Limerick Lesson

One of my favorite lessons I did as a student teacher was on limericks. I am a huge poetry fan so this was right up my alley. The first thing I did was write a limerick on the board and have the students read it. I then asked them what they noticed about it. Answers included that lines 1,2, and 5 rhymed with each other, as did lines 3 and 4. They also noticed that lines 1,2 and 5 where longer than lines 3 and 4. I then had the children count the syllables in each line and I wrote the numbers at the end of the lines. They could see that lines 1,2, and 3 had about 8 syllables while lines 3 and 4 had about 6.

Next I passed out a worksheet with limericks that were missing some of the words at the end of the line. For example:

There once was a giant named Paul
Who stood over 30 feet ________.
       Mean old Mrs. Fig
       Said "We think you're too _________!"
Said the giant "I think you're too ________

A vampire who called herself Bilk
Hated blood so instead she drank ________.
           She would drink it for hours
           Even if it was ________
While she sat in her cape made of ________.

The students would have 5-10 minutes to read the poems and fill in the blanks with words that both rhymed and made sense. I was amazed at the variety of words the children were able to come up with for some of the limericks provided.

Next I split the children up into groups of 2 and gave each group an envelope containing a limerick that had been cut into its individual lines. The groups had to read the individual lines and figure out the original order of the limerick. When they thought they were done I checked to make sure they were correct, and then they pasted it on a piece of paper and read their poem to the class.

Finally it was time for the students to make a limerick of their own. In order to help them I provided a basic format they could use on the board, and we briefly brainstormed some easy to rhyme words. The following are some of the actual limericks that the students came up with.

There once was a ghost named Mooky
Who acted incredibly kooky
The children were scared
Although they didn't care
That Mooky was not very spooky

There once was a barbie named Wump
Who woke up with a one foot high lump
She screamed at her sight
And cried all through the night
Then she threw herself out in the dump

There once was a girl named Cher
Who loved her thick long blonde hair
She took long showers
that lasted for hours
Then decided to find what to wear