Looking to add some fun to your classroom during the cold winter months? Last month's Gingerbread Exchange was such a success that I have decided to host a similar exchange for Valentine's Day.
The Gingerbread Man Exchange linked together 140 teachers and more than 2,500 students. Here is a quick look at the Gingerbread Man exchange. To see a full recap of the Gingerbread Man exchange, check out this POST.
What's a Valentine exchange you ask? During the month of January, your class will create 20 paper valentines and decorate them in any way you would like.
They should be child-created heart shaped greetings rather than purchased pre-made cards. You may use the template below or feel free to create your own template.
No later than Friday, February 5th, you will mail 20 Valentines to other classrooms across the United States. You will also need to include in the envelope a brief letter from your class telling about your school, the area you live in, etc. This can be a letter that you write together with your students and simply make a copy to send with each Valentine. Then, sit back and wait for the Valentines to arrive at your school.
Due to the postage expense, participating classrooms must be in the United States. The Valentines exchange is also limited to kindergarten through fourth grade classes. By signing up, you are agreeing to have your class create 20 Valentines and mailing them on or before Friday, February 5th. If you would like for your class to be part of this year's Valentine exchange, you can sign up by clicking HERE or on the image below.
The sign-ups will only be open for the next couple of days or until the maximum number of participants have signed up. A confirmation email will be sent out on January 17th to everyone who has signed up. If you do not receive an email on January 17th, please email me immediately at pawsitivelyteaching@gmail.com. Unfortunately, once groups are formed, I won't be able to add additional participants. Once the sign-up period has closed, I will also send out an additional email with more details to the participants. Please comment below or email me if you have any questions prior to signing up.
Thank you! I have signed up!
ReplyDeleteHi! This is so cute! Is there a reason this isn't open to 5th graders? I know of 23 5th graders who would love to take part in this! ��
ReplyDeleteElyse, During the first exchange I hosted, I included 5th graders. I had 3-4 teachers get very upset with me because they had received a couple of valentines/letters from kindergarten classes that were "not of the same standard" as the ones they sent. I never saw an issue including 5th graders, but that made me wonder if others thought differently. My intent was never to upset teachers with the exchange. With that being said, I would LOVE to have your class join the exchange as long as you don't have an issue with getting valentine greetings from a range of different age groups. I included several 5th grade classes and even a 6th grade class with my Gingerbread Exchange last month and they enjoyed it. If you would still like to sign up, please do so and select 4th grade on the form. I just don't want to leave it as an open invitation because I don't want any 5th grade teachers upset. I encourage you to sign up and give it a try....it is one of the highlights of the year for my students. If you have any other questions, please email me pawsitivelyteaching@gmail.com.
DeleteYou are so sweet! Thank you for responding! I think my kids would love it and I will explain to them that we will get to meet friends from all over the United States of all different ages! Thank you so much for this fun opportunity!
DeleteI just signed up my class and my partner teacher's class. I used my email for both because I will be handling this during the ELA time. Can't wait!
ReplyDeleteWill you be doing this again in 2017, I would love to participate.
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