Whether you’re Irish or not, bringing St. Patrick’s Day into your classroom activities is so much fun! This post shares engaging St. Patrick’s Day activities for upper elementary.
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St. Patrick’s Day Read-Alouds for Upper Elementary
Let’s jump right into these St. Patrick’s Day activities with some book ideas for 3rd-5th grade students.
Even though some of the book ideas shown have reading levels outside of 3rd-5th grade levels, they can be combined with other rigorous St. Patrick’s Day activities for your students.
My favorite one to read is Fiona’s Luck by Teresa Bateman.
Fiona is a clever girl who finds a way to trick leprechauns into sharing their “luck” with everyone who is struggling to survive in Ireland.
I use this St. Patrick’s day book to analyze the main character Fiona and highlight different character traits to describe her.
It’s also a great book to introduce the concepts of “luck” vs. “hard work.” Students need to know how their actions impact results, rather than just having good luck!
This book offers a fun way to have a class discussion about it.
How to Catch a Leprechaun St. Patrick’s Day Activity
Another really fun St. Patrick’s Day book idea is from the author Adam Wallace titled How to Catch a Leprechaun.
The theme of this book matches the title exactly! Two kids are trying to catch a leprechaun that’s doing mischievous things around their home.
I try to connect this read-aloud with a writing center where my students have to write a “How to…” paper on catching leprechauns.
My co-teacher who does Math & Science (I teach ELA & Social Studies) uses this same read-aloud for a “How to Catch a Leprechaun STEM project.”
These are always really fun St. Patrick’s Day activities for our upper elementary students!
There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Clover
I love the entire series about the old lady who swallowed a bunch of stuff!
So this one by Lucille Colandro definitely makes the list for our St. Patrick’s Day books.
These books are excellent mentor texts for teaching sequence plus cause and effect.
Each time the lady swallows something, it’s because she has a goal for the previous items she swallowed.
So not only do I challenge students to keep the correct order of items, but they have to explain why she swallowed them in that particular order.
Even though these books seem silly and fun with their rhyming words, they work really well to develop reading comprehension skills.
Plus, I combine this with nonfiction St. Patrick’s Day activities about clovers.
Jamie O’Rouke and The Big Potato
It’s hard to have St. Patrick’s Day activities without mentioning Ireland or leprechauns. So this read-aloud by Tomie dePaola fits really well with this holiday.
It’s about a lazy Irish man named Jamie who becomes desperate to get help with growing potatoes. This is where the leprechaun enters the story! I can’t tell the rest, otherwise, I’ll give away the story. π
Since it’s an Irish Folktale, students have to find the bigger meaning that connects to real life. And I LOVE when children’s literature connects to moral lessons that can be applied in real life.
St. Patrick’s Day Activities for Distance Learning
In the physical classroom, I get to set up all my read-alouds on a display to create a St. Patrick’s Day themed shelf. With virtual teaching, I have to do things a little differently.
So here are some engaging St. Patrick’s Day activities that work well for distance learning:
St. Patrick’s Day Mystery Pictures Activity
This resource is a Google Slides set that tells the history of Saint Patrick and how St. Patrick’s Day started.
Once students read the informational text passages, they must answer comprehension questions that allow them to “solve” the mystery picture.
Not only did I include reading passages, but also math practice that can be related to St. Patrick’s Day.
This activity can easily be connected with other nonfiction reading material for St. Patrick’s Day.
March Informational Text Passages
Although St. Patrick’s Day is a lot of fun, it’s still only one day. So I am connecting it with other high interest topics that will extend throughout March.
That’s why these digital March Informational Text passages include topics like:
- Clovers
- Rainbows–with some “facts” about leprechauns of course
- Thunder
- Caterpillar & Butterflies
- Tornadoes and more…
Since several of these topics are woven into most of our St. Patrick’s Day read-alouds, upper elementary students are more interested in learning the facts about them.
This is also a great way to compare and contrast fiction with nonfiction.
How Do You Read Your St. Patrick’s Day Books Online with Students?
It’s almost impossible to recommend any read-alouds without discussing ways to share them with students online.
For virtual teaching, I rely mostly on e-books through:
- Vooks (Animated read-alouds!!–Grab a free 30-Day trial, affiliate link)
- Epic (permanently free for all Elementary school teachers)
- Kindle Unlimited Books (I pay $2.99 a month for unlimited book choices–this link is an affiliate link)
With these e-book services, I can access St. Patrick’s day books online, then I share my screen with students we read the books together.
More St. Patrick’s Day Activities for Upper Elementary Students
Sometimes we teachers just need a quick little activity or ways to incorporate holiday fun into our lessons.
So I’ll wrap up this post with some random, but easy ways to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day whether you teach virtually or face-to-face:
- Play a St. Patrick’s Day Kahoot trivia
- Serve green snacks and green punch during your class snack break
- Encourage students to wear their favorite green shirt or accessories for your Zoom lessons that day
- Incorporate a Shamrock Literacy Center like this Shamrock Spelling activity:
- During your morning meeting time, have students share reasons why they feel “lucky” by naming things they’re grateful for
- Or just encourage everyone to wear green for a “Green Themed-Day.”
Happy St. Patrick’s Day Teaching!! π
