ELA6, CSS, Sferrazza

Did you complete the Poetry Reading Quiz? If not, go and complete the quiz now before continuing. 

Creative Thinking

In this unit, you are building your "Creative Thinking Competency". This means you are working on the following:

• I can get new ideas or build on other people’s ideas, to create new things within the constraints of a form, a problem, or materials 

• I can develop a body of creative work over time in an area I’m interested in or passionate about 

• I deliberately learn a lot about something so that I am able to generate new ideas or ideas just pop into my head 

• I can usually make my ideas work within the constraints of a given form, problem, and materials if I keep playing with them 

• I build the skills I need to make my ideas work, and usually succeed, even if it takes a few tries 

After understanding a pattern poem called a limerick, you will build on the ideas of others to create your own limerick. 

What's a Limerick?

• Limericks are nonsense poems. They are fun poems - written to bring joy - and they are even more fun to write! 
• Limericks are usually narrative poems because they tell a story. 
• Limericks are rhyming poems, which means they are not free verse poems. 

Where are limericks originally from?

• Limericks are believed to have originated in the town of Limerick, Ireland.
  
• Limericks were made popular by a rather sarcastic Mr. Edward Lear who lived from 1812 - 1888. 
  
• Many Irish immigrants settled in Canada. Between 1825 and 1845, 60% of all immigrants to Canada were Irish; in 1831 alone, some 34,000 arrived in Montreal. Approximately 1.2 million Irish immigrants arrived from 1825 to 1970. With them came pieces of their culture, including limericks.

Patterns in Limericks

Read these limericks. What patterns do you notice? What do you like about them? Are they serious or humourous?

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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." 

By Edward Lear 

(Source: Prelutsky, J., & Lobel, A. (1983). The Random House Book of Poetry for Children. New York, NY: Random House.)

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I raised a great hullabaloo,

When I found a large mouse in my stew.

Said the waiter, "Don't shout

And wave it about

Or the rest will be wanting one, too." 

By Anonymous

(Source: Prelutsky, J., & Lobel, A. (1983). The Random House Book of Poetry for Children. New York, NY: Random House.)

As you read the next two limericks, look for patterns. You may already have discovered a few limerick patterns.

Limerick One: A bull-voiced young fellow of Pawling, Competes in meets for hog-calling, The people applaud, The judges are awed, But the hogs find it simply appalling. - By Morris Bishop (Source: Prelutsky, J., & Lobel, A. (1983). The Random House book of poetry for children. New York, NY: Random House.)

Limerick One: Number of lines: Answer 5 Lines that rhyme with line one: Answer Lines two and five Lines that rhyme with line three: Answer Line four

In your Learning Guide, complete the analysis of "Limerick Two".

Did you find the rhyming pattern?

Lines one, two, and five end with rhyming words.

Lines three and four end with rhyming words.

This is called an AABBA rhyming pattern. "A" stands for the first rhyming sound (lines one, two, and five). "B" stands for the second rhyming sound (lines three and four).

A canner exceedingly canny,  (A)
One morning remarked to his granny: (A)
"A canner can can (B)
Anything that he can, (B)
But a canner can't can a can, can he? (A)

Here is a quick video on labelling rhyme schemes. Knowing this will help you to see if your limerick truly fits the limerick pattern.

In your Learning Guide, label the rhyming pattern (A) and (B) on each line in "Limerick Two".

Syllable Patterns

Limericks have a syllable rhythm pattern that helps to make them fun to read - almost like a song. Simply put, the syllables go like this:

da-DA-DA-da-DA-DA-da-da

da-DA-DA-da-DA-DA-da-DA

da-DA-DA-DA-da

da-DA-DA-DA-da

da-DA-Da-da-DA-Da-da-da

Limericks usually have eight or nine syllables in lines one, two, and five (although they may have ten). 

Limericks usually have five (or sometimes six) syllables in lines three and four.

When you read limericks out loud, you can feel the rhythm in the lines! 

Here is another example. What movie is it based on?

In your Learning Guide, complete "Syllables in Limericks".

Poetry Writing Task 4 - Limerick

Step One:

An easy way to begin to write a limerick of your own is to use a name in the first line. You can use your own name, the name of your town or a place, or another name that is easy to rhyme, like Jabba the Hutt. 

For example: There once was a young boy named Brian / There once was a young girl named Anna / There once was a kid from Vancouver (hard to rhyme) / There once was a girl from a mountain 

Step Two:

Brainstorm rhyming words for your first line - you will quickly see if you can think of "good rhymes" to use:

Brian	Anna	Vancouver	Mountain
Flyin' Fryin' Cryin'  Sighin' Complyin'	Banana Bandana Piana Savannah Americana Cabana	Hoover Mover Prover Louver Maneuveur	Fountain Count in

Step Three:

Continue to write your limerick following the pattern.

Line one: (8 or 9 syllables, Rhyme "A") There once was a 

Line two: (8 or 9 syllables, Rhyme "A")

Line three: (5 or 6 syllables, Rhyme "B")

Line four: (5 or 6 syllables, Rhyme "B")

Line five: (8 or 9 syllables, Rhyme "A")

Did you use an AABBA rhyming pattern? This means the end of lines one, two, and five rhyme with each other. This also means the ends of lines three and four rhyme with each other.

Does your limerick have the proper number of syllables?

Is it original and creative?

In your Learning Guide, complete the Writing Task: Limerick.