Saint Patrick’s Day is one of the less prominent holidays, but we can still recognize and celebrate it with Saint Patrick’s Day activities. We need to keep students learning while recognizing the holiday because there is so much to get done. Students love holidays and anything that is a slight break from the usual academic rigor. You will have fun options for your ELA block with these Saint Patrick’s Day Activities.
Saint Patrick’s Day Activities in My Classrooms
The classrooms I’ve worked in haven’t paid much attention to Saint Patrick’s Day. The teachers usually just told the students to wear green or Saint Patrick’s Day clothes. They might do a worksheet about it, but it didn’t teach much. Some students would be devastated if they forgot to wear green clothes, which would throw off their whole day.
When I was teaching fourth grade the teacher I worked with had the students write limericks for Saint Patrick’s Day. Students loved writing limericks because it allowed them to be funny and silly. They learned a little bit about a type of poetry that is credited to Ireland, practiced their writing skills, and laughed a lot.
Do Saint Patrick’s Day Activities Have a Place in the Classroom?
There are probably at least a few kids in your classroom that have some Irish ancestors, so it’s nice to recognize the cultural heritage of your students. However, there are so many holidays that students must keep learning academic skills among the fun. Saint Patrick’s Day does have a place in the classroom depending on your students’ cultures and what you’re studying. Celebrating a holiday always helps shape the classroom culture.
Saint Patrick’s Day activities can help your classroom in four ways. Saint Patrick’s Day activities are a great way to bring another culture into your classroom. You can look up some of the most interesting aspects of Irish culture and have the students teach about them.
Celebrating any holiday in the classroom helps to build community and shape classroom culture. The community of a classroom lets kids enjoy school and feel safe making mistakes.
You can always incorporate different academic skills while celebrating a holiday. Just think about how to bring together the holiday and academics.
Most holidays have historic origins so it’s a great way to teach history that might not usually be included in the curriculum. It’s always good to teach more history.
More Saint Patrick’s Day Activities
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3 Fun Saint Patrick’s Day Activities
These Saint Patrick’s Day activities are ELA based. I love having kids learn through writing, but there are so many ideas that you can include in a Saint Patrick’s Day celebration. Never limit yourself on which ideas you include in a holiday celebration. It’s a celebration so have fun with it.
What is the History of Saint Patrick’s Day?
As students get older I love having them research why holidays became holidays and how they became holidays. Giving them a deeper understanding of holidays while practicing writing is a great way to still include the holidays in the curriculum.
This particular project is a collaborative research project to help students learn to work together and give you less grading. Students each research Saint Patrick’s Day, then they review their research as a group. They take time to fact-check each other and determine whether the information is accurate. After that, the groups decide which information is the most important. Then they use the most important facts and events to build their slideshow or report.
So much of this work can be done digitally, but it’s also a good challenge for students to learn, work together, and prioritize information. It’s simple for students to fact-check for an actual project too.
Limericks for Saint Patrick’s Day
Limericks are a type of poetry associated with Ireland, but there is some debate about whether they originated there. I always start my lesson with this idea for students. The great thing about limericks is that they are very silly. Students love writing and sharing them.
If you don’t recall what limericks are they are a five-line poem. One start might be “There once was a man from Peru.” Lines 1, 2, and 5 rhyme. Lines 3 and 4 rhyme too. The rhythm of a limerick is very distinct because some of the lines are long and some are short. They are poems that are meant to be performed.
Saint Patrick’s Day Poetry
Acrostic poems are classroom classics because they are simple and easy to teach. However, when I teach my students acrostics I expect more from them. I require them to use sentences as they write. Their sentences can be more than one line, which also makes it easier to find a good idea for each letter.
These more mature acrostics help students to tell a story or explain their idea better. It’s also just a bit more mature for kids who are in upper elementary or middle school.
Here is Your FREE Prompt for Writing Poetry
I know that you needed a prompt to help kickstart your students’ writing. Here is an entire lesson for FREE. My Our School Poem guides students on how to use sensory language to describe their school. The step-by-step directions guide your class through the writing process with all the necessary worksheets making this the perfect lesson for your classroom.