Maggie s Activity Pack Name Date What Are Limericks? How Do You Write A Limerick? March 17 is St. Patrick s Day. People wear green. They may talk about leprechauns. Many people also read and write limericks. A limerick is a fun, five line poem. No one is really sure where limericks came from, but we do know that a limerick is fun to read and fun to write! Read Limericks We have written a few limericks about Maggie. Watch the cartoon, You Must Be Choking at www.missmaggie.org. Then read these limericks. There once was a girl named Maggie, Whose dog was brown and quite shaggy. The two needed to find Evidence of a crime So pollution they put in a baggie! There once was a dog named Dude A cute poodle he always pursued Up a building he went But couldn t make the descent So a helicopter came - he was rescued!
Find Out About Rhyme in Limericks What is the pattern of a limerick? Let s find out. Circle the lines that end with the same rhyming word. Underline the lines that end with a different rhyming word. There once was an Uncle AG He s mysterious we all do agree. His voice we do hear But he doesn t appear. Why is it his face we can t see? Did you circle AG, agree, and see? The words at the end of lines 1,2, and 5 of a limerick all rhyme. Did you underline the words hear and appear? The words at the end of lines 3 and 4 rhyme. Find Out About Line Length in Limericks Now let s look at the length of the five lines in a limerick. Which two lines are shorter than the other lines? Circle the two shorter lines in the following limerick. There once was a dog named Dude Who loved smells both strong and subdued. He played and he clowned Then rolled on the ground. He came in and was promptly shampooed! You can see that lines 3 and 4 are shorter in a limerick.
Get Ready to Write Your Own Limerick Choose three rhyming words from this Word Bank. Circle them. ache awake backache bake brake cake cheesecake cupcake daybreak earthquake fake flake handshake headache Jake keepsake lake make milk shake mistake newsbreak pancake quake rake rattlesnake shake snake snowflake steak take toothache wake Use two of the words to write the first two lines of your limerick in the box on the last page. Save the other word for the last line of your limerick. Choose two words from this Word Bank. Put a box around them. Use these two rhyming words to write lines 3 and 4. ballet bay birthday clay day delay display essay fray gray hallway hay highway may neigh Norway obey okay pay play pray sleigh ray relay say spray stay stray sway they today tray way
Write Your Own Limerick! Now use the words you circled to write lines 1, 2, and 5. Use the words you put a box around to write lines 3 and 4. Remember, these lines should be shorter than the other lines. s Limerick 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Dear Colleague, Dear Colleague, I have always believed that when asking elementary age children to write poetry, you need to keep your fingers crossed! That is why I have provided children with a template for writing this special type of Irish verse and list of possible rhyming words to use. I m sure you ve thought of the many art connections and have your students create various depictions of any poems they read or even write. One cross-curricular project will bring together those different thinkers in your classroom. Why not take your current math topic and have children write poetry to illustrate the concepts of this topic? Adding fractions? Write a poem about it! Our Maggie s Archive contains activities showing how to write poems utilizing a variety of poetic forms. Take a peek and see how many various kinds of poems can be written about those math chapters. What a way to encourage your math minds to think about poetry and vice versa! Happy teaching, Kathy Goals: The formula for a limerick is explained. Intermediate students read about the history of this poetic form. Both primary and intermediate students read several limericks and are given a word bank. They then compose their own limerick. The activity correlates with the IRA/NCTE Standard, Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes.