Limerick Hotlist

A limerick is a form of poetry that contains five lines and has an aabba rhyming pattern. They are usually nonsensical or humorous, and in spite of their reputation for sometimes being racy or bawdy, their easy-to-write form makes them fun for classroom use.

19th century, English writer and illustrator, Edward Lear, was famous for his fanciful limericks:

There was an old man with a beard,
Who said, "It is just as I feared!
Two owls and a hen
Four larks and a wren
Have all built their nests in my beard."

Sample these internet sites to learn more about this engaging poetic form.

Limerick Lesson Plan
http://volweb.utk.edu/Schools/bedford/harrisms/limerick.htm

This lesson plan explains the pattern for limericks and information about using hyperbole, onomatopoeia, idioms, puns, and other figurative devices in limericks.

Teachers' Lab - Limerick Factory
http://www.learner.org/teacherslab/math/patterns/limerick/limerick_acttxt.html

Students can create their limericks online by choosing words or groups of words from pull-down menus.

Christmas Limericks
http://rosecards.com/ch8.html

Students can choose to send a Christmas limerick to a friend. Have students write their own Christmas limericks or limericks for any other holiday.

Physics Limericks
http://www.aps.org/apsnews/limericks.html

Read through these amusing physics limericks written by members of the American Physics Society. From this site:

Doin' Its Own Thing
by Edward H. Green

The first law of Newton I sing
My voice has a relevant ring:
"An object left free
Of hassles will be
Engrossed in just doing its thing."

Have students write limericks about biology, chemistry, PE, or food in the lunch room.

Author: LINDA MOSBACKER - Email linda.mosbacker@slc.k12.ut.us