Using St. Patrick's Day to Help Students Connect to History

Ever since my daughter was in preschool, the leprechauns have visited our house during the early morning of St. Patrick's Day. We are not Irish so the fact that they visit us is quite amazing! They are extremely mischievous during their yearly visits. They like to turn the water in our toilets green and surprise the kids with green milk. This year they also made a mess in our family room. They must have had a party while we were sleeping! They left toys in strange places and scattered shamrocks all over the floor. After careful searching, the kids discovered that they left some green and gold candy hidden in the room. The kids were all smiles as they ate their breakfast - Lucky Charms, of course! They can't wait to see what happens next year!

Now, as a high school history teacher, my students were never very excited about St. Patrick's Day. It was just another day of school. I'd love to go back now and have them arrive to a mixed up room, backwards handouts and all kinds of other mischievous actions and then transition to a lesson on immigration - particularly focusing on the wave of Irish immigration!

While you can't take too much time away from the curriculum since it is getting close to crunch time, you might want to take a little bit of time to create a puzzle or even use my power point on How St. Patrick's Day Came to America which takes a brief look at Irish immigration to the United States as a way to incorporate St. Patrick's Day into your lesson for the day.



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