ST. PATRICK S DAY FACTS
Teacher s Notes
by Magdalena Kondro
Type of activity: individual and pair work Suggested questions:
Focus: vocabulary connected with St. Patrick s Day,
Student A
Ireland and Irish culture; reading, listening and
1. Where is Ireland?;
speaking skills
2. When was St. Patrick born?;
Level: pre-intermediate  intermediate
3. How long is St. Patrick s Day Festival in
Time: 45 minutes
Dublin?;
Preparation: Make one copy of Student s Worksheet 4. How many American cities hold St. Patrick s
A per each student and a copy of Student s Worksheet Day parades?;
B per each pair of students. Cut Worksheet B into 5. Which plant brings good luck?
two parts along the dotted line. 6. Where do leprechauns keep their pot of gold?
Student B
Procedure: 1. What are the official languages of Ireland?;
2. What did St. Patrick teach the Irish about?;
1. On the board write St. Patrick s Day. Divide
3. Why is St. Patrick s Day on March 17th?;
students into pairs and ask them to make as many
4. What happens during St. Patrick s Day festival
words as possible with the letters of the words
in Dublin?;
written on the board. Set a time limit of 2 minutes.
5. Where can you see the harp  the national
The pair with the longest list wins the game. Ask
emblem of Ireland?; What will happen if you
the pair to read out their words. Other pairs listen
take your eyes off the leprechaun?
and cross out the same words that appear on their
list. At the end, they read out any words that have 6. Students return to their initial pairs. Student A
not been mentioned. asks his/her questions to Student B who answers
from memory. For each correct answer, he/she is
2. Explain that students are going to test their
given one point. Then they change roles and
knowledge of St. Patrick s Day and Irish culture.
Student B asks his/her questions to Student A.
Distribute Student s Worksheets A and ask students
The person with more points at the end wins the
to complete Activity 1. Encourage them to make
game.
guesses about new vocabulary. Students compare
their answers in pairs.
3. Students read the text in Activity 2 to check their Extension:
answers in Activity 1. Then they read the text
Elicit from the class that Ireland is associated
again and underline any words they do not know.
with green colour. Divide students into teams of 3
In groups of 4, students discuss the words and
and give them 3 minutes to write as many green
explain those they know to their partners.
things as they know in English. The team with the
4. Elicit the answers to Activity 2 and clarify any longest list at the end wins the game. The answers
vocabulary students still do not understand. may include: cucumber, frog, crocodile, leaves,
grass, peas, plants, caterpillar, broccoli, cactus,
5. Divide the class into pairs. Give a copy of Student
iguana, zucchini, lime, lettuce, Christmas/pine
A s task from Worksheet B to each Student A and a
tree, avocado.
copy of Student B s task to each Student B.
Students then look at the answers, check in
Worksheet A what these refer to and write the
questions. Students work in groups with 2 or 3
other students who have the same task and
compare their questions. Make sure the questions
are correct.
� Macmillan Polska 2011 PHOTOCOPIABLE