Holidays always seem to
bring out the chaos among middle school students, right? Embrace your students’ excitement, and
channel it into a productive Valentine’s Day-themed math activity! Your students will LOVE working in pairs to
solve problems in order to find the “secret code word.” Here’s how it works…
The Prep
Print out one copy of the 8
stations. I like to tape them to the
walls around the room and allow students to use clipboards. It peaks students’ interest when they see the
activity when they walk in. You can also
set up 8 groups of desks and place one station at each group. Print out a copy of the Stations Workspace
for each student. EASY PEASY!
Partner A & Partner B
Have students partner
up. One student is Partner A and one
student is Partner B. They will each
solve a different problem, but should get to the same answer. This means students must each do the work but
have the opportunity to consult with a partner.
I allow students to move freely around the room as a pair and complete the
tasks in any order and at their own pace.
Secret
Code Word
Once the partners agree on
the answer, they find that number (or expression) at the key at the bottom of
the page. This gives them a letter. Once they have collected all 8 letters, they
unscramble them to determine the Valentine’s Day-themed secret code word. This is an easy way to check that students
have done the activity correctly. (If
you notice they are off by a letter, send them back to try the incorrect
station again.)
Try
it!
Students really enjoy this
activity, AND you will love it too because your students will be working on
math tasks amidst the chaos of the holiday.
Current Valentine’s Day topics include Comparing Rate of Change,
One-Step Equations, Multiplying Mixed Numbers, 2D and 3D Measurement, and
Factoring Trinomials. Need a different
topic? Fill out this brief survey.
Check out my holiday-themed
partner stations for other holidays, too!
Autumn/Back to School, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas/Holidays,
Mardi Gras, Pi Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, and Summer
Join in the
conversation! What are your favorite
ways to maintain a focused learning environment amidst the chaos?
Subscribe today to receive a
free middle school math resource!
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