When I think of St. Patrick’s Day as a child, I remember being the one who always forgot to wear green to school and spent the day scared that I would be pinched! What a strange and creepy tradition! Setting aside the interesting things some of us did in the 80s and 90s, St. Patrick’s Day can still be a fun time for our students! (Just no pinching, please!) I’ve put together some St. Patrick’s Day Activities for Middle School students that will still engage kids in learning, but will hopefully give a fun nod to the Emerald Isle and its Patron Saint.

My good friend Rudi’s husband travels a lot for work and is actually in Ireland right now as I’m typing this. Rudi had a chance to go with her husband on this trip, but declined stating she had no interest in touring Ireland! I was flabbergasted!

My husband and I would love to go to Ireland someday! With the beautiful scenery, its unique history, and the over 30,000 castles, Ireland is a fascinating island! (At least to my husband and me; although I concede that it’s fully possible we are the weird ones!)

St. Patrick’s Day Activities for Middle School Students

Whether you want to visit Ireland or not, you may find yourself thinking of the Irish on St. Patrick’s Day! To celebrate some of these fascinating elements of Ireland, I have four Ireland and St. Patrick’s Day themed informational articles that highlight a few aspects of Irish culture. Each article is available separately if you only need one; or you can grab all four with the bundle and save 20%.

What’s Included?

As I mentioned above, four informational articles are included. The topics covered are, “The Life of St. Patrick,” “A Brief History of Ireland,” “The Castles of Ireland,” and “The Myths and Legends of the Leprechaun.”

Each St. Patrick’s Day article comes with a comprehension check crossword puzzle. This puzzle is designed to be a fun way to gauge students’ comprehension and help them practice reading for detail. With testing season looming in the not-so-distant future, I find reading informational texts like these a way to help them students to prepare for the test without “teaching to the test”!

How Do I Use These Resources?

These St. Patrick’s Day activities are extremely versatile and can be used in a variety of ways. Before reading articles like these, I like to review Informational Text Features with my students! One of my favorite ways to use these resources is with a group jigsaw reading activity. Students are divided up into groups of four, each student reads on article and then shares the details of their article with their group. Another options is to ask students to read the articles alone, and then work in partners to complete the crosswords!

These resources also make excellent Sub Plans, if you need something to keep your students engaged while you’re out in March!

Do you have any fun St. Patrick’s Day Activities for Middle School students? How do you like to use the holidays in the classroom? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Best,

Brenna (Mrs. Nelson)

P.S. If you haven’t already snagged your FREE St. Patrick’s Day Resources, click here to download today!!