Conversation Hearts in the Classroom: 5 Ways to use Candy to Teach Language Arts

Before we jump into the fun ways to use conversation hearts to teach language arts, I just wanted to say a few words about candy in the classroom.

*I always have 2 kinds of candy. One kind that we use as learning tools and another that we eat. If I set it up in a center I remind kids that they need to wait to eat it until they are given "eating candy" and that everyone will get a turn so there is to be no whining if today is not your day. I've found that setting that boundary and sticking to it really makes things run smoothly.

*Always be sure to check for allergies or other concerns about candy before you plan to use it. If necessary send a quick email home and be sure parents know it will be used and that they can contact you if they are concerned.

*It is nice to remind kids that while we can use candy to learn and while it can be a special or fun treat, it is not a good idea to eat it every day. Really remind them that while our bodies like treats they NEED us to make healthy snack choices every day.

With those thoughts out on the table, and without further delay, here are 5 fun ways to use Conversation Hearts to teach Language Arts. Enjoy and happy learning!

1. Conversation Heart Spelling: I love this technique because it can be used for older kids or younger kids and can be adapted really any way you need it to be. The idea is simple, divide the hearts into two colors. Then choose what you want the colors to represent. For my kindergarten student I did pink for vowels and orange for consenants. Now you're ready to spell. If the word is "POT" then you would lay the hearts in a orange, pink, orange pattern. I have them do a whole word list this way, essentially writing their spelling words with the hearts. For my third grader I did prefix pink and base word yellow. So for the word "enjoy" the pattern would be pink, pink, yellow, yellow, yellow. It's a different way to stop and think about spelling patterns and to make and visualize them in a new and meaningful way. In the classroom setting I put this activity at a "word work" center during the language arts block. In our home school setting, I add it to their spelling practice choice sheet during their independent work time.

2. Writing Technique Review: We have been studying writing tools this year, specifically hyperbole, simile, metaphor, idiom and personification. I decided to let the girls use a box of conversation hearts to complete a review activity. We did this as a group and they only had to choose one to write down. In a classroom setting I would review one at a time with a little recording sheet for each one so you can see what students are thinking and working on. The idea is to use the box of conversation hearts to practice using the writing tool. For hyperbole one might look at the box and say, "aroma as sweet as a million apple pies, flowed out of the box, or hearts all colors of the rainbow danced out of the box." An idiom might be "that's the cat's meow" and a simile might be "that box is as tasty as cotton candy at the circus" Remember, I used it for review so we had already studied and practiced the tools. If you want to use it as an introduction to a tool, I would do a lot of modeling and then brainstorming with shared writing as a whole group.

3. Sensory Description: I gave my girls this to do as an independent project meaning they worked on it together, but without me. This would be really similar to a center situation in a classroom setting. The idea is to have a piece of paper with pictures of the sense down the side. Then instruct the kids to use their senses to describe the conversation hearts. I had them come up with three words or phrases for each of the five senses. It really helps them think about vivid word choice and about getting past everyday words like "pretty" or "yummy". I did put a thesauras at this work area so they could help themselves expand their word choice a bit.

4. Word Marking: I used this with my kindergarten girl as a fun way to track words she knows in a story. I was targeting specific sight words I wanted her to recognize in text, but you could use word families, sight words, names, any kind of words or letters you want or need to. The idea is super simple. She looks at one page at a time and then places a conversation heart over each of the words (I had her list written on a white board so she could remember what she was looking for). I then look at the page and she reads me the words she marked. We then read the page together and move on to the next page. In a classroom setting this would probably work best in a guided reading or one on one situation, unless you wanted to add it as a little sparkle to an independent reading center. I had my third grader use the conversation hearts to mark vocabulary words and context clues.

5. Things I LOVE about this story: This is a great activity to play with a reading group. Place a small bowl of conversation hearts in the middle of the table. As the kids read silently, ask them to take a heart and place it in front of them on the table every time they come to something they like about the story and want to share. When the independent reading time is over, ask them each to share a few of the reasons why they took a heart. If you are working with a small group and don't mind the distraction you can also share as you go, stopping each time a heart is taken and giving the child who took it the opportunity to share right there, this is my favorite way to do it. If your group is at the point where they are needing to read out loud, you can give each child a cup of hearts and a napkin and ask them to move a heart from the cup to the napkin each time they come across something they love. It's a fun way to help kids remember to be purposeful to think about what they read and to share their thinking with each other.