St. Patrick’s Day Reading & Writing Activities
Looking to add some fun to your St. Patrick’s Day reading lessons without sacrificing valuable instructional time during the stressful testing season? Then you’ll love these ready-to-use St. Patrick’s Day ELA lesson plans with printables.
These engaging activities focus on important fiction and non-fiction reading comprehension skills that are perfect for March and can be completed in just 1-2 instructional days, depending on your reading schedule.
Students will love learning all about the traditions and symbols of St. Patrick’s Day in this fun mini-book format.
What’s included in this St. Patrick’s Day ELA Lesson Pack?
These Ready-to-Use St. Patrick’s Day ELA Lesson Plans includes everything you need for your reading block this St. Patrick’s Day. step-by-step lesson plans and printable student mini-book templates to make teaching easy.
- Step-by-step lesson plans for whole group & small group instruction
- Independent practice materials
- Printable student mini-books
- Original non-fiction article about the symbols & traditions of St. Patrick’s Day
How to use this St. Patrick’s Day ELA Lesson Plans Pack
The included lessons are easy to follow and differentiate. The lessons consist of three core components:
- Read aloud with a review of key elements of fiction
- A partner or small group nonfiction passage with comprehension
- Independent writing task focused on a fun holiday prompt
All student work, along with a copy of the nonfiction passage, is kept together in an easy-to-assemble booklet that creates a mini book for students to share with their families.
Here’s a bit more about each element of the pack:
Read Aloud Lesson Focus: Elements of Fiction
The read aloud for this pack is the book Jamie O’Rourke & the Big Potato by Tomie de Paola.
Your students will love this book about a lazy man and his encounter with a leprechaun who grants him a wish.
Most libraries have a copy of this book in their section by Tomie de Paola, but if yours doesn’t you can grab Jamie O’Rourke and the Big Potato on Amazon here. (Disclosure: affiliate link)
After the read aloud, students can work as a group or independently to complete the first three sections of their mini-book.
For this story, students will generate a list of characters and their traits, identify the setting and why it was important, and list the main problem and how it was solved. Then they will be asked to write a short retell.
Small group or partner reading: Nonfiction text
The next component of this St. Patrick’s Day ELA Pack is the non-fiction reading selection. Each student has a copy of the passage right in their mini-book, and the reading focuses on the history and symbols of St. Patrick’s Day.
Students will read about who St. Patrick was, how this holiday is celebrated, and the traditions associated with it.
After reading, students can work in partners or independently to summarize the passage using a graphic organizer included in the mini-book.
Then they’ll be asked to list several facts they learned from the passage.
Independent Writing Focus: Creative Writing
Students love responding to this prompt, which focuses on what they’d do if they found a pot of gold.
Whether you brainstorm together as a group before setting students free to write or you just give them free reign to let their imaginations go wild, you are sure to get some fun (and creative) answers.
There are several pages in the mini-book for the student response to make it easy to keep all the assignments associated with this holiday ELA pack in one spot.
Common Core Standards covered:
Below is a list of standards covered for third and fourth grade. These are also provided on the teacher guide included with this resource to make it easy to document in your lesson plans.
Reading standards addressed
Third Grade Standards:
- RL 3.1
- RL 3.3
- RI 3.1
- RI 3.7
- RI 3.10
Fourth Grade Standards:
- RL 4.1
- RL 4.3
- RI 4.2
- RI 4.3
- RI 4.10
Writing standards addressed
Third Grade Standards:
- CCRA W1
- CCRA W4
- W 3.2
Fourth Grade Standards:
- CCRA W1
- CCRA W4
- W 4.2
How to purchase this St. Patrick’s Day ELA Lesson Pack
This St. Patrick’s Day Lesson Pack is available on Teachers Pay Teachers.