Every year around St. Patrick’s Day I challenge my students to design their own leprechaun trap. It is a great STEM challenge and they always have so much fun! If you’re doing something similar in your classroom, you will want to read this book we are spotlighting with your students. How To Catch a Leprechaun is such a fun way to introduce a leprechaun trap activity! - Jodi and the Starts With a Story Team
SUMMARY
It is almost St. Patrick’s day and a leprechaun is out and about at night. He visits many different homes where children designed traps in hope of catching a leprechaun. At each house he visits, the leprechaun is able to get away! None of the traps are good enough to catch him. During his visit to some of the houses, the leprechaun takes time to play tricks on the children. He paints a toilet green and puts someone's stinky sneakers in soapy water!
Students will enjoy hearing about this leprechaun’s night out and how he gets away from all of the children’s traps. It might even encourage them to try and make their own traps!
USE THIS BOOK TO TEACH:
Of course, the purpose of this book can’t be to simply introduce a fun activity. Teachers need to integrate academics into their read alouds. Here are some different ways you can use How To Catch a Leprechaun in your classroom:
- Explore how the author uses rhyme and rhythm throughout the book.
- Discuss the point of view in which the story is told.
- Write how-to books about catching a leprechaun.
- Have students letter writing.
- Introduce students to new homophones.
- Review or introduce nouns and adjectives.
- Discuss good versus bad teasing.
NO-PREP PRINTABLE ACTIVITIES:
If you are looking for “ready to go” activities for the first day of school, be sure to check out the book companion. With it you’ll receive all of the following resources to align with this specific book:
- comprehension questions
- 30 writing prompts with themed paper
- vocabulary activities
- word study print & go activities
- ideas for grammar lessons with focus sentence printables
- social emotional learning discussion topics
- graphic organizers to target specific comprehension skills and strategies
With these activities your read aloud lessons will be the talk of the school!
GET THE PRINTABLE ACTIVITIES
ADDITIONAL BOOK SUGGESTIONS
You and your students will also love these similar books:
- The Luckiest Leprechaun by Justine Korman
- That's What Leprechauns Do by Eve Bunting
- The Gingerbread Man and the Leprechaun Loose in the School by Laura Murray
- Jamie O'Rourke and the Big Potato by Tomie dePaola
TRY OUT A SAMPLE COMPANION
It's hard to explain how amazing the Starts with a Story book companions are because there is just so much goodness included in each one. It's best if you experience using one for yourself. Sign up below & we'll send you an entire book companion to try out for FREE!
