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It's a mushy gushy mystery!
Hurray! February 14—Valentime's Day,
Junie B. calls it—is just around the corner. Junie B.
can't wait to see all the valentimes she'll get. Especially
a big, mushy card from a secret admirer! Who is this secret
mystery guy, anyway? Junie B. is determined to find out!
This activity uses the festivities of Valentine's
Day to help teach a math lesson that includes graphing.
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"No doubt about it . . . Valentine's
Day was always my favorite party day of the school year.
The beautiful box, the pretty room decorations, the yummy
cupcakes. But the best part was seeing all those cards
piling up on my desk!
I loved taking them home and reading them over and over
in my room. I'd look at each card and try to figure out
hidden meanings and secret messages. Did the boy I had
a crush on really like me back? And what about all the
other kids? Did they like me, too?
But I never had a Valentine's Day quite as exciting as
Junie B.'s. How can you beat a mushy gushy card from a
secret admirer?"
© 1996 by Barbara Park
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Pre-Reading Activities
Junie B. decides that she really likes Valentine's
Day in Junie B. Jones and the Mushy Gushy Valentime. Ask each
student what his or her favorite holiday is and why. Have
your students draw a picture of themselves celebrating the
holiday.
 Valentine
Candy Count
Valentine's celebrations could easily offer an opportunity for
a fun graphing activity just by including a 12 oz. bag of Valentine's
candy hearts in the party menu. Break your students into groups,
giving each equal numbers of candy hearts in a paper cup. Have
each group sort and do a color count for the candies in their
cups. Then, using crayons to match candy colors, have each group
illustrate its findings in a color-coded bar graph. Finally,
group results can be combined into an overall class bar graph
showing total color counts before students set about munching
their candies.
 Printable
Activities
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