St. Patrick’s Day in ELA – Ideas for Reading & Writing in March
It’s your lucky day in ELA! That’s because St. Patrick’s Day is one more opportunity to incorporate an engaging, fun, multicultural topic into English language arts. It’s another chance to set a good feeling tone while engaging students’ emotions — whether by writing silly limericks, by empathizing with Irish struggles in serious verse, or by philosophically pondering the concept of luck. So, here are some ideas for you, which you can use all March long. Please let me know in the comments or link up if you have some great ideas too. (I FINALLY got Instagram @lovingela — I’d love to connect there too.)
Here are some ideas for St. Patrick’s Day (and all of March) in ELA:
1) Quick-Write About Luck: According to the Roman philosopher Seneca, “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” In other words, he postulates, we aren’t born “lucky” or “unlucky”; rather, we make our own luck. I’m pretty sure Jack on Titanic said something along those lines too (lol).
Ask students to write about this topic that has been debated for eons. Is “luck” more about accidentally being in the right place at the right time, or is it more about intentionally getting yourself to the “right place”? This could be a quick-write topic. Ask students to give at least one example to support a point they make about luck. If they have trouble thinking of one, have them consider a musician or recording artist’s career path and how either luck, or preparation, or both, may have led to their success.
I like this quick lifehacker article on how to prepare yourself for opportunities (get lucky). Students might like it too.
2) Write a Limerick: There once was a lady named Katie, She was an amazing lady, But her moods were unreal, We were like What is her deal?, Then she finally chilled out at age eighty….Anyway, limericks are so fun. They were quite likely invented in Limerick, Ireland. (Read this article to find out.) And even esteemed writers such as Rudyard Kipling have written them. They’re great for getting reluctant writers to not only get words down on paper, but to probably laugh in the process! When you have students share them, students get to know each other in a fun way. Check out my free one-page printable or Google Slides version that guides students step-by-step in writing a limerick.
3) Delve Into Irish Literature: For young kids, I would check out this list of best Irish children’s books, or I would see what fun stories about Irish culture or St. Patrick’s Day they have in the library. For older students, I would check out some of these authors, but beware that the subject matter is often intense when it’s about struggling (a common theme): Frank McCourt (Angela’s Ashes is an amazing memoir but very sad!), Samuel Beckett (Waiting for Godot), James Joyce (Ulysses), Jonathan Swift (Gulliver’s Travels), Oscar Wilde (The Picture of Dorian Gray), or a newer verse novel called Nóinín.
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4) Speaking of Irish Literature – A Poem for St. Patrick’s Day: I found this great literary, historical poem that was delivered to an audience in San Francisco on March 17, 1870, by an Irish immigrant passionate about Ireland’s history, struggles, and changes. Here is the poem FREE with 10 literary analysis questions in easy-print or digital interactive Google Slides version for easy distance learning. Great for grades 5 all the way through high school.
5) Learn All About U2 (The best Irish band ever in my biased opinion): Okay, so you’re probably already getting the feeling this activity has a lot to do with ME and MY desires, but I personally think it’s a great idea for ELA. I have loved U2 my whole life, including their no-apologies songs about human rights struggles (which were more serious than most of the quirky 80s stuff which I also loved), and they are very passionate about their homeland of Ireland. So, I was thinking, have students read about the band, their biographies, their story, their verses, the literary devices they use in their poetic songs, etc…they are humanitarians and have been on the world stage for decades, so why not? (OMG they’re so awesome.)
Image Credit: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:U2_2015.jpg (R. L. 68, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons)
I HOPE YOU AND YOUR STUDENTS HAVE A GREAT ST. PATRICK’S DAY – ALL MARCH LONG – IN ELA!
You know what else students LOVE? These high-interest informational texts and tasks. I went out of my way to make the articles super interesting to upper elementary and middle schoolers by writing about things that interest them. And, guess what? It worked. I keep hearing from teachers how kids get so into these passages. They actually want to answer the questions. They even want to discuss the articles as a group.
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How about save this pin to your “current seasonal resources” or “diversity in ELA” or “Irish Literature” Pinterest boards so you can read it again later?
