St. Patrick's Day Activities for All Ages

There are tons of activities out there for students to enjoy St. Patrick's Day. So many times we find some that are appropriate for one age level or another. The three activities in this post span various age groups.

0

Books and Brackets Blog Hop

Are you excited about a fun March and blog hop full of fun?!  The Books and Brackets Blog Hop hosted by Jackie from Neat, Sweet, and Hard to Beat is chock full of fun!  Welcome to Reading Toward the Stars as we roll through March.

One of the best parts of March is the fun holiday of St. Patrick's Day. Since my favorite color is green, I so enjoy wearing some of my favorite green clothes, along with some bling. And leprechauns are just so much fun and cute!

**This post contains affiliate links to help fund this blog.**

A favorite book of mine for St. Patrick's Day is That's What Leprechauns Do by Eve Bunting.

In the book,  three leprechauns, Boo, Col, and Ari have to go on a mission to put the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.  They all say they will go on the journey and make no mischief, but the problem is that the leprechauns cannot stay out of mischief.  It all starts when they paint the cow's hooves red and continues on from there.  The story leaves the reader wondering if they will put the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.  The children will love the story and laugh along the way at the three mischievous leprechauns!

I have created a fun freebie for you that will make St. Patrick's Day full of learning! After reading the book to your students, you can use the activities to work on sequencing and writing skills. There are two levels of sequencing skills ~ one where students fill in their own shamrocks with events from the story and one where students put the events of the story in order.

There are also two writing pages where students can write their own stories about something else leprechauns might do. One page is for younger students and one for older students.

I hope you are enjoying the freebies on the blog hop.  Now hop on over to my store to grab this freebie! Click {here} or on the picture below to grab it!

And don't forget to enter the giveaway to win your own copy of That's What Leprechauns Do.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

And enter to win a TPT gift card from all of us!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Happy St. Patrick's Day,and I hope the mischevious leprechauns stay out of your way!

8

Book Talk Thursday ~ St. Patrick's Day and Freebie

St. Patrick's Day is right around the corner, and I wanted to share a book and activity I did several years ago for Book Talk Thursday.  I used the book The Leprechaun's Gold by Pamela Duncan Edwards to guide the students through the process.

The story is about Old Pat and Young Tom, who are both harpists.   Tom learned to play the harp from Old Pat but thinks that he is a better harpist and should always charge money.  The king decides to hold a contest to see who the best harpist in the land is, so they both decide to travel together to play in the king's contest.  Tom realizes that he will lose to Pat, so he destroys Pat's harp, making it unable to play beautifully.  Along the way, they hear a leprechaun who needs help, so Pat chooses to help the leprechaun.  The sincere hospitality of Pat helps the leprechauns show their gratitude.

In the story, Young Tom changes his attitude, so I used this Character Change Chart to help them understand that characters can change in a story.   You can use this with any book that has a character that changes throughout the story.  Just click here or on the picture below to grab it.

I love how my students think about the characters during a story.  They now understand that they don't always stay the same, and many times the solution is born out of their changes.

Don't forget to link up again this week!

An InLinkz Link-up

1

Quick Leprechaun Freebie!

OK, so the yearbook is supposed to be getting  my FULL attention now, but I had to share this new freebie with you!  It is a template for a class book that you can use after reading Eve Bunting's book That's What Leprechauns Do.  {Check out my post here about the book.}

Click on the pictures below or here to grab this freebie!  I have included paper for little and big kids!  Enjoy!

I will share some later this week {or next} after my kids have done them.  I can't wait to see their ideas!

OK!  Now to finish this yearbook because there are some great linkies to take part in!

Until next time!

0

Book Talk Thursday ~ St. Patrick's Day Edition {with freebies}

It is that time of week again ~ Book Talk Thursday!

I have TWO freebies for you in this post, so read on to find them!

Since St. Patrick's Day is right around the corner, I am going to showcase two different books that I plan to use with my students next week.   Since I am testing, I am going to do more read-alouds with my students.

With my first and second graders, I am going to use That's What Leprechauns Do by Eve Bunting.

The book is about three leprechauns, Boo, Col, and Ari have to go on a mission to put the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.  They all say they will go on the journey and make no mischief, but the problem is that the leprechauns cannot stay out of mischief.  It all starts when they paint the cow's hooves red and continues on from there.  The story leaves the reader wondering if they will put the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.  The children will love the story and laugh along the way at the three mischievous leprechauns!

I am going to do a lot of predicting and sequencing with the students.  Since I will actually be able to see my first and second graders each day, I am going to use my Catch a Leprechaun book and rhyming game with the students.  You can grab it from my TPT store or TN shop.

Since you have made it this far, here is your first freebie!  I shared this on Monday, but in case you missed it, here is the game board with blank game cards that you can use with any concept!  Grab it and have some fun! Click on the picture to grab it!

Now for the second book!  My third graders are still working on character traits.  After working with biographies in their class, I thought this was fitting.  This week we are going to focus on how characters change throughout the story.  I am going to use The Leprechaun's Gold by Pamela Duncan Edwards to guide the students through the process.

The story is about Old Pat and Young Tom, who are both harpists.   Tom learned to play the harp from Old Pat but thinks that he is a better harpist and should always charge money.  The king decides to hold a contest to see who the best harpist in the land is, so they both decide to travel together to play in the king's contest.  Tom realizes that he will lose to Pat, so he destroys Pat's harp, making it unable to play beautifully.  Along the way, they hear a leprechaun who needs help, so Pat chooses to help the leprechaun.  The sincere hospitality of Pat helps the leprechauns show their gratitude.

In the story, Young Tom changes his attitude, so I am going to use this Character Change Chart to help them understand that characters can change in a story.  This is your second freebie!  You can use this with any book that has a character that changes throughout the story.  Just click here or on the picture below to grab it.

I am also going to do a little context clues work with them, since this activity won't take all week.  I just created this context clues game using the above gameboard.  It is on sale for half price through the weekend, so grab it in my TPT store or TN shop.

I hope these will help you plan for St. Patrick's Day!  These two books are great for helping children understand parts of literature.  Enjoy!

Until next time!

4

St. Patrick's Day Gameboard Freebie

St. Patrick's Day is right around the corner!  Every holiday seems to have sneaked up on me this year, but I actually feel like I am ahead with St. Patrick's Day!  I am planning to make some fun games with this board, but I wanted to share it with you before I add anything to it.

The file includes the above gameboard, which you can use for any game or concept ~ sight words, spelling patterns, math facts, you name it!  You can write on it or the cards that I have also included.  Due to my own printer problems, the cards are in color and black and white!  The file also includes 6 leprechaun game pieces for you to use.

I hope you enjoy these!  Like I mentioned, I am planning to make some fun games to sell in my TPT and TN stores.  If you have any good ideas, leave them with your email address in the comments below.  If I make something with your idea, I will email you a copy!

Enjoy and have fun!!

Until next time!

6