Are you planning to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in your classroom? Some teachers may encourage their students to wear green to school or bring in special treats or trinkets for the class. While these ideas are fun, you can take your St. Patrick’s Day festivities further by turning them into a relevant classroom lesson.

We’ve curated a collection of ELA, social studies, and science resources to help you plan St. Patrick’s Day activities for school. Use them as standalone lessons or incorporate them into your larger lesson plans to get students engaged in the holiday and what they’re learning.

• Discover the history of the St. Patrick’s Day
• Explore the magic of St. Patrick’s Day
• Look for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow with seasonal STEAM

[Discover the history of St. Patrick’s Day](id-ss)

Use social studies resources to help you plan St. Patrick’s Day activities for school that build background knowledge and connect new information to students’ firsthand experiences:

This history of St. Patrick’s Day celebrations and traditions

Whether they have Irish roots or not, people around the world celebrate Irish traditions and culture every year on March 17. Help students explore what they know about the origins and traditions of the holiday:

• Learn about the life and legacy of the religious figure St. Patrick and how he became the patron saint of Ireland.
• Explore the symbols most commonly associated with St. Patrick’s Day, such as shamrocks, snakes, and leprechauns.
• Discover how St. Patrick’s Day transformed from a religious holiday in Ireland to a worldwide cultural (and often secular) celebration.

This week in history: St. Patrick’s Day (March 17, 461)

Travel back in time and learn about the events that inspired people to start celebrating St. Patrick’s Day in Ireland and around the world. Then, have students choose an activity to apply what they learned about Irish history, holidays, and the experiences of ethnic immigrants:

• Ask students to plan a trip to Ireland during the week of St. Patrick’s Day. Encourage them to research places to visit, meals to try, and experiences they don’t want to miss.
• Invite students to create their own holiday. Have them write the holiday’s origin story and include information about celebrations, traditions, and foods associated with it.
• Encourage students to share what they learned about the immigrant experience of the Irish in America. Create a timeline of Irish immigration in the United States and highlight key moments explored in the articles in the text set.

A visit to Ireland

Invite students on a trip across the Atlantic to explore the past and present history and customs of Ireland. Use resources to look at key points in Ireland’s history and explore topics like:

• The history of Celtic culture and how it still influences art and design in Ireland and across the globe.
• The Great Famine in Ireland, its devastating effects on the people of the country, and how it influenced some people’s choices to leave their homeland to look for a better life.
• The first Krispy Kreme shop opening in Ireland and how it was so popular the company had to close the 24-hour drive-tru after just one week in business.

[Explore the magic of St. Patrick’s Day](id-ela)

Use St. Patrick’s Day ELA resources to help students experience the magic of this holiday through fiction and nonfiction texts:

ELA resources for St. Patrick’s Day

Invite students to explore the world of magical fiction:

The Pot of Gold: An Irish Story

Help immerse students in the themes of St. Patrick’s Day with a story about one man’s attempt to capture a leprechaun and find his pot of gold.

• Before they read, ask students to predict what they think will happen to the main character, Donal, at the end of the story.
• Then have them use the annotation feature in the text at the end to highlight the conclusion to determine if their conclusion was right or wrong, and why.

Meet the magic folk

Introduce students to characters commonly found in British Isles folklore, like leprechauns and fairies. Then, use a paired nonfiction text about the 20th anniversary of the publication of the Harry Potter series to explore the evolution of magic and fantastic creatures in fiction.

The symbolism of holiday colors

What color do your students associate with St. Patrick’s Day? Most would probably say green (though we could see the argument for a rainbow). Use this holiday as an opportunity to review the concept of symbolism and have students consider why we associate certain colors with certain holidays.

[Look for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow with seasonal STEAM](id-sci)

Rainbows are just one of the many symbols of St. Patrick’s Day. Have your students explore how rainbows form in nature. Then, have them learn the science concept of capillary action by creating their own rainbows with water, food coloring, and paper towels.

Have students collect (gold) tokens with the Independent Reading Challenge

Encourage reading for fun inside and outside the classroom with the Newsela Independent Reading Challenge! This monthly, gamified event encourages students to practice literacy skills on their own by reading about topics that interest them. Rather than a leprechaun’s gold coins, students can earn badges and tokens for completing the associated quiz and Power Words activities on articles included in the challenge.

Log in to your Newsela account to explore how you can use and adapt the Independent Reading Challenge for your students in your classroom.