Leprechaun Trap Project for St. Patrick’s Day – Leprechaun Legends PowerPoint

This fun leprechaun trap set includes an informational PowerPoint slideshow about St. Patrick's Day legends. The slideshow also guides children to use critical thinking and engineering design strategies to design their own leprechaun traps. To supplement the slideshow, you will find printable materials including word wall cards, anchor chart materials, writing paper, and templates for students to use when designing their traps. This set increases student engagement by combining STEM with reading and writing!

What’s included in this unit?

This leprechaun trap set gives you what you need to create a memorable and educational St. Patrick’s Day experience for your students in an age-appropriate and low-stress way.

Here’s what’s included:

✔ PowerPoint Slideshow “All About Leprechauns”

This 21-slide PowerPoint slideshow gives students background information about leprechaun legends. It then shows students examples of traps that are used by people and in nature to capture various creatures. Finally, four slides guide students through the design process they will use to come up with their own leprechaun trap idea. This slideshow is included as a PPT file and is also included at the end of the PDF file.

✔ St. Patrick’s Day Word Wall Cards

The included leprechaun word wall cards, each with a simple illustration are: leprechaun, pot of gold, shamrock, rainbow, gold coin, St. Patrick’s Day, Ireland, trap, and shoe

✔ Anchor Chart Materials

Use these headings to create a KWL chart to access students' prior knowledge about leprechauns and to set a purpose for learning. Prepare the can/have/are chart to use with students while reading and discussing the PowerPoint.

✔ Anchor Chart Materials and Writing Pages

Choose from a variety of themed writing pages for students to use when writing about leprechauns.

✔ LeprechaunTrap Design Templates and Reflection Sheets

These printable pages for students to use when planning and writing about their traps are each included in three levels of differentiation.

✔ Note from a Leprechaun

Print these small notes on green paper (and provide a small treat to accompany them) in the event that your students’ traps aren’t able to catch any leprechauns.

How do I use this St. Patrick’s Day unit?

Begin by accessing students’ background knowledge about leprechauns by having a class discussion and beginning to fill in the KWL chart. Follow up with the PowerPoint slideshow, which can be read aloud in one sitting or can be used across several days. Young children will need time to discuss the information as it is presented, so be sure to build in time for conversations and questions! As you read, work on creating the can/have/are anchor chart to organize the information the students are learning.

Use the themed writing paper for students to write what they’ve learned about leprechauns. They can use this information when planning their leprechaun traps.

Once students are experts on leprechauns and traps, have them work to design a trap using one of the three included planning sheets. After your children design their leprechaun traps, consider these options:

- Have the students work in small groups to build their traps using materials on hand in the classroom.

- Allow students to build their traps independently.

- Share all students’ plans with the whole class. Talk about the various features and then work together to build one trap that combines the ideas the children came up with.

Finally, as it is unlikely that a leprechaun will happen to be in your building that particular day, be prepared with a special treat (chocolate coins, for example) to reward the students for their hard work!

Once the traps have been sprung and the leprechauns have moved on, have the students use one of the three reflection sheets to analyze the effectiveness of their traps and to think about what they might do differently the next time.

What Teachers Are Saying About This Leprechaun Trap Set:

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “I had never had a class makes traps before. I had no idea what I was missing! They had days of fun planning and making their traps in groups of three. They had to cooperate and compromise. Then the leprechauns came. It was the most fun I had all year long! It was better than Christmas in our classroom! Thank you!!” –Darlene P.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “This resource is excellent to use if you want to teach your students about the legend of leprechauns and have them build traps to catch him! My students had so much fun designing their traps and reflecting on what happened using this engaging resource.” –Christina C.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “This product made it so easy to explain traps to students! Wish I had used this product years ago!” –Kelsey A.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “My students loved this! One of them even mentioned this activity in their learner showcase at the end of the school year.” –M.M.

You may also like:
▶ St. Patrick’s Day Addition Activities
▶ Life Cycles Bundle: Butterflies, Frogs, and Plants
▶ Map Skills Unit

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Susan Jennings (My Happy Place)

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