With St. Patrick’s Day (March 17th) and April Fool’s Day (April 1st) coming so close together, I thought that it would be good to combine the two in a “The Best…” list.

I don’t mean to be a “party-pooper,” but I have to say that I believe that April Fool’s Day can often be “celebrated” in a way that can seem somewhat cruel.  However, I think it’s important that English Language Learners be aware of it and also learn how to participate in a fun and respectful way.

Here are my picks for The Best Sites For Learning About St. Patrick’s Day and April Fool’s Day (and are accessible to English Language Learners — by the way, these aren’t listed in any order of preference):

ST. PATRICK’S DAY:

Heads Up English has a good article about the holiday with audio support for the text.

There’s a good St. Patrick’s Day Lesson at EL Civics.

5 Minute English has a short article and comprehension questions about the holiday.

MES Games has a vocabulary building activity for St. Patrick’s-related words.

Of course, The History Channel has a great site on the holiday.

Language Lab has a good “text completion” activity for the day.

Learn English Feel Good has a vocabulary quiz.

Here’s a student-written history of St. Patrick’s Day.

Activities For ESL Students has a St. Patrick’s Day Quiz.

Renee Maufroid has created a good “Hangman” game about the holiday.

You can send an E-Card from the BBC and post the link on a student/teacher website. You can do the same at Blue Mountain and American Greetings. All three appear to host the cards indefinitely on their site.

ESL Holiday Lessons has a page on St. Patrick’s Day that provides audio support for the text.

Read and listen to a “talking book” about Ireland at Apples 4 The Teacher.

CBS News has a special St. Patrick’s Day page.

The BBC has an interactive book on the holiday.

National Geographic has some facts on the holiday.

Woodlands Junior School in Great Britain has some short and and accessible info on St. Patricks’ Day.

The San Francisco Chronicle has photos of St. Patrick’s Day celebrations throughout Northern California.

The Boston Globe has images of Boston’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade.

A Brief History of St. Patrick’s Day, a slideshow from TIME Magazine

A slideshow of Denver’s St. Patrick’s Day parade. Here’s another set of images from the same parade.

A slideshow of a similar parade in Utah.

A video of a celebration of the day in Ireland from Reuters.

The New York Times has a slideshow about the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in New York City.

St. Patrick’s Day Pride is a slideshow from The Wall Street Journal.

St. Patrick’s Day is a series of images from the Sacramento Bee.

As is typical, Mrs. Haquet at Frenchfrog’s Little English Pond has developed the best ELL resource for a holiday.

This time, it’s an Interactive Book On St. Patrick’s Day.

ESL Courses has multiple St. Patrick’s activities designed for ELL’s.

The San Francisco Chronicle has a slideshow of a local St. Patrick’s Day Parade.

Who Was St. Patrick? is a video from MSNBC.

Pipes and Drums For St. Patrick’s Day is another video from MSNBC.

The White House Goes Green is an ABC News video.

Best 17 Ways to Celebrate St. Paddy’s Day is a slideshow from ABC.

St. Patrick’s Day in New York City is a slideshow from The New York Times.

Going Green On St. Patrick’s Day is a slideshow from The Wall Street Journal.

The Telegraph has pictures from Dublin on St. Patrick’s Day.

Here’s a St. Patrick’s Day Quiz.

St. Patrick’s Day 2010 is a slideshow from the San Francisco Chronicle.

Here’s a New York Times video on the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in that city.

10 Things You Didn’t Know About St. Patrick’s Day is a slideshow from TIME Magazine.

St. Patrick’s Day 2010 is a slideshow from The Washington Post.

Celebrating St. Patrick’s Day is a slideshow from MSNBC.

The Wall Street Journal has a slideshow with the same title.

8 St. Patrick’s Day Tales and Traditions is from TIME.

St. Patrick’s Day Science Tricks

And if you want to learn more about Ireland, here are links to several other resources specifically designed with English Language Learners in mind (several are interactive):

Ireland
Irish Politics
Irish History
Irish History Quiz
Cork, Ireland
Cork, Ireland Quiz
Talking About Ireland
Talking About Ireland Quiz
More Talking About Ireland
Dublin, Ireland

MSNBC has a slideshow about Dublin, Ireland.

“The Ireland Of Yesterday” is a slideshow from LIFE.

Here are some internet scavenger hunts for the holiday.

APRIL FOOL”S DAY:

Heads Up English has a good overview of the holiday and provides audio support for the text.

You can find a short article with reading comprehension questions about April Fool’s Day at 5 Minute English.

Learn English Feel Good has a vocabulary quiz about the day.

A short article with comprehension questions can be found at Second Nature Online English.

Here’s a relatively simple history of April Fool’s Day.

ESL Holiday Lessons has a lesson on April Fool’s Day that provides audio support for the text.

April Fools! is a lesson from The New York Times Learning Network.

I’d certainly be interested in hearing other suggestions, so please feel free to leave them in the comments section.

If you found this post useful, you might want to look at previous “The Best…” lists and also consider subscribing to this blog for free.