8th Grade Honors English
March 20, 2015 – St. Patrick’s Day
(a few days late. . .)
Bellringer
Use the KWL chart at your desk to make a list of what
you know about the Legend of St. Patrick of Ireland,
about the day celebrated in his honor, about the
Leprechaun, or anything else associated with St.
Patrick’s Day.
blarney
flattering or wheedling talk; cajolery;
deceptive or misleading talk; nonsense;
hooey
Word O’the Day
Mr. Walker said a lot of nice things about my paper,
but I think he was full of BLARNEY.
Word O’the Day Origin
Late 18th century Irish: named after Castle Blarney, an
ancient castle near Cork in Ireland, where there is a stone
said to give the gift of persuasive speech to anyone who
kisses it.
The Blarney Stone
Go on, kiss the Blarney Stone,
if you dare!
Lines We Love
“Thankfully the rest of the world assumed that the Irish were crazy, a
theory that the Irish themselves did nothing to debunk. They had
somehow got it into their heads that each fairy lugged around a pot of
gold with him wherever he went. While it was true that LEP had a
ransom fund, because of its officers' high-risk occupation, no human
had ever taken a chunk of it yet. This didn't stop the Irish population in
general from skulking around rainbows, hoping to win the supernatural
lottery.” ~Eoin Colfer, Artemis Fowl
Objectives O’the Day
We will continue our study of the Folktale genre of literature. We will
understand the characteristics of Folktales, and each of its sub-genres. We
will learn the meanings of foreign words commonly used in these stories.
We will understand the cultural influences and importance in Folktales.
We will make inferences and draw conclusions about theme, plot,
character, point of view, setting, and conflict. We will identify the author’s
purpose in writing the texts.
(TEKS 8.1; 8.2A, B, D, E; 8.3A, B, C; 8.6A, B, C; 8.8; 8.9)
The Legend of St. Patrick of Ireland
• Born in the year 387 A.D. near Kilpatrick, Scotland.
• Died March 17, 461 A.D. at Saul, Downpatrick, Ireland.
• Ordained a Bishop of the Roman Catholic Church in 433 and sent to
Ireland to preach the Gospel.
• Converted thousands during his 40 year ministry, built many churches,
performed many miracles.
The Legend of St. Patrick of Ireland
The Legend of St. Patrick of Ireland
The Legend of St. Partick of Ireland
• What characteristics of the story of St. Patrick
make it a legend?
• What does the information presented in this
summary suggest about how the Irish people
feel about St. Patrick?
• Which idea from the selection does the image of
the postage stamp support?
• Why is the Shamrock symbol important to the
story?
• What themes might be present in the Legend of
St. Patrick of Ireland?
The Magical Legend of The Leprechaun
•
•
•
•
•
•
They are cobblers – shoemakers
They are tricksters
Also referred to as fairies (Irish: Faeries, or Fae)
Leprechaun are only male
Live in the forest making shoes and guarding their treasure.
If you catch a Leprechaun, he must tell you where he hides his gold
The Legend of The Leprechaun
The Irish Harp
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFlKx3
YPL5I
The Irish (Tin) Whistle
The Legend of The Leprechaun
• Given what we learned about the characteristics of the
various sub-genres of folktales, is this story a legend? Why or
why not?
• The authors of both selections (St. P & Lep’s) probably intend
for the reader to learn what?
• Using context clues, what is the meaning of the word odd in
paragraph 3 of “Who Are the Leprechauns of Ireland?”
• The poem by William Allingham is mostly about a speaker
who. . .?
• What does the word plies mean in line 19?
• The words “tip-tap”, “tick-a-tack-too” and “rip-rap” are
examples of what poetic device? What does they mimic?
You be the author!
Now, young lads and lasses, it’s time to ply your trade! Take the information you’ve
been given in the informational texts and write a short narrative version of some
aspect of either the Legend of St. Patrick or the Leprechaun. Be sure to use specific
nouns, vivid adjectives, strong verbs, and informative adverbs. Make use of
sensory language to create imagery for your readers. Be sure to use appropriate
conventions in your writing.
Today We. . .
• Continued our study of folktale (folklore)
by looking at two legends from Ireland.
We learned about their importance to the
Irish culture and drew conclusions about
how the Irish people feel about both
stories.
• We synthesized information presented in
non-fiction texts and created narrative
versions of both stories.
Next Week We Will. . .
• Continue reviewing for the upcoming STAAR
Reading Test (March 31st).
• Continue our close study of folktale.
• Continue working on our Awesome Author’s
projects by learning about how to evaluate the
effectiveness and appropriateness of our
sources.