Will you be my Valentine?

It seems that when a little history is provided in starting a new unit in the classroom, it tends to make the subject more important and provides an association for the students to become interested to the extent that makes the lesson more meaningful. Hence, the introduction to this week's article will point you to some great history sites for Valentine's Day. There are several links provided since there are several different versions of the beginnings of the holiday.

The first site is Valentines Forever,

and then we have a a brief description on the History of Valentine's Day,

And another Brief History of Valentine's Day,

plus, Family Fun Magazine offers a description of the beginnings of Valentine's Day.

and last, but not least, a History of Valentines.

Now, let's talk music! Here's a page with songs of romance and heartbreak with titles such as, "I Will Always Love You" by Dolly Parton, "I Fall To Pieces" by Patsy Cline, "You've Lost that Lovin' Feelin" by the Righteous Brothers and quite a few more.

Valentine Fun has several categories of things to do for Valentine's Day. Some of the lessons found here could be used in the music classroom, but then there are some that are not music related. However, you could modify some of the "non-musical" lessons and fit them in your lessons, quite nicely.

Take a look at Valentine Games and Valentine Songs first. They are the sections that have the most stuff for the music classroom. The other sections offered are related to Art and Snacks and the like.

Kid's Stuff a Valentine article by another Suite 101 editor, Wayne Dawe. Check out his great internet finds.

How about some more Valentine Songs?

Build a Card This link is just for fun and is not music-related.

How to say I love you in many different languages. Impress someone!

Lavender Blue Remember this song? It's a dandy for Valentine's Day and there are lots more where this song came from at Lullabies and other songs for Children. Here's the full index of songs. This is a great site. The only thing that could make it better is for the lyrics to have a midi or sound file to accompany them.

Teacher to Teacher If you have time to dig around through these ideas, you might find a treasure here and there. I dug through some of the messages and found this Valentine Song, ideas for Presidents Day and this idea for Ground Hog Day.