Many things have come to symbolize love—especially on Valentine’s Day: chocolate, cupid, hearts, jewelry, roses . . . the list is very long! With all these different symbols, this holiday offers a great way to blend the fun of the day with connections to the MDE Academic Standards for elementary students. The Michigan eLibrary (MeL) provides free access to encyclopedia and magazine articles, eBooks, images, and video clips that can be used to build background knowledge and further learning about many of the topics that get shared on or around this special day.

Chocolate

With a nod to the sciences, the subject of chocolate may inspire a comparison between local ecosystems versus those that exist where cocoa beans grow. While the eBook K-8 Collection offers Beans to Chocolate, a colorful text that guides readers through the details of cocoa growth and production, Britannica School provides specific facts about chocolate and ecosystems, as well as an interactive atlas to help learners realize the proximity of growing regions in Africa or South America to the well-known Hershey, Pennsylvania chocolate factory. Britannica also offers a curated list of Web’s Best Sites behind the Related tab, including Inventors and Inventions: Chocolate.

Gemstones & Gold

Conversations in the classroom about gemstones can easily become early elementary lessons in economics. PebbleGo Social Studies gives Kindergarten through second grade students access to engaging read-aloud text and media that articulates needs and wants, consumers and producers, goods and services, and supply and demand. Inside the Gold Industry, from the eBook K-8 Collection, invites readers to consider both the negative and positive effects of industry on a local economy, and the eBook Public Library Collection offers texts to help young students learn further about Diamonds, Groovy Gems and Marveling at Minerals. For additional facts, images, and video clips, Britannica School also covers economics, diamond, gold, platinum, and silver.

Hearts

To learn all about the heart parts, what makes a heartbeat, blood vessels, and more, Your Hardworking Heart and Spectacular Circulatory System title from the eBook K-8 Collection is the perfect place to start. To see a beating, human heart, the video clip in Britannica Elementary is just what you’re seeking. Moreover, Britannica has articles, images and more video clips on blood and the cardiovascular system.

There are so many eResources available in MeL to support all the great symbols of Valentine’s Day; this is only the beginning!

If you have any MeL eResources questions or issues, contact [email protected] for help.