Valentine's Day Jitters is part of our Starts With a Story Collection, which includes more than 550 picture book companions based on high quality children’s literature that support you in delivering highly-engaging interactive read alouds with follow up activities. Learn more about this children’s book below! - Jodi and the Starts With a Story Team
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SUMMARY
"Valentine's Day Jitters" by Julie Danneberg is a delightful children's book that captures the excitement and nervousness surrounding Valentine's Day. The story follows a passionate teacher named Mrs. Hartwell who is anxious about giving her class the best Valentine's party. As the day approaches, Mrs. Hartwell worries about everything going as planned but as the crafts and games begin everything gets crazier than she envisioned. As the long anticipated cake reveal is finally revealed Mrs. Hartwell sadly see's her cake melting and squished! Mrs. Hartwell is sad and is disapointed in herself becasue she wanted to show her students how much she cared, but little did she know her students already knew that and appreciate everything she does! Through relatable characters and relatable situations, "Valentine's Day Jitters" teaches valuable lessons about friendship, empathy, and embracing the holiday spirit. With its warm illustrations and heartfelt storytelling, the book reminds readers that Valentine's Day is not just about romantic love but also about appreciating the people around us and spreading love and kindness to others. In the end, Mrs. Hartwell overcomes her jitters and realizes that Valentine's Day is a celebration of friendship, kindness and connection, leaving readers with a heartwarming message about the power of love.
 USE THIS BOOK TO TEACH:
Our read aloud lesson plans for this picture book come with reading comprehension questions (with sample student responses), 30 writing prompts, teaching ideas for grammar skills, social emotional learning discussion ideas, and more. Check out our list below to get a sneak peek at some of the skills this resource teaches.
- Discuss the different characters in the story and analyze their thoughts and actions.
- Encourage students to use their summarizing and retelling strategies.
- Teach a lesson on making connections to enhance comprehension.
- Practice making inferences throughout the story and after reading.
- Use examples of possessive nouns from the book to teach a lesson.
- Encourage students to think about ways they can show compassion.
- Discuss a social emotional learning concept such as resiliency.
NO-PREP PRINTABLE ACTIVITIES:
If you are looking for “ready to go” activities for the first day of school, be sure to check out the book companion. With it you’ll receive all of the following resources to align with this specific book:
- comprehension questions
- 30Â writing prompts with themed paper
- vocabulary activities
- word study print & go activities
- ideas for grammar lessons with focus sentence printables
- social emotional learning discussion topics
- graphic organizers to target specific comprehension skills and strategies
This book is a must have for your school or classroom library. Your students are going to love completing these activities for the book and you will be impressed with how much they learn. You will want to read this book to your class every year.
GET THE PRINTABLE ACTIVITIES
ADDITIONAL BOOK SUGGESTIONS
You and your students will love the similar books listed below, which can all be found in our free picture book list.
- Roses Are Pink. Your Feet Really Stink by Diane Degroat
- Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch by Eileen Spinelli
- Love Monster and the Last Chocolate by Rachel Bright
TRY OUT A SAMPLE COMPANION
It's hard to explain how amazing the Starts with a Story book companions are because there is just so much goodness included in each one. It's best if you experience using one for yourself. Sign up below & we'll send you an entire book companion to try out for FREE!
