Teaching & Learning

World Poetry Day was declared by UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) in 1999 and is celebrated today. The aim is to promote the reading, writing and teaching of poetry. According to UNESCO: "World Poetry Day is an invitation to reflect on the power of language and the full development of each person’s creative abilities."
If you are a teacher and want to encourage your students to read or write a poem, check The Guardian Teacher Network's suggestions and resources, follow this link:
The Guardian Teacher Network
photo credit: Olivander via photo pincc

Here's a good reason to visit Estádio do Dragão ;-)

If you want to tell everybody about this Irish ancient celebration, you can work out a couple of shamrock badges, mini-bags or bookmarks:

You can also write a limerick (a funny poem with five lines, which usually makes no sense). A limerick starts with, “There once was a …” or “There was a …”. The first two lines and the last one usually have 8 or 9 syllables. The fourth and fifth lines have 5 or 6. Here is an example:
There once was a teacher who was bad. She made all her students very sad. She was always mean. She always wore green. And she even gave tests to her dad.
You can also listen to some traditional Irish sounds:


If you are a food lover, don't forget that your meal won't be complete without corned beef and cabbage. The most important is that you build a meal with a "green" theme: spinach, asparagus, any leafy greens, potatoes or rice with parsley, and a minty green dessert:

To finish your day in style, don't forget the pleasure of a unique Irish Coffee...


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St. Patrick's Day is celebrated on March 17, the saint's religious feast day and the anniversary of his death in the fifth century. The Irish have observed this day as a religious holiday for over 1,000 years. On St. Patrick's Day, which falls during the Christian season of Lent, Irish families would traditionally attend church in the morning and celebrate in the afternoon. Lenten prohibitions against the consumption of meat were waived and people would dance, drink and feast--on the traditional meal of Irish bacon and cabbage. Saint Patrick, who lived during the fifth century, is the patron saint and national apostle of Ireland. Born in Roman Britain, he was kidnapped and brought to Ireland as a slave at the age of 16. He later escaped, but returned to Ireland and was credited with bringing Christianity to its people. In the centuries following Patrick's death (believed to have been on March 17, 461), the mythology surrounding his life became ever more ingrained in the…

Pi, Greek letter (π), is the symbol for the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. Pi Day is celebrated by math enthusiasts around the world on March 14th. With the use of computers, Pi has been calculated to over 1 trillion digits past the decimal. Pi is an irrational and transcendental number meaning it will continue infinitely without repeating. The symbol for pi was first used in 1706 by William Jones, but was popular after it was adopted by the Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler in 1737.
There are many ways of celebrating Pi Day. Some of them include eating pie and discussing the relevance of π. And it's just a coincidence, but it is also Albert Einstein's birthday... So, one more reason to celebrate!
Source: http://www.piday.org/