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March Reading Activities for Upper Elementary

March reading activities for the upper elementary classroom

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March is the light at the end of the winter tunnel! The cold dreary winter weather is finally ending, and the beautiful new beginnings of spring can be seen. There is just something so great about those first few spring days full of blue skies and sunshine that are good for your soul! Those bright days are just what we need to help us with the final push to finish the school year.  These March Reading Center activities are sure to bring some sunshine to your classroom. 

March reading activities for the upper elementary classroom

March Reading Activities

These March themed non-fiction reading passages and comprehension questions are rigorous and engaging! Your students will love these four March themed passages that will draw them into Ireland, St. Patrick’s Day and the Iditarod. The March reading passages include: 

St. Patrick's day nonfiction reading passages
  • St. Patrick’s Amazing Story
  • No Snakes in Ireland?
  • Mush! Mush! Racing the Iditarod
  • Traditions of St. Patrick’s Day

A variety of important comprehension skills such as  vocabulary, reading for details, summarization skills, descriptive short answer responses, supporting answers with text evidence, and much more will be covered in these high interest reading passages! The passages are great for close-reads, independent practice, ELA centers, or even whole class instruction. 

Don’t forget about poetry and folktales! These March Reading Centers include an original poem and an Irish Folktale by Jamie O’Donnel. This is an area of reading comprehension that often gets overlooked. Engage your students with these March themed passages and help them improve their understanding of different text styles. Your students will love celebrating St. Patrick’s Day this way.

march poetry reading and comprehension

March Language Arts Centers

March reading activities for upper elementary includes a variety of literacy centers

Your class won’t even realize they are learning important skills while engaging in these super fun centers! Figurative language, fact and opinion, prefixes, and root words are all covered in our March themed activities.

There are so many different and creative ways to incorporate these centers into your daily classroom routine. ELA centers are probably the easiest way, but they are also fabulous for small groups and intervention. The smaller setting allows you to really hone in on your students individually and meet their needs right where they are.

1. Tic Tac Toe Fact & Opinion Game

fact and opinion tic tac toe game is great for centers

Distinguishing between fact and opinion helps students to develop their critical and analytical skills in both listening and reading comprehension. They need to be able to distinguish between absolute facts and simple beliefs as they navigate through life.

In this two player game, partners will take turns drawing a card and deciding if the statement is a fact or an opinion. If they are correct, they get to play a piece on the tic tac toe game board. The first player to get three in a row wins the game!

2. Luck O’ The Irish Figurative Language Game

Learning and mastering figurative language can be tough. There’s so many different areas for students to learn. Your students will love this game that covers alliteration, hyperbole, similes, metaphors, onomatopoeia, and personification.

figurative language game

By mastering figurative language, your students will become better readers and writers. They will learn to identify and interpret the different many types of figurative language in this one game. 

As the players draw cards from the deck and identify the given figurative language example, they will add a piece of gold to their pot. The player with the most gold wins! May you have the Luck O’ the Irish!

3. Patty’s Prefix Pair Up

prefix matching game where students math a prefix and its meaning

Teaching prefixes is a key component of building vocabulary skills. By learning the meaning of prefixes and word parts, students can break down unfamiliar words into segments that are more easily understood. 

In this exciting prefix matching game groups of 2 or 4 players can work on building their skills. Players will take turns turning over 2 cards from the playing area. If the cards are a match of a prefix and a meaning, the player gets to keep the cards. The player with the most cards at the end wins the game! 

4. March Mayhem Prefix and Root Word Activity

march reading activities and language arts centers

Keep brushing up those vocabulary building skills with this super fun word activity in your march reading centers.

In this activity a mischievous leprechaun has mixed up Jenny’s word list. All of the prefixes and root words and been separated and now it’s up to your students to put them back together. Using the the provided meaning cards, students will need to build a word that matches the meaning. This is a great activity for practice or review of prefixes and root words, a fun addition to your early finishers tasks, or a fun and engaging small group activity for students struggling with these concepts.

March Themed Writing Fun

March acrostic poem

March is all about being lucky! Your students will love imagining that they have discovered a pot of gold in this “Your Lucky Find” acrostic poem creative writing assignment.  A fun and unique twist on a traditional acrostic poem.

There’s more fun March themed writing too! Your students will love working on “How to” writing with this St. Patrick’s Day writing activity.

how to catch a leprechaun writing activity

This “How to Catch a Leprechaun” writing prompt will get your students connecting writing with science and creativity. It’s like STEM for the writing center!

Kids totally get into this writing activity as they imagine the actual steps they would take to catch a real life leprechaun in action. This fun and engaging writing activity includes everything you’ll need for guiding your students through the planning, writing and finalizing! Your students will love preparing their final published writing in this non-traditional form. They love writing and illustrating each flap on their foldable to complete the project!

Take the madness out of your March!

This month doesn’t have to be wild and crazy! Your students will love engaging in all of these no prep March reading activities. Let these ready to use activities take the madness out of your month. Easily fill your lesson plans with fun and engaging skills based activities that will help your students master these important standards. Your students are sure to stay engaged with all of the fun centers and writing ideas included in this month’s bundle. They may even catch a leprechaun or two!

You can find all of these activities in the Appletastic Learning store.

March reading activities and centers

Looking for More March FUN?

Check out these other March activities for more fun and engaging learning activities!

Save these March Reading Activities

If you’re not quite ready for these March reading and writing activities, then pin this to your favorite classroom Pinterest board so you can come back when you are.

March reading activities and language arts resources

Shelly Rees

Hi, I’m Shelly! Thank you for being here. I love helping third, fourth, and fifth grade teachers with fun and engaging activities that require no to little prep! Let me help you by taking some of the stress and work off your plate.

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Hi, I'm Shelly

Hi, I’m Shelly! Thank you for being here. I love helping third, fourth, and fifth grade teachers with fun and engaging activities that require no to little prep! Let me help you by taking some of the stress and work off your plate.

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