St. Patrick's Day Activities for Upper Elementary

St. Patrick’s Day brings lots of joy to students. They love dressing in green to avoid ‘getting pinched’ and enjoy hearing about the mischievous leprechauns. Here are some St. Patrick’s Day activities for upper elementary students that are not only engaging but also align to the standards.

St. Patrick's Day shamrock activities for upper elementary

1. Create Shamrocks

Teach students how to create a shamrock using a sheet of paper, a cup, a pencil, and a pair of scissors.

Have the students place their paper landscape style, then fold it in half.

Then, have the students place half of the cup onto the center of the folded edge.

Next, have students create an almost half heart at the top of the circle. (The bottom of the half heart should NOT meet back at the crease of the paper, but to the top of the circle.)

Then, have the students make an almost heart on the right side of the circle. (The bottom of the heart should again NOT meet back at the bottom, but to the side of the circle.)

The last drawing part is the stem of the clover.

Lastly, have the students cut the edge of the shamrock.

Now, it’s time to get creative. You can use these shamrocks for a variety of things.

Shamrock Related Activities

1. Write the main idea in the middle of the shamrock and write three key details on each of the leaves.

ELA main idea and key details activities for upper elementary

2. Write a character’s name in the middle. Write 3 character traits that describe that character and explain when they showed that trait.

ELA character traits activities for upper elementary

3. Write the title of a book in the middle. Write 3 themes displayed in that book and explain why.

ELA theme activities for upper elementary

4. Write a noun in the middle. Include three adjectives from different categories that can be used to describe it. (N.O.S.A.S.C.O.M.) Students should make sure to apply the rules of order of adjectives writing the adjective that should go first on the left leaf, the second adjective on the middle and the last on the right.

ELA order of adjectives activities for upper elementary

5. Write the title Frequently Confused Words in the middle. Have students write one word on each leaf and include when to use it and/or an example. Examples are: to, too, two / where, were, we’re / there, their, they’re.

ELA frequently confused words activities for upper elementary

6. Create “Dead Words” shamrocks. Have students write words that are frequently used in writing but that have better alternatives in the middle. Have them write alternate words on the leaves.

ELA synonyms activities for upper elementary

7. Write a word that has a prefix, root, and suffix in the middle. Then have students write the prefix on the left leaf, the root word on the middle top leaf, and the suffix on the right leaf.

ELA root words activities for upper elementary

8. Introduce root words to students. Assign each student a root word and have them come up with three different words that include those roots in them. Then, have them add the meaning.

In search of ELA St. Patrick's Day Activities for Upper Elementary students? Have students write a limerick.

2. Write a Limerick

St. Patrick’s Day is all about fun which makes reading, teaching, and writing limericks ideal for this day.

You can start off by sharing some fun limerick picture books with your students. They will DEFINITELY get a kick out of it. If you don’t have a book available, you can find some limericks online to share as well.

Next, share the criteria a limerick should contain and have the students brainstorm, draft, and publish a limerick.

You can grab this FREE resource to share with your students.

In search of ELA St. Patrick's Day Activities for Upper Elementary students? Have students create a figurative language rainbow.

3. Create a Figurative Language Rainbow

Whether you are introducing different types of figurative language or reviewing them, this Figurative Language Rainbow activity will be an engaging way to practice creating sentences using figurative language.

Review five or six different types of figurative language. You can choose from the following:

simile
metaphor
idiom
hyperbole
personification
onomatopoeia
alliteration

Give students different color strips. Assign each color a type of figurative language. Have students write a sentence on each strip using the figurative language assigned to the strip. Have students connect the links together. If you’d like, you can also add a cloud and a pot of gold at the end. These will make a beautiful bulletin board or classroom display.

4. Lucky Idioms

Introduce your students to idioms that relate to luck. Then, have students create colorful Lucky Charm Idioms crafts that you can hang up on a bulletin board.

In search of ELA St. Patrick's Day Activities for Upper Elementary students? Here is a vocabulary resource you can use with your fourth and fifth graders.

5. St. Patrick’s Day Vocabulary

Break away from your regular vocabulary wordlist and introduce your students to words focused on Patrick’s Day.

Teach students the meaning of these new words. Educate them on how to search for synonyms and antonyms using a dictionary or online resources. Then, have them create sentences and illustrations related to the words.

After having them share their sentences and illustrations with a partner, assess their understanding with a quick ten question quiz.

6. Grammar Review Sheets

St. Patrick’s Day lands right in the middle of test prep season, so use this opportunity to combine the two. I loved using gamified St. Patrick’s Day Themed Grammar Review pages. Students loved the feeling of playing games or working on brain teaser type sheets.

In search of ELA St. Patrick's Day Activities for Upper Elementary students? Try reading books aloud to them.

7. Read St. Patrick’s Day Books

Upper elementary students love being read picture books to just as much as primary students. The holidays are a perfect time to incorporate a read aloud or two, and St. Patrick’s Day is no exception. If you’re looking for some suggestions, I’ve created a list of St. Patrick’s Day books that are great for upper elementary students.

8. Read St. Patrick’s Day Books

Puzzles are so versatile. If you have way too much already to cover, but want to incorporate some St. Patrick’s Day activities in the classroom, puzzles is a great option.

They work well as morning work, early finishers, brain break activities, and extra options for substitutes.

As you can see, there are quite a few St. Patrick’s Day activities for upper elementary students that you can incorporate in your classroom to cover ELA standards.

Hopefully, you will be able to find something exciting that works for you and your students.

If you’re looking for more St. Patrick’s Day ELA resources, make sure to head on over Your Thrifty Co-Teacher on TPT where you will find puzzles, grammar activities, and more.

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