St. Patrick's Day and Ireland
Classroom Resources brought to you by KET
Ireland is a country with magnificent landscapes and a rich history. These resources highlight Ireland's culture, history, glacier-created landscape, and even the legacy of St. Patrick.
Find more resources within KET Encyclomedia. Contact your Education Consultant with questions.
Discovery Education Theme Page: St. Patrick's Day
Discovery Education Theme Page. St. Patrick’s Day honors one of Ireland’s patron saints and celebrates the contributions of Irish Americans in history, politics, music, and pop culture. Students will learn about the traditions of St. Patrick’s Day and appreciate the hardships faced by all immigrants to America.
Discovery Education.
Grades K-12.
Holiday Facts and Fun: St. Patrick's Day
Holiday Facts and Fun: St. Patrick's Day. This video series shows how major American holidays are celebrated, explains the historical background of each holiday, and includes holiday songs, games, puzzles and activities enjoyed by children. This video includes an animated biography of St. Patrick and a profile of an Irish-American family that celebrates the holiday with friends. It also includes a colorful St. Patrick’s Day parade and festivities at an Irish-American heritage center.
Discovery Education.
Grades K-5.
Molly's Magic
Molly's Magic. Shows how solving problems, although initially challenging, can be achieved creatively and successfully. Molly, a pig living on a farm in Ireland with her family, struggles to help realize an important dream and encounters obstacles and adversity along the way. Applying innovative problem-solving approaches, Molly discovers that sometimes thinking outside of the box and exercising responsibility can yield positive results. A review of the geography, culture, and customs of Ireland make this program a colorful exploration of character education concepts.
Discovery Education.
Grades K-5.
Flag Stories: Ireland
Flag Stories: Ireland. Explore the history and symbolism of national flags from around the world. The green in the Irish flag represents Catholicism, the orange represents Protestantism, and the white between the two colors symbolizes peace and reconciliation.
Discovery Education.
Grades K-5.
Tenant Farmers
Tenant Farmers. In this video from Faces of America, we learn about comedian Stephen Colbert and his Irish Ancestors, the Tucks. The Tucks left Ireland during the Great Potato Famine of the mid-nineteenth century. There are almost no records of the Tucks, but we find out that they were tenant farmers, like most Irish Catholics at that time. While still living in Ireland, they endured great hardships under the then British rule including laws prohibiting Irish Catholics from practicing their faith, buying land and even owning a horse.
PBS LearningMedia.
Grades 4-12.
A Very Sad Period in Irish History
A Very Sad Period in Irish History. This video segment from Faces of America highlights Stephen Colbert’s Irish ancestors, the Garins, and the reason they left Ireland--the Great Potato Famine of the mid-19th century. Colbert learns of the dreadful conditions the Irish people endured during the Famine. Historian Henry Louis Gates, Jr. also travels to Limerick, where the Garins lived, and interviews present-day residents who shed further light on the extreme living conditions of the working class people of Ireland during the Great Famine.
PBS LearningMedia.
Grades 4-12.
Glaciated Landscape: Ireland
Glaciated Landscape: Ireland. No part of Ireland completely escaped the impact of the glaciers of the Ice Age. The glaciers transformed the contours of the island and left behind a landscape of craggy mountains, steep gorges and vast networks of inland waterways. In this video segment from Nature, viewers learn about this part of Ireland's geological past.
PBS LearningMedia.
Grades 6-12.
Forming the Burren: Ireland
Forming the Burren: Ireland. The weight and movement of glaciers of the Ice Age has shaped about one-third of the Earth's landmass. Glacial movement formed rolling hills, carved out valleys and created a rich variety of landforms. The Burren in Ireland is one of the finest examples of landscape shaped by glaciation. Learn more about the Burren in this video segment from Nature.
PBS LearningMedia.
Grades 6-12.
Irish Country House
Irish Country House. Visits some of the finest homes built in Ireland, from cliff-top castles to Palladian mansions, offering a greater understanding of Irish history and culture, as well as making the case for conservation of these representations of Irish heritage.
Discovery Education.
Grades 6-12.
Greatest Journeys: Celtic Legends
Greatest Journeys: Celtic Legends. This video discusses various Celtic legends and how they have permeated the festivals, traditions, sports, and customs that are practiced today all over the world.
Discovery Education.
Grades 9-12.
Moments in Time: Famine to Freedom: The Great Irish Journey
Moments in Time: Famine to Freedom: The Great Irish Journey. Blends history, archaeology, and vivid reenactments to recount one of the bleakest periods in Irish history. In nineteenth-century Ireland, millions of Irish farmers and their families subsist on their miracle crop, the potato. But when a devastating pestilence wipes out the country's potato crop, more than one million people die of starvation and another one million are forced to take their chances in a new land, America. The program considers how the potato famine influenced Ireland's battle for independence against Great Britain, as well as investigates clues of the famine's impact in an archaeological dig in rural Ireland. An interview with Senator Ted Kennedy considers the role of Irish immigrants in American society.
Discovery Education.
Grades 9-12.
Famous Authors: Jonathan Swift
Famous Authors: Jonathan Swift. Swift was born in Dublin into a well-off English Protestant family. His acid views on man's iniquities were the subject of his many writings. In Ireland he is seen as the first hero of the struggle against English dominance.
Discovery Education.
Grades 9-12.
Famous Authors: James Joyce
Famous Authors: James Joyce. James Joyce was born in Dublin. After attending University College, he went to Paris in 1902 and rarely returned to Ireland. His writing was difficult to publish, but he became one of the most important writers of the 20th century.
Discovery Education.
Grades 9-12.