Description
What our Holidays: Saint Patrick’s Day lesson plan includes
Lesson Objectives and Overview: Holidays: Saint Patrick’s Day is a high-interest reading comprehension lesson plan. As such, students will practice various close reading and comprehension skills. In addition, they will determine the central idea or theme of the article and understand more about various celebrations surrounding Saint Patrick’s Day. This lesson is for students in 3rd grade, 4th grade, and 5th grade.
Classroom Procedure
Every lesson plan provides you with a classroom procedure page that outlines a step-by-step guide to follow. You do not have to follow the guide exactly. The guide helps you organize the lesson and details when to hand out worksheets. It also lists information in the yellow box that you might find useful. You will find the lesson objectives, state standards, and number of class sessions the lesson should take to complete in this area. In addition, it describes the supplies you will need as well as what and how you need to prepare beforehand. For the activity, you’ll need to prepare ahead of time. There are two preparation pages that contain shamrock cutouts and facts. Make enough copies of the shamrocks to accommodate all the facts. You can either write or cut out the facts and glue them onto the shamrocks. Hide them around the room for students to find during the activity.
Teacher Notes
The paragraph on this page gives you a little more information on the lesson overall and describes what you may want to focus your teaching on. It explains that you can teach this lesson in a whole-class setting or as an independent, small-group activity. The blank lines are available for you to write out any thoughts or ideas you have as you prepare.
HOLIDAYS: SAINT PATRICK’S DAY LESSON PLAN CONTENT PAGES
History of Saint Patrick’s Day
The Holidays: Saint Patrick’s Day lesson plan contains two content pages. Saint Patrick’s Day is a festive celebration held every year on March 17. This day honors Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. It is celebrated not only in Ireland but in many countries worldwide. While it started as a religious holiday, it is now a lively festival that brings people together to celebrate Irish culture, history, and heritage.
The history of Saint Patrick’s Day dates back to the 5th century. A man named Patrick was born in Roman England. At age 16, he was kidnapped and taken to Ireland as a slave. After his escape, Patrick later returned to Ireland as a missionary. He played a crucial role in converting the Irish people to Christianity. March 17 is believed to be the date of his death, so it has been marked in his honor ever since.
In the early days, Saint Patrick’s Day was a solemn religious occasion. It was a time for attending church services and reflecting on Patrick’s contributions to Irish Christianity. In fact, until the 1970s, Irish law mandated that pubs remain closed on March 17, making the holiday much quieter than it is today. The day was also recognized as a Catholic feast day, and it was a time to remember Patrick’s missionary work.
Celebrating Today
Today, Saint Patrick’s Day has evolved into a major public festival celebrated globally. Large parades in cities like Dublin, New York, Chicago, and Boston fill the streets with floats, music, dancers, and performers. In addition to parades, there are activities, parties, concerts, and other events celebrating Irish culture.
A unique part of the Saint Patrick’s Day celebration is the “wearing of the green.” This tradition is tied to Ireland’s nickname, the Emerald Isle, and the green in the Irish flag. People wear green clothing accessories and even paint their faces to show their Irish pride. Many believe that wearing green on Saint Patrick’s Day makes them invisible to leprechauns, who are said to pinch anyone they can see!
One of the most exciting events on Saint Patrick’s Day is the annual tradition in Chicago, where the Chicago River is dyed green. This tradition began in 1962. Today, thousands gather along the riverbanks to watch the water turn a vibrant shade of green, kicking off the city’s festivities.
Saint Patrick’s Day is also a time to enjoy Irish food and drink. Traditional Irish dishes, such as corned beef and cabbage, soda bread, and Irish stew, are often served during the celebrations. Some bakeries create special green-themed treats, such as shamrock-shaped cookies or cupcakes decorated with green icing, just for the occasion. There are green goodies galore for the grand celebration!
Interesting Facts
An interesting fact about Saint Patrick’s Day is that it is celebrated more widely outside of Ireland than within the country itself. In cities like New York and Boston, which have large Irish-American communities, Saint Patrick’s Day is a major event that draws thousands of participants and spectators. These celebrations are often much larger and more elaborate than those in Ireland, where the holiday tends to be more low-key.
What about the shamrock? The shamrock is a unique green plant that has three leaves, and it was used by Patrick to explain a critical Christian concept. He showed people how the shamrock’s three leaves could be one plant, just like the three parts of God are all connected but still one. This simple idea is why the shamrock symbolizes Patrick and his teachings.
Saint Patrick’s Day is a festival that has grown from its religious roots into a global celebration of Irish culture. Whether it’s attending a parade, wearing green, or enjoying Irish food, people worldwide come together every March 17 to celebrate the legacy of Patrick and the rich traditions of Ireland. It is a day full of fun, history, and pride for people of Irish descent and those who simply love Irish culture.
HOLIDAYS: SAINT PATRICK’S LESSON PLAN WORKSHEETS
The Holidays: Saint Patrick’s Day lesson plan includes two worksheets: an activity worksheet and a practice worksheet. Each one will help students solidify their grasp of the material they learned throughout the lesson. You can refer to the classroom procedure guidelines to know when to hand out each worksheet.
LEPRECHAUNS AND SHAMROCKS ACTIVITY WORKSHEET
For the activity, students will go around the room to find the hidden shamrocks that contain fun facts about St. Patty’s Day. On the worksheet, they will write down seven facts that they or their group found. Then they will describe which fact they think is the most interesting.
REVIEW PRACTICE WORKSHEET
The practice worksheet lists 10 questions based on the content. These questions all relate to the content pages, so students will need to refer to them often for the answers. In addition, each question provides which reading tool the question corresponds to, such as text feature, vocabulary, or comprehension.
Worksheet Answer Keys
At the end of the lesson plan document is an answer key for the practice worksheet. The correct answers are all in red to make it easier for you to compare them with students’ responses. If you choose to administer the lesson pages to your students via PDF, you will need to save a new file that omits these pages. Otherwise, you can simply print out the applicable pages and keep these as reference for yourself when grading assignments.
