This lesson teaches limericks by incorporating them into the history/current event lesson plan and avoids those oh-so-boring limericks about Suzy crossing the street--you know the kind students write just to get the assignment done.
First, teach limericks--what they are, how to write them, and write a few as a class. Next, explain that the next day or two days or however long you want to give the students on this assignment (I recommend 3 or 4 days), there will be a competition in class. Each student is to write 3 limericks, each about a different current event from that week. They will turn their limericks into you with copies of the newspaper or internet article they used as references. Mix up the limericks and play a game of Round Robin.
To play Round Robin start at one end of the class and have one student stand up. Read that student one of the limericks, but leave out the last word. The student standing must use his or her knowledge of limericks and current events to fill in the blank. If the student succeeds, he or she gets one point. The student who wrote the limerick then stands up and explains the current event in about 3 or 4 sentences.
At this point, you must make a choice of how to precede. You can allow the first student to continue to fill in the blank until he or she can't, but then the attention is focused mainly on one student. You could move to the next student behind the first and give each student a chance. You could have the student who wrote the limerick get a chance to fill in the blank on the next one. Decide which will work best for your class. If a student fails to fill in the blank, you could allow the person behind the student to fill in the blank, or the first hand up. Either way, I would not just give the students the answer--make them work for it. Keep track of how many limericks each student answers, and as on NPR, the winner gets your voice on his or her home answering machine! That really could be a good prize; I've called home to tell students' parents how great they are doing in class with some very positive results.
To make the lesson run a little smoother, I would have the students write their limericks on 3x5 cards so that shuffling is easier and you can give the students the limericks they answer as a way to keep score.
The power of the limerick rhyme
ReplyDeleteIs more than you'd think, it's sublime.
In class, work and play
It has plenty to say.
While concise and most current each time.