February is a special month filled with opportunities for celebration and learning. It’s a time to honor Black History Month by recognizing historical heroes and their contributions. The Lunar New Year also brings a chance to explore traditions that symbolize good fortune and prosperity. Let’s appreciate all the wonderful people, ideas, and traditions February offers by infusing our activities with digital delight using Boom Cards! Here are a few activities that I know your students will like:
Black History Month
Did you see the movie Hidden Figures? I loved it! The movie is based on Katherine Johnson, the famous NASA mathematician whose calculations contributed to the first successful space flight. This Katherine Johnson Reading Comprehension deck is all about her challenges, achievements, and contributions. Perfect for students in 3rd or 4th grade.
Here are two more great decks to celebrate Black historical heroes and practice reading comprehension for grades 3-5:
Sojourner Truth Reading Comprehension
For older students, who have already been studying influential black leaders, end your unit with this quiz. These cards quiz students on influential figures like Fredrick Douglass, Thurgood Marshall, Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, and Dorothy Vaughan.
Black History Heroes Month Leaders Quiz
Lunar New Year—Let’s Celebrate!
This year, I had the unique experience of learning more about the Lunar New Year than I had previously known. A student of mine, who is of Korean descent, extremely wise, and in 5th grade, explained to me that exclusively referring to the holiday as Chinese New Year ignores the fact that it is observed in so many other cultures and countries. Of course, Lunar New Year (often called Spring Festival) is not only observed in China but is also an important holiday in Korea, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, and more.
Because this holiday is based on the lunisolar calendar, the celebration dates follow the moon’s phases. It’s a time of beautiful rituals and festivities, including cleaning your home to welcome in good luck (hide your brooms so that your good fortune can’t be swept away!), having a reunion dinner with family to ensure hope and prosperity for the new year, giving red envelopes full of cash, enjoying a lantern festival, and much more!
Music teachers, here’s a great rhythm practice deck to ring in the new year.
Math teachers, I haven’t forgotten you! This is my favorite Lunar New Year skills practice deck for reading and building number sentences.
President’s Day—Navigate U.S. History with Boom Cards!
Embark on a learning journey with the Abraham Lincoln comprehension activity deck, a close reading activity that includes informational text, comprehension questions, grammar questions, and an extension writing task. This is a great activity for all the social studies educators out there who teach grades 5-7 or rising middle schoolers.
An additional deck on Abe for reading comprehension and to reinforce learning about the 16th president is the Abraham Lincoln Passage and Comprehension Questions.
I loved teaching 7th grade social studies, but of course, educators never teach only one subject, even when it seems like they do. I like to get my English Language Learners set up with their activities first. That way, they always felt ready to go, understood their specific instructions, and never felt confused. Here’s an activity for your English Language Learners to practice President’s Day vocabulary words. This deck is also equipped with audio supports for extra help, and it’s intended for grades 6-8.
For younger students in grades 1-4, here’s a colorful and interactive activity to learn about U.S. Presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. This deck will have all your students engaged.
Valentine’s Day—Share the Love!
I have to admit I do have favorites, and this is one of them. I use this deck often, regardless of the time of year, because my students who need practice in syllabication LOVE it. Valentine’s Day Syllabication – Reading Strategies Decoding and Vocabulary Practice. In fact, these decks were created by a reading intervention teacher who makes the most beautiful, dynamic, and engaging decks (see the author page for prefix, suffix, etc.). Thanks to this deck, I’ve also watched my students learn and grow beyond their reading challenges to feel confident in sounding out word parts. I love this publisher’s decks because they are multi-sensory, include sound, and are researched-based. Did I mention my kids love them?
While on the topic of fun and Valentine’s Day, this Valentine’s Day Short Stories (WH- Questions and Reasoning) deck is interactive and sure to get students working.
Finding text evidence is one of the more difficult skills for students to learn, but February Reading Comprehension not only makes all things February fun for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th graders, but it also does an awesome job of allowing students to clearly see and designate their text evidence.
A Call for Kindness
Calling all homeschoolers, parents, educators, and therapists, this deck is a great way to get your students talking. Valentine’s Day is not only a symbol of romantic love, but it’s also a reminder to practice kindness and cherish friendship. Here’s a Kindness and Friendship Conversation Starters deck that can bring students together through discourse.
February is going to be a whole lot more fun with Boom Cards. Whether you are celebrating the achievements of Black heroes, immersing yourself in Lunar New Year traditions, memorizing presidential fun facts, learning about leap years, enjoying Valentine’s Day, or practicing the art of kindness, these Boom Cards are sure to bring life into your lessons. Don’t forget that they also allow you to relax while they grade themselves.
Happy Booming!
