Limerick Lesson Plans

Students research historical periods, and write limericks about a person, place, or artifact from that time period.

Fourth graders discover that a limerick is a form of humorous verse consisting of five lines. They use the Internet to get information about Ireland and the celebration of St. Patrick's Day. They locate major cities in Ireland including Limerick.

Recite a nursery rhyme by saying the rhyme with the words broken into sounds, and play a phonics hopscotch game with youngsters. Next, they read the limerick "A Young Farmer of Leeds" and discuss the pattern in the limerick, then write/illustrate a picture or description of the poem "Old Man With a Beard."

Students read and write limericks.  In this writing lesson, students define limericks, explore rhyming words, read sample limericks then write their own limericks.

Fifth graders study limericks. In this language arts lesson plan, 5th graders read examples of limericks and discuss the characteristics. Students distinguish between two poems and label the limerick.

Fourth graders look up the definition of "Limerick" in the dictionary. They listen to the teacher explain a limerick and read an example of a limerick. Students brainstorm rhyming words and write their own limericks.

Students conduct Internet research on limericks. Then, with the use of background poetry knowledge and a clear rubric, students create their own limerick.

Students explore the literary elements of limericks. They define the characteristics of limericks, read and listen to limericks, and write an original limerick.

Students discover the formula for writing limericks and use it to write their own poems.

Fifth graders create a limerick poem to express their point of view about slavery or jazz roots and/or music synthesizing ideas. They paint a picture using the paint program to illustrate their poem.