St. Patrick's Day History

Did you know that St. Patrick's Day is a day of remembrance for the Patron Saint of Ireland?

Many people do not know this about St. Patrick's Day. Our country has become so good at partying in our green on this day that we have forgotten that it came about for a reason. This is why this is one of my favorite units to teach: The History of St. Patrick's Day.

I love utilizing vocabulary in all the units I teach, so there are vocabulary cards, flip flaps for interactive notebooks, and a match page to have practice with key words that are a part of this unit.

There are also two different ways to read about the life of St. Patrick. There is a short story page that I use when I teach this unit whole class and then there is a mini reader that I use for small groups. Each tell the life of St. Patrick and how he is the reason for the day day of remembrance on March 17th. We also use the interesting facts page to discuss some of the different elements of the holiday.

Since students are usually pretty interested in learning about St. Patrick, we have a little fun and talk about 6 different legends that are connected with him. It gives us all a good giggle to see what kind of stories have been connected to St. Patrick. There is a interactive notebook activity that goes along with this discussion. If you do not use interactive notebooks in your classroom than you could always have them glue these on separate sheets of paper.

Once we have talked about St. Patrick, I post one of the write the room activities. Which one I choose depends on the level that will suit  my students the best. One is less challenging than the other.

 At the end of the unit we make one or both of the clover mini projects. I work at a christian school so I am able to complete the project on the Holy Trinity with them. If you are at a public school than you could complete the 4 leaf clover activity which talks about faith, hope, love, and luck. There is a poem to attach to the back of each clover. 

This is just a glimpse of what we use to talk about the real reason for St. Patrick's Day. If you have any questions let me know : )

Ashley