This Valentine’s Day ELA Activities Unit for middle school includes engaging, standards-aligned lessons and printables for teaching and reviewing figurative language, rhetorical appeals (ethos, pathos, logos), theme, mood, tone, and independent reading—all through high-interest Valentine’s Day activities. Designed for 6th, 7th, and 8th grade ELA classrooms, this resource blends seasonal engagement with rigorous literacy practice so students stay focused while working on essential reading and analysis skills.

 

 

From Valentine’s Day commercials and love songs to novel choice activities and themed review games, students practice real literary analysis and media literacy while engaging with content that feels relevant and entertaining.

With teacher guides, scaffolded student pages, reference sheets, answer keys, and digital slides included, you’ll move students beyond surface-level responses into meaningful discussion, evidence-based thinking, and stronger written analysis. Students won’t just “do a Valentine’s activity”—they’ll analyze persuasive techniques, identify figurative devices, determine theme, evaluate tone and mood, and justify their thinking with text evidence.

• Students will analyze Valentine’s Day commercials for ethos, pathos, and logos.
• They’ll study theme and figurative language through love songs.
• They’ll review key literary devices using Valentine’s-themed passages.
• They’ll compare love story novels and defend their reading choices using evidence.

✨ Here’s what they’ll learn:

• Valentine’s Figurative Language Foundations: Students identify and explain simile, metaphor, hyperbole, idiom, personification, alliteration, onomatopoeia, allusion, and irony using Valentine’s-themed sentences and passages.
• Rhetorical Appeals in Valentine’s Commercials: Students analyze curated Valentine’s TV commercials to determine how advertisers use ethos, pathos, and logos to persuade audiences. They evaluate emotional appeal, credibility, and logic in seasonal marketing.
• Theme and Central Idea Through Love Songs: Students determine theme, tone, mood, and figurative language in popular love songs using structured graphic organizers and reference pages that guide deeper analysis.
• Mood and Tone in Valentine’s Media: Students analyze how imagery, word choice, and sound work together to create emotional impact in short Valentine’s texts and media clips.
• Independent Reading Through Love Story Choices: Students compare summaries of love-themed novels and justify which one they would choose to read using evidence-based reasoning and written explanation.
• Bonus: Valentine’s Word Search: A festive vocabulary warm-up, early finisher activity, or light community-builder to start class with seasonal energy.

📚 Why this works:

This unit solves the biggest mid-February challenge: keeping students academically engaged when the classroom feels like a candy store exploded. Instead of fighting the energy, you channel it into rigorous ELA practice. Students feel like they’re celebrating, but they’re actually strengthening analysis, discussion, and writing skills. 

With built-in guides, reference charts, curated links, and answer keys, prep is simple and instruction stays focused. You can use these activities across a full week, rotate them as stations, or leave them for a sub knowing students will stay on task and academically engaged. 

💡 Perfect for:

• Teachers who want seasonal engagement without sacrificing rigor
• Students who need relevance and variety to stay invested
• Any middle school ELA class reviewing figurative language, rhetoric, or theme

⏱ Flexible pacing: Works in 45-minute periods or longer blocks. Use as standalone lessons, stations, or mini-projects.

TEACHERS LIKE YOU SAID…

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Jessica L says, "Fantastic resource! I especially loved the commercials for ethos, pathos, and logos - my 6th graders said it was "cringe" so I will now use it every year for the rest of my life. Thank you!"

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Ginger G. says, "My resource SPED kids loved this!! I loved the music part the best. It was clean and provided a fun way to teach the given standards."

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Lauren B. says, "I was going to be out of town for Valentine's Day and needed a great packet for my students to work on with their sub, this was the perfect solution!"