LimericksKyndal Walker

Kayeleigh B. Lowe

ECED 4300 ~ AFall 2008Dr. Root3rd grade

Prewriting StageKayeleigh B. Lowe

GPS:ELA3W2 The student begins to write in a variety genres, including narrative, informational, persuasive, and response to literature. Critical Component: The student produces a response to literature that: f. May include prewriting.

PLO: The students will create a graphic organizer for the prewriting stage of limerick poetry.

What is a Limerick?Instructional Strategy

• A five-line poem written with one couplet and one triplet.

• The rhyme pattern is a a b b a with lines 1, 2 and 5 containing 3 beats and rhyming, and lines 3 and 4 having two beats and rhyming.

• Limericks are meant to be funny.• The last line of a good limerick contains

the punch line.

Form of Writing

Limericks are silly poems that have five lines with the rhyme

scheme of a, a, b, b, a.

All of the lines that have “a” will all have the same number of

syllables.

All of the lines that have “b” will all have the same number of

syllables.

Prewriting: Instruction• Prewriting is the getting ready to write

stage.Step 1: Choose a topic. __________Step 2. Choose a form of writing: LimerickStep 3: Choose your audience.Step 4: Purpose for writing: ___________• Complete a graphic organizer. A graphic

organizer is a device that is used for gathering thoughts and organizing ideas.

ExampleSt. Patrick’s Day LimerickThere once was a shamrock named Shawn,

Whose leaves first unfurled in the dawn,

He was easily seen,With his bright leaves of green,Right up ‘til the day he was gone.

Guenther, Leanne. St. Patrick’s Day Limerick. Retrieved from http://www.dltk-kids.com/t_template.ask?t=http://www.dltk-holidays.com/patrick/images/...

October 20, 2008.

Websites to practice with

• http://www.learner.org/teacherslab/math/patterns/limerick/limerick_acttxt.html

• http://ettcweb.lr.k12.nj.us/forms/newpoem.htm

• http://www.poetry-online.org/limericks.htm

Graphic OrganizerThink of a person you want to write a poem about and

where they are from. Write the name of the person and the place below.

Now write words that rhyme with those words. Find two rhyming words for the person and two rhyming words

for the place.

Think of something interesting about the person; write about three interesting things below.

Step 1: Choose a topic. __________ Step 2. Choose a form of writing: Limerick Step 3: Choose your audience._________ Step 4: Purpose for writing: ___________

Published Example

There was an old man from Peru, (A) who dreamed he was eating his shoe. (A) He awoke in the night (B)with a terrible fright, (B)and found out that it was quite true. (A)

Giggle Poetry: How to write a Limerick Retrieved November 6, 2008 from http://www.gigglepoetry.com/poetryclass/limerickcontesthelp.html

DraftingKyndal Walker

• GPS for Drafting Stage:ELA3W2 The student begins to write in a variety genres, including narrative, informational, persuasive, and response to literature. h. May include a revised and edited draft.

• PLO: Students will construct a draft of a limerick poem using the graphic organizer from the prewriting stage.

What is a Limerick?Instructional Strategy

• A five-line poem written with one couplet and one triplet.

• The rhyme pattern is a a b b a with lines 1, 2 and 5 containing 3 beats and rhyming, and lines 3 and 4 having two beats and rhyming.

• Limericks are meant to be funny.• The last line of a good limerick

contains the punch line.

Drafting Instruction:Putting ideas on paper

Step 1: Form ideas from the graphic organizer into complete sentences.

Step 2: Label draft as “rough draft”. Step 3: Skip every other line to make

room for revisions. (you will put an “x” on every other line to help you remember)

Step 4:The draft is to focus more on content rather than grammar, sentence structure, or spelling

Practice Activity

• The teacher will model how to write a limerick using 5 easy steps.

Practice Activity5 steps to writing a Limerick

1. Pick a boy or girl’s name that has one syllable. (ex. Jack, Ben, Ann, Kim)

• “There once was a young girl named Kim.”

2. Make a list of words that rhyme with the last word in the first line. (ex. him, Tim, limb,gem)

Practice Activity Continued…

3. Write the second line using one of the rhyming words.

• “Who had a crush on a boy named Tim.”

(notice that the last words in the first two lines rhyme)

Practice Activity Continued…4. Now think of an interesting story.

What could happen to a girl who has a crush on a boy?

• Here is what might happen in the third and fourth lines:

• “They would play everyday” • “And one day he would say,”• (Notice that “everyday” and “say” the

last words in the third and fourth lines, both rhyme.)

Practice Activity Continued…

5. Now you need to go back to the list of “A” rhyming words to find one that can end the poem. Here’s an example:

• “She was the one for him.”

Practice Activity Continued…

• Here is the poem we just wrote:

“There once was a young girl named Kim,

Who had a crush on a boy named Tim,They would play everyday, And one day he would say,She was the one for him.”

Assessment for Drafting

• Students will write their own limerick using the steps that were previously modeled and practiced with them.

References

• http://www.learner.org/teacherslab/math/patterns/limerick/limerick_acttxt.html

• http://ettcweb.lr.k12.nj.us/forms/newpoem.htm

• http://www.poetry-online.org/limericks.htm