St. Patrick's Day Parade Reading Lesson Plan

Teach Elementary Students to Compare and Contrast Literary Elements

Feb 19, 2009 Renee Carver

For a St. Patrick's Day elementary reading lesson plan, have students practice comparing and contrasting the settings, main characters, and plots of two picture books.

Both St. Patrick's Day in the Morning by Eve Bunting [Houghton Mifflin, 1980] and Mary McLean and the St. Patrick's Day Parade by Steven Kroll [Scholastic Inc., 1991] tell the story of how a young child yearns to take part in a special parade on St. Patrick's Day. This basic similarity makes these two trade picture books well-suited for an elementary reading lesson plan in which students compare the literary elements of setting, main character, and plot and make text-to-text connections.

How to Introduce the Literary Elements of Setting, Character, and Plot

Before sharing the literature with students, review the definitions of setting, character, and plot. Remind students that the setting is where and when a story takes place. The characters are the people in the story, and the main character is the most important person. The plot is what happens in a story. Often, the events of a plot tell about a problem faced by the main character and how this character solves the problem.

How to Build Background About St. Patrick's Day Parades and Other Special Events

Invite students to share any prior knowledge they have about St. Patrick's Day and how and why it is celebrated, especially how people hold special parades on this day. Then ask students to discuss parades in general, including why people hold them and watch them and how it feels to take part in one. Finally, ask students to describe a time when they had to work hard to be allowed to take part in a special event.

How to Share St. Patrick's Day in the Morning with Elementary Students

Display the front and back covers of the book and have students use picture clues and the title to predict where and when this story takes place. Draw attention to details like the Irish flag in the boy's hat and the green sash he is wearing. Then, read the book aloud, asking students to pay attention to the setting, main character, and important plot events.

Share Mary McLean and the St. Patrick's Day Parade with Students

Display the front and back covers of the book and again have students use picture clues and the title to predict where and when this story takes place. Draw attention to details like the big Irish flags flying over the parade, the shamrock on Mary's sweater, and the styles of clothing worn by the parade crowd. Then, read the book aloud, again asking students to pay attention to the setting, main character, and important plot events. Suggest that students keep in mind the literary elements from the first book as they identify the setting, characters, and plot of this one.

Compare and Contrast Literary Elements and Make Text-to-Text Connections

Draw a compare and contrast chart on the board and work with students to fill in information about the setting, main characters, and plot events from each book. First, ask students where and when each story takes place and how they know this. Then, ask them to provide details about the main characters and what each character wants (or the problem each character faces). Finally, ask them what important plot events tell how each character solves his or her problem.

Once the chart is filled in with details about the literary elements of each book, assess students' understanding by having them write sentences comparing and contrasting the settings, characters, and plots. For example:

St. Patrick's Day in the Morning takes place in Ireland not a very long time ago, while Mary McLean and the St. Patrick's Day Parade takes place in Manhattan in 1849.
Jamie is a little boy in Ireland, while Mary is a girl who moves from Ireland to America with her family. They are alike because they both want to be in a St. Patrick's Day parade. They are different because Jamie holds his own parade, while Mary gets Mr. Finnegan to let her ride with him in the city parade.
The plots are alike because they both tell how a child finds a way to be in a St. Patrick's Day parade. They are different because the events in the first book could really happen, while some of the events in the second book are magical and could not really happen.

For a final assessment activity, have students make text-to-text connections by writing a paragraph or two comparing Jamie and Mary and how each child finds a way to be in a St. Patrick's Day parade.

This elementary reading lesson plan can be used as a St. Patrick's Day reading lesson plan or at any time to give students practice with identifying and comparing the settings, characters, and plots of different texts. Being able to analyze literary elements will increase students' understanding of the stories they read.

Teachers and parents can use other Irish folktales to teach other reading comprehension skills or practice writing skills, or use shamrocks in elementary math activities.

The copyright of the article St. Patrick's Day Parade Reading Lesson Plan in Primary School is owned by Renee Carver. Permission to republish St. Patrick's Day Parade Reading Lesson Plan in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

St. Patrick's Day Parade