Kaleigh Baker, OWLA Editor for Electronic Media
Spanish Teacher, Covington High School

In a perfect world, you do not have four (or more!) classes to prep for, and you can cycle between a couple of activities for the various celebrations that pop up during the school year. I do not teach in that perfect world, and I always find myself scrambling around each holiday to come up with something level- and also age-appropriate. 

First, do not think that your high school students do not want to embrace their elementary school days. Having them decorate and write out old-fashioned valentines is always a hit. I give them a list of phrases, and they can write as many as they like. Sometimes I have them write Valentine’s to their teachers. I try to do this in my upper-level classes, where the groups are a little smaller and the students are closer to some of their teachers.

Using that same list, I have also had students decorate a white paper bag, and on Valentine’s Day they bring in candy and put it in their classmates’ bags. The students recognize the phrases and pick-up lines from the year prior and enjoy seeing them again. 

In my Spanish 1 classes, students listen to “Tengo tu love” by Sie7e. I love having them listen to “Ya no tengo tu love” around Valentine’s Day, and my students are always devastated to learn that they broke up!

In Spanish 2 I like listening to various love songs and doing a cloze activity in the days leading up to Valentine’s Day, and then having them create a valentine using lyrics from the songs. Some examples of songs are “Cuando te veo, Corazón sin cara,” and “Te mando flores.”

Finally, another upper-level idea is listening to “Eres tú” by Mocedades and, after completing a cloze activity, following up with an “Amor apesta” (“Love Stinks”) activity. They create lyrics opposite of those in Eres tú. I only use this activity if the class’s general consensus is that Valentine’s Day will be horrible this year.

If you have any questions or would like me to share any of those activities, shoot me an email, and I am happy to send it your way!