Kindergarteners Go Around The World: Week 22 ~ Ireland (St. Patrick’s Day Lesson)
This post is part of the series “Around the World in 28 Weeks: Art, Literature & Geography Lessons for Kindergarten.” For an introduction, overview of the entire course, and links to more lesson plans, please click here. Thank you for visiting Cotton Ridge Homeschool!
Introduction to Week 22
This week you will be returning with the children in your class to the continent of Europe and traveling to the island of Ireland (The Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland). You can do the lesson plan activities in the order that you prefer.
Below is a Printable Lesson Plan Schedule for the entire 28 weeks and a blank lesson plan grid. Just click on the thumbnails below to open and view. For best results, download to your computer or open in Adobe Reader before printing.
Prep Work
- Decide on art project (several options given below)
- Gather books and supplies (see checklists below)
- Print out handouts and 3-hole punch them for notebooks (see checklists below)
Thanks for joining us!
Disclosure: The books and supply links below lead to products on Amazon. I am an affiliate and will receive a small commission if these links are used to make a purchase.
Week 22 Lesson Plan
Date and Destination
Date: Second Week of March**
Continent: Europe
Countries: The Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland
Pretend Passport: Please see Week 2 for suggestions on how to use the Play Passports
Reading (10 – 15 minutes)
Discussion: Ask questions to determine reading comprehension; tailor these to your children’s ages and abilities. Depending on the size of your class and as time permits, try to allow each child to participate. Don’t drag this part on too long or your kids will lose interest. Here are a few to get you started:
- Did you like the story? Why or why not?
- What was your favorite part?
- Questions based on the Who?, What?, Why?, When?, and How? of a story are great for getting kids thinking.
Geography (5 – 15 minutes)
Globe or Wall Map Activity: With your class,
- find the Continent of Europe,
- find the country of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland,
- note that there are two different countries on the island, and that Northern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom.
I have been allowing the kids to take turns putting little dot stickers
Map Handout*: Pass out the Map Handout to your class and allow them to color the page as time permits. You may want this to be the last activity of your class so they can be kept busy until the next class starts or until their parents pick them up. Have the kids place their handouts in their World Traveler Notebook (3-ring binder) before they leave.
Below is a free printable Map Handout in PDF format. Just click on the thumbnail below to open and view. For best results, download to your computer or open in Adobe Reader before printing.
Art (30 – 40 minutes)
I haven’t decided on a project for my class yet, there are so many possibilities! I do want to include the three-petaled clover. St. Patrick used the three-petal clover to help describe the Trinity to his parishioners. (“One leaf – but three parts.”) Here are links to some of the candidates for the St. Patrick’s Day lesson – we will probably try a few of these at home before then!
Above is a sample of the Puffy Paint Shamrock Art idea from Crafty Morning. My daughter and I had a lot of fun mixing up the shaving cream paint and painting shamrocks. Not sure if we are going to do this in class or not, but it was lots of fun at home, right next to the kitchen sink! I used Shaving Gel and Clear Glue instead of the Shaving Cream and White Glue called for in the Crafty Morning recipe, and it worked out great.
- Shamrock Button Art
- Wine Cork Shamrock Stamp Art or Water Bottle Top Shamrock Stamp Art
- Puffy Paint Shamrock Art
- Crayon Resist Shamrock
- Shamrock-Shaped Suncatchers (link leads to heart-shaped project, but you can use the printable template below to make yours shamrock-shaped)
Each file below includes three pages of printables. For black and white shamrocks, click on the first thumbnail, and for color, click on the second. You can use these printables for some of the crafts listed above, or make up your own!
Just click on the thumbnail below to open and view. For best results, download to your computer or open in Adobe Reader before printing.
Other Activities (10 – 15 minutes)
Facts and Flag Handout*: Pass out these handouts to your class and allow them to color the pages as time permits. You may want this to be the last activity of your class so they can be kept busy until the next class starts or until their parents pick them up. Have the kids place their handouts in their World Traveler Notebook (3-ring binder) before they leave.
Just click on a thumbnail below to open and view. For best results, open in Adobe Reader before printing.
*If there is not time in class, provide these as handouts for the kids to do at home. The pages can go in their World Traveler Notebooks as a record of their journeys.
**Our homeschool coop begins during the last week of August, but the Around the World course can be started at any time of year. Some re-arranging of the weekly plans may be necessary due to holidays, but with a little planning ahead of time, this should be very manageable.
Supply Lists
General Supply List
- Globe
or large World Wall Map
- 3-Ring Binder
for each child for handouts, 1-1/2″ size
- 3-Hole Punch
- Date Stamp
- Markers, crayons, and/or colored pencils
- Roll of paper towels
- Computer and Printer (color printer
Week 2 Supply List
- The Story of Saint Patrick
- Passports and World Traveler Notebooks for each child from Week 1
- Printables from this post: Travel Tickets, Passport Stamps, Map Handout, and Facts & Flag Handout
Week 22 Art Supply List
Materials needed depends on project chosen.
Image of Northern Ireland from flickr.com used under the Creative Commons license. Image credit: Giuseppe Milo.
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