St. Patrick's Day
* St. Patrick's Day is March 17th and is an Irish holiday honoring Saint Patrick.
* Saint Patrick (Maewyn Succat) was kidnapped by pirates and sold into slavery at age 16. After six years, he finally escaped. He went to France adn there he became a priest.
* At age 60, Patrick went back to Ireland as a missionary for Christianity.
* Patrick was known for his winning personality.
* He used the shamrock as a metaphor to explain the concept of the Trinity.
* The legend about St. Patrick is that he drove the snakes out of Ireland. The "proof" is that there are no snakes in Ireland.
* In the United States on St. Patrick's Day, "everybody is Irish."
* Green is associated with St. Patrick's Day because it is the color of spring, Ireland, and the shamrock.
* A leprechaun is an Irish fairy. It looks like a two-foot tall, old man. Leprechauns are tricky, unfriendly and loners. They also possess a hidden pot of gold. If you can catch a leprechaun, he can be forced to reveal his treasure's location.
March is the time of year that I really work on letter writing with my students. Each day of the week of St. Patrick's Day I mess something up in the classroom. I usually leave out a little green hat or other green things. I also write a messy note to the children on the board (from the leprechaun). Each day the children write back to the leprechaun. They also write about what they think the leprechaun looks like and what he will do next.
I also use this as a behavior modification tool. Often the leprechaun will promise not to mess up the room, if the children will sit still, listen to the teacher, be a better friend, etc. (whatever happens to be lacking in my students at the time).
A great way to get parents involved is to ask them to help their child create a leprechaun trap.
I also use this time to teach the math skill of tallying. We tally each thing that the leprechauns change, break or move. You could tally each day or keep a running tally for the week.
(to the tune of "I'm a Little Teapot")
I'm a little leprechaun dressed in green.
The tiniest man that you've ever seen.
If you ever catch me, so it's told.
I'll give you my pot of gold!
(to the tune of "The Muffin Man")
Oh, have you seen a leprechaun,
A leprechaun,
a leprechaun,
Oh have you seen a leprechaun,
Who comes from Ireland?
Among the shamrocks he may hide,
he may hide,
he may hide.
Among the shamrocks he may hide,
so catch him if you can.
For good luck:
wear green
find a four-leaf clover
May your blessings outnumber the shamrocks that grow
And may trouble avoid you wherever you go.
Word Families:
-ock: shamrock, rock, clock, block, mock, sock, tock, flock
-ite: kite, bite, site
-ing: Spring, king, wing, ring, swing, thing, sing, bring
*Use shamrocks to teach counting by threes: Write the numbers 1, 2, and 3 on a 3-leaf-clover, one number on each leaf. On the other side of the shamrock, write a big 3 in the center. On the next shamrock, write the numbers 4, 5, and 6 and on the other side write a big 6, etc.
*Graph the students' favorite colors on a rainbow-like chart.
