Celebrate Saint Patrick's Day in The Language Arts Classroom
Ideas and activities to engage learners in the history and culture of St. Patrick's Day.
By Dawn Dodson
As spring approaches, thoughts begin to drift to outdoor activities and vacations. In my own sixth-grade classroom, I view this fragile time of year as an opportunity to change our class-time routine in hopes of maintaining the attention and motivation of my students for the remainder of the school year. One way to accomplish this feat is by incorporating holiday celebrations into the routine and content of our class. St. Patrick’s Day is a holiday celebration enriched in history, tradition, and culture, which offers a trove of learning possibilities. Here are two lesson ideas to facilitate the incorporation of St. Patrick’s Day into springtime instruction.
Irish Poetry Study
Fortunately, when March arrives, I am ending the annual fantasy-genre unit and transitioning into a poetry study. Taking into consideration the time of year, I begin with an Irish poet study. On the first day, students are divided into groups to explore and read various Irish poems and poet biographies. Each student is given an evaluation handout which requires them to evaluate four poems. The objective is for students to analyze different characteristics, figurative language, and structure of each poem. Students share their poems and responses with their group and choose a favorite poem/poet. Each group shares their findings with the rest of the class.
After students complete the poem evaluations, they choose one poet to write an informational essay about. This essay includes information about the selected poet’s life, as well as, his or her work. Students also are required to study the time period during which the poet lived/lives, and discuss how world events and culture have affected their work. As a part of this study, students choose their favorite poem by their selected poet and present it to the class.
In years past, I’ve expanded the Irish poet essay to include a larger study about Irish culture. The poet study comprises one portion of the project, while students are also required to research Irish cultural traditions, religion, historic events, and geographical information. The length of the essay is expanded, as well as the inclusion of artifacts to represent each aspect of the research (i.e., recipes, art, maps, literature examples, etc.).
Irish Poetry Slam
During the week of St. Patrick’s Day, my class hosts an Irish Poetry Slam. This is a culminating activity that showcases students’ research of the Irish culture in addition to poetry presentation. In years past, students have helped prepare the classroom for the poetry slam by decorating with Irish symbols and sayings.
On the day of the poetry slam, students arrive to class with either a chosen poem from an Irish poet, or a student-created Irish-themed poem. Students can imitate a poet’s style or tone. They can also create original poems influenced by something they’ve learned throughout their research. Most students come to school dressed for the event and bring treats to enjoy during the presentations. This event is designed to be a celebration of students’ learning, as well as an observance of a culture.
St. Patrick’s Day offers an opportunity to explore and celebrate a culture. From research papers and presentations, to sharing literature, there are many ways to commemorate the holiday while simultaneously refreshing the classroom routine.
More ideas to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day:
St. Patrick—Symbol of Irishness
Investigate Irish history and culture. There is a great history reference at the beginning of this lesson to help in finding resources for both students and teacher. This resource can also be modified to suit students at various levels.
This is comprised of several lessons ideas that can be transformed into a unit of study about Saint Patrick. From studying myths and legends of the Saint, to researching his life, students are exposed to a plethora of information. This lesson also includes several resources and extension activities.
Make a Multi-Cultural Calendar
Learners will get to create a calendar to reflect multi-cultural holidays and symbols. Divide your class into groups, each assigned a different culture to fill in dates and illustrate culturally significant symbols on blank calendar pages. This could be a great way to review multi-cultural content.
The purpose of this lesson is to create leprechaun traps! Young learners read and research information about Ireland and St. Patrick’s Day. The culminating activity includes making a commercial advertisement and demonstrating the trap in a presentation.
