps even all three). These types of problems require many different disciplines to come together in order to form a solution.

Interdisciplinary learning gets kids to focus on learning life skills

Interdisciplinary learning focuses learning on life skills such as critical thinking, collaboration, creativity, innovation, and problem-solving. This leads to what Carleton College calls “significant learning.” It can be very valuable, since the skills acquired are found in various subjects or streams of study, and are designed to get students to apply what they’ve learned in new contexts.

How to approach an interdisciplinary learning project

  1. Know your students and pick a topic, or set of topics, that intrigue them.
  2. Choose a big question to get your kids thinking critically, and with the view to solving a problem. They should have to bring in skills and knowledge from various subjects and experiences to solve this problem.
  3. Have your kids develop essential questions – what do they wonder about this topic? How can THEY form their own project to be able to understand this problem better? (Check out prodigy game for plenty of examples on this)
  4. Design your project. According to the Galileo Network, students must know 3 things: why are we doing this? What should I know before we begin to tackle this problem? What is the one big thing I should know at the end of this? Everything in between is open for innovation and creativity, but these three main points should be planned for before the project starts.

The internet is full of great ideas for interdisciplinary projects, so definitely check out Google or Pinterest for inspiration. Here is an example from High Tech High to get you going, and another from Amy Singh (which is great to view if you are working with an individual learner). Enjoy exploring different problems with your kids and see where their creativity takes them!

Interdisciplinary projects are versatile enough to apply in almost any teaching setting

Whether you are looking for an interdisciplinary project to do with your kids over the holidays, searching for a way to engage your tutoring group, or trying to plan a unit for your class at school, using an interdisciplinary approach is highly beneficial. Since they are designed to be based on real-life problems, they can fit in with any age group, given the project matches their current contexts.