Edward Lear, Limericks, and Nonsense: There Once Was…IntroductionBritish poet Edward Lear (1812-1888) is most widely recognized as the father of the limerick form of poetry and is well known for his nonsense poems. In this lesson, students will learn the form of the limerick poem, practice finding the meter and rhyme schemes in various Lear limericks, and write their own limericks. In a related lesson, Edward Lear, Limericks, and Nonsense: A Little Nonsense, which focuses on Lear's nonsense poem "The Owl and the Pussy Cat," students learn about nonsense poetry as well as the various poetic techniques and devices that poets use to help their readers create a mental picture while reading or hearing poems. Guiding Questions:Who was Edward Lear and what types of poems did he write? What are the characteristics of a limerick? Learning ObjectivesAfter completing the lessons in this unit, students will be able to:
Preparing to Teach this Lesson
Suggested ActivitiesDownload, copy, and distribute to students the Edward Lear limericks that you have selected from A Book of Nonsense on the Edward Lear Home Page, a link from the EDSITEment-reviewed website Internet Public Library. Or, post the first limerick that you have selected on a projection device for student viewing. You might want to start with "Old Man with a Beard," the first limerick on Edward Lear, Book of Nonsense 1-10:There was an Old Man with a beard, Ask the class to comment on the illustration(s). If you are using "Old Man with a Beard," ask students to explain why the picture is unrealistic and absurd. Explain to the class that this type of poem is called nonsense verse, which is humorous or whimsical verse that contains absurd characters and actions. It is meant to be fun. Have a student volunteer read the poem aloud. Tell the students that this kind of nonsense poem is called a limerick. Ask the students which lines rhyme (1,2 and 5; 3 and 4). Now display another poem of your choosing, or have students turn to the next poem in their handout. Read it aloud, or have a volunteer read it aloud. Again, ask the students which lines rhyme (1,2 and 5; 3 and 4). Continue in this way until students see that all limericks have the same rhyme scheme. Select another limerick. Divide the class into pairs. Have students clap their hands to count out the meter. Assign one student the task of clapping to your voice as you read the poem aloud and the other student the task of counting the claps. Students should clap when you emphasize a word. Ask the students how many claps were in each line (lines 1, 2 and 5: 3 claps; lines 3 and 4: 2 claps). The student pairs can switch jobs and try this exercise with a few poems. They can read them to each other or follow along as you read. After you have worked through a number of poems, ask students what they noticed about the lines of the limericks. They should have found that all of the limericks had the same number of claps. Explain that these claps are the meter of the poem. Define meter as the pattern of poetry. Have students complete the same exercise to find the syllables in the limericks. Lines 1, 2, and 5 each have eight or nine syllables, and lines 3 and 4 each have five syllables. Have students write limericks of their own. Review the features of a limerick:
There was a young lady named Sue, Have students fill in the blanks (shoe, hopped, stopped, blue). For more practice, you can create a limerick as a class, or use a Lear limerick and leave some empty spaces for students to fill in, as above. Now have students write their own limericks starting with the line, "There once was..." Remind them of the rhyme scheme, meter, and syllabification requirements for a limerick. Students can illustrate their limericks when they are finished. The students' work can be bound into a "Class Book of Nonsense" and distributed to all students, or you can hang up all of the limericks and illustrations on the bulletin board. Selected EDSITEment Websites
Other InformationStandards Alignment
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