"Be Mine, Valentine"

My students' first musical performance for this school year was the 1st graders production of "Be Mine, Valentine" on Valentine's Day. For the past 3 years, the 1st graders have done a show all about Spring, but this year, I changed up my performance schedule as well as all the traditional shows I've done. I had a new concept for the 1st graders' show, and I thought the 'love' theme would be so cute for those young students. I envisioned a program that all the parents would just adore, and the results were exactly just that! 

 

I decorated the stage very simply, and I was happy with the results. I created a large banner using a Valentine's candy heart font with the program's theme "Be Mine, Valentine". I cut the lettered hearts out of white paper, and painted the letter and border red, then glued them onto a large piece of pink paper and hung it from the ceiling. I am a symmetrical person, so I made sure the stage decorations were equal on both sides. I hung 2 red tissue balls and 6 heart streamers on opposing sides of the banner. On the side walls, I pinned up two long sheets of red paper, then I had all the 1st graders draw Valentine's pictures, and I attached them to the paper. So for about $8 and some time investment, I had a very presentable stage that went well with the adorable program.

 

I firmly believe that each child should have a special part in each of the performances. So, the concept for this program was similar to the 1st grade Spring programs I've done in the past: each child spoke in the microphone saying something about Valentine's, then each child got to do something with a prop during one of the songs. A couple months before the show, I asked each student 3 questions: "What is a valentine?", "What do you do on Valentine's Day?", and "What's your favorite part about the Valentines holiday?". Then I selected one of their 3 answers for them to tell the audience, and I formed the program based upon those answers.   

There were 48 children in this performance, and the show was split up into 8 sections. In each section, several kids spoke their parts, and then there was a correlating song that those particular students who just spoke got to do something special during that song. The 8 songs were:

1. "Love is a Magic Word" -- the kids spoke about how Valentine's Day is for people to love others. They got to hold magic and heart props during the song.

2. "Skinnamarink"-- the kids talked about how special Valentines Day is. There was one girl and several boys in this section, and the boys each gave the girl a flower in a unique way during the song.

3.  "You are my Sunshine" -- the kids talked about people in their families who were "their" Valentines. They got to wear sunglasses and do action movements during this song, and one held up a large sun in the background.

4. "There's a Little Wheel a-Turning in my Heart" -- the kids talked about what a valentine may look like. They got to blow pinwheels with little hearts on them during this song.

5. "I Made a Valentine" -- the kids talked about valentine's they've made and decorated before, and during the song, they delivered special valentines to members in the audience.

6. "Mail Myself to You" -- the kids talked about ways to send Valentines, then they walked across the stage wearing giant envelopes during this song.

7. "When You Send a Valentine" --the kids talked about giving candy and gifts with their Valentines, then during this song, they acted out what was being said in the song about dropping off valentines, ringing the doorbell, and running.

8. "Viva Valentine" -- the kids talked about their favorite things to do on Valentine's Day. Then they each got to hold up one letter of the word 'Valentine' as it was being sung about during the song.

Kanyon's special part he got to say in the microphone was in the 7th section: "What kind of Valentine's do you like to give?". His answer was: "give candy to your friends".

During the song, he got to deliver a heart to a door, ring the doorbell, and run. His {special} friend Olivia S. was on the other side of the door, and she opened the door after he ran off and picked up his Valentine during the 1st verse. 

When the song was done, he joined his classmates back on the stage to observe the other kids saying their parts, and to help sing the songs. His decoration he drew for the program is the red heart on the wall directly above his head.

The program only lasted about 25 minutes, but it was so delightful. The students performed their program twice: once for their student peers on the 13th, and once for their parents/grandparents on the 14th. The final performance was absolutely perfect, and there were so many "ooohs" and "ahhhs" from the audience during tender moments in the show. I loved hearing the parents swoon over their cute kids! I was so happy with how it all turned out! And seeing my own child perform in my production is always so beneficial for me. I'm so happy I get to be their music teacher. This is a picture of Kanyon and his {special} friend Olivia S. that he got to deliver the heart to during the performance. He loved his part, and he was very happy to be able to deliver the heart to the girl that he likes so much!

I was so proud of the students; watching them perform is one of my favorite parts about being an elementary music teacher. One of the 1st grade teachers told me it was her favorite 1st grade musical performance yet! Success!