Love amplifies everything in our lives. It slows down time. It makes our hearts pound in our chests. It takes our breath away. That is why love is the perfect emotion for writing hyperboles, and Valentine's Day is the perfect time for writing a Valentine's Day Hyperbole poem.
Hyperboles are exaggerations. When we are hyperbolic we can do almost anything: we could eat a million pancakes, sleep for two years, eyes pop out of our heads, we steal hearts, our hearts break in two, we die from love, and we die from boredom. Add love to the equation, and we are climbing the highest mountain, swimming the widest sea, and we are screaming our feelings so loud the whole world can hear us.
Students have fun writing hyperboles any time of the year. It's a challenge to try and outdo everyone else in the class with one's ability to exaggerate. That's why Tall Tales are so amusing and capture our imagination throughout time, and through so many generations.
This year as I watched the stores fill up with Valentine's merchandise, and the many brightly colored, glittered declarations of love, I thought it would be fun to write a love poem using hyperboles. However, since I teach 3rd grade I decided a romantic love poem wasn't the way to go.
3rd graders might not have much experience to draw from in the romantic love department, but they have plenty of experience with things and activities that they love. Why not exaggerate how much we love pancakes, or climbing trees, or playing football? Are our favorite tacos really good enough for us to swim the deepest ocean for? Does reading a good book make us feel like we are floating on a cloud of cotton candy? Would my heart rocket out of my chest and orbit the Earth if I had a chance to see a whale swim near me in the ocean? (Probably!)
Students should think of something they really love doing, or eating, or playing, etc. and write a Valentine's Hyperbole poem about it. They should try and include as many hyperboles as they can think of in the poem to really emphasize their love. Finally, if you want to add a technology component to the activity, have them create a Google Drawing with a picture of themselves in it, and lines from their Valentine's poem surrounding them.Valentine's Hyperbole Poems
