St. Patrick's Day!

Can you believe that it is already March? St. Patrick's Day is just around the corner! My school will actually be on spring break during St. Patrick's Day...not so much of a spring break. Our break is based off of when our grading period ends. This year we started pretty early in August, therefore early spring break! No complaining though. A break is a break! (And a very appreciated one.)

Don't you worry. An early spring break won't keep me from celebrating this wonderful holiday. It's just too much fun to pass up! Let's start with what I will be using with my lovely third graders.

If you have read my previous posts, you have probably figured out that I love EBSCOhost and use it all the time. For St. Patrick's Day, I have pulled several articles from previous Scholastic issues. There were lots of great articles to choose from, but I settled on A Day for a Parade, Welcome to Ireland, and The Luck of the Irish. (Simply search the titles on EBSCOhost. Click here if you need help using EBSCOhost.)

I selected these particular articles because they lend themselves well to a lesson on main idea and supporting details. We will be using the articles with some fun St. Patrick's Day themed graphic organizers. If you would like your own copies, you can purchase the graphic organizers at my TPT store. Just click the image below. If you would prefer a plain form, use this free, generic summary template. 

For my fifth grade students, I picked a more challenging text. We will be reading The Leprechaun's Kettle.  (Simply search the titles on EBSCOhost.) For a month, the article will also be available at Highlights Teachers. They change the articles every month. I would recommend you check out this short story. It is about a boy who saves a leprechaun and receives his kettle in return. The boy and his mother store their beans in the kettle for the winter. After they plant the beans, they sprout in all the colors of the rainbow. The kids never see the ending coming.

Now my fourth graders are a different story. They have an obsession with the history of all holidays. I hate to disappoint, so I created a little article and some questions for them. (Click on the image below to be directed to purchase the item at my TPT store.)

I am not kidding about their obsession. They were not pleased that we did not do the history of Christmas. In fact, they mentioned it for several weeks. Since the history of Christmas would involve a substantial amount of religious history, I thought it best avoided. Somehow they managed to overcome the disappointment!

How will all of you be celebrating St. Patrick's Day? Does anyone else have such an early spring break?!

Also, be sure to check out this HUGE giveaway over at Collaboration Cuties. You definitely will not want to miss this one. The prizes are phenomenal, and there are a lot of them! (Including something from yours truly!)