History of St. Patrick’s Day Video for Kids
Do you know why we wear green on St. Patrick’s Day? I personally love learning about the history of holidays and I bet your students will too.
Finding meaningful ways to learn about holidays like St. Patrick’s Day in the classroom can be difficult. I want to provide you with engaging history resources for every situation, so I’m compiling a list of awesome history videos for kids.
To make your life easier, here’s an engaging History of St. Patrick’s Day video and activity.
History of St. Patrick’s Day Video
St. Patrick’s Day has many traditions, but many people don’t know where they come from. Teach your students about the history of the holiday by watching this video from the History Channel: St. Patrick’s Day: Bet You Didn’t Know.
This short, fast-paced video covers the historical background of the holiday as well as common traditions. For example, the video explains who St. Patrick was, where the tradition of wearing green came from, and why we have St. Patrick’s Day parades.
This video is appropriate for ages 8 and up.
St. Patrick’s Day Video Activity
Watching a video is a good start, but how do we make sure our students don’t zone out while watching? One way to help students stay accountable is by pairing the history video with my ABC graphic organizer.
ABC Graphic Organizer
This ABC graphic organizer is a great way for students to take notes while watching history videos. The best part? You don’t have to type up a list of questions to go along with the video!
The graphic organizer has a space for each letter of the alphabet. Students watch the history video closely and listen for key terms that fit different letters. Challenge students to fill in as many letters as they can. For example, they could write the word “shamrock” in the box for the letter S.
Lesson Plan
- Ask students what they know about St. Patrick’s Day. Make a list on the board.
- Next, ask students what they know about the holiday’s history. Add to the list.
- Then, show students the History Channel video.
- After watching the video once, give students the ABC graphic organizer. Explain how to use the graphic organizer to take notes.
- Instructions: Students listen closely for key terms that fit different letters of the alphabet. They try to fill in as many letters as they can. I recommend doing one or two letters together as an example. For example, they could write the word “shamrock” in the box for the letter S.
- Watch the video a few more times while students fill out their graphic organizers. I suggest turning on the subtitles and if needed, pausing a few times during the video to give your students time to write. You could also print out a transcript of the video to help struggling students.
- Finally, students share their responses with each other. To make things extra fun, have a competition to see who can find the most words.
Download the Free ABC Graphic Organizer
I hope this kid-friendly History of St. Patrick’s Day video keep your students engaged on St. Patrick’s Day. As you can see, this ABC graphic organizer is a versatile activity that can be a great tool in your classroom. For more ideas about how to use it in your history classroom, click here.
To download, simply click the button below. You will receive both a printable version and a link to a Google Slides version. Happy teaching!
More Resources
Looking for more seasonal history lessons? I’ve created activity ideas for most major holidays and seasons. Check them out below! You may also be interested in browsing my collection of free lesson plans.
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