March - Pot of Gold Bulletin Board Display

In this project, students will write a creative paragraph about what THEY would do if they had their own pot of gold.

1.  I usually begin by reading  a story to the students about leprachauns.  Some students may not know about the legend, especially if they are recent immigrants.  Try to pick a story with a bit of an open eded ending or one that will lend itself to thinking about what they would do if they were a leprachaun with their own pot of gold.

2.   Make a pot of gold template for students to trace and cut out of heavy white paper or copy one of the printables below.  Students will then color the pot black and the gold yellow.  On the pot, they will affix  their paragraph that they will write.  See "Resouces" below for a printable that can be enlarged and used for this purpose.  Since they will put their paragraph ON the pot, students only need to color the outer edge of the pot black.  You may want to cut off the rainbow from the printable.

3.  Brainstorm a list of interesting Irish/St Patrick's Day/Lepracahun words with the class.  These are words they might want to incorporate into their story.

4. Encourage students to use some kind of planning sheet or graphic organzier to begin writing and organize their ideas.

5  Students will draft their essay or paragraph.

6.  You may choose to allow students to work with a partner for peer editing.

7.  Students type their final copy in the computer lab and print it.

8.  Make a copy of their work before trimming it to size.

9.  Students then glue their work onto the pot of gold they made.

10. Think of a clever title, such as:  "Leprechaun Legends", "Our Own Pot O' Gold", or "What's at the End of Your Rainbow?"  You can purchase pre-made letters or use your Ellison Press.

11.  Put up green backing paper for your display and choose an appropriate border.  Try looking in the TREND online catalog.  They have a St. Patrick's day border as well as a plain metallic gold one.

12.  Laminate and cut, then post the pots on the display.

Resources:

Books: http://www.amazon.com/Jack-Leprechaun-Pictureback-Ivan-Robertson/dp/0375803289/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1234708339&sr=1-1

More books:  http://www.kidsreads.com/features/020306-st-pats.asp

Printables for Pot of Gold:   http://www.tlsbooks.com/potofgold.pdf

TREND for border:  http://www.trendenterprises.com

accessories:  http://shopping.msn.com/specs/scholastic-st-patricks-day-bulletin-board-set-18in-x-24in/itemid944971543/?itemtext=itemname:scholastic-st-patricks-day-bulletin-board-set-18in-x-24in