The St. Patrick Day bulletin board is one that can be part of a small unit on poetry. The type of poetry that comes to mind when one thinks of poetry is the limerick.
Students will write limericks and then place them on the bulletin board. Then, they will vote on the top limerick.
Review Published Limericks
Before beginning the limerick lesson, teachers will need to find some great limerick examples for students to view. For some fun math limericks, teachers can go to the Limericks Alive website.
Of course, teachers can find the original limericks from Edward Lear in A Book on Nonsense [Studio, 1980]. A few may be bawdy, but some are quite humorous and appropriate.
Tips for Writing Limericks
After students have read the delightfully humorous poems and understand the rhyme pattern and rhythm, they will need to write their own limericks. Students need to remember these important tips about writing a limerick:
- A limerick is five lines long.
- It follows the A, A, B, B, A rhyme scheme or pattern.
- Line 1 has 9 syllables and a pause.
- Line 2 has 9 syllables and a pause.
- Line 3 has 6 or 7 syllables and no pause.
- Line 4 has 6 or 7 syllables and no pause.
- Line 5 has 9 syllables and a pause.
However, there are variations to the number of syllables in a limerick. It helps to keep a favorite limerick handy when writing an original one.
Make a St. Patrick Bulletin Board
Once the drafts of the limericks are written, students can begin help working on the class bulletin board. Teachers will need to die cut the words "St. Patrick Limericks" for the bulletin board and choose coordinating border.
In addition, teachers should die cut the words "Top Limerick" for the contest winner. The materials needed for students are scissors, construction paper, markers, and small Post Its.
Step 1: Students should write the limericks neatly on a green shamrock.
Step 2: The shamrocks should be posted on the bulletin board.
Step 3: Teachers should give each student one small Post It to vote on the best limerick. If students have time, they can cut the Post It into a shape. The students should then vote with the Post It.
Step 4: After students have voted, the teacher can move the shamrock with the most votes next to the words "Top Limerick."
Teachers can offer chocolate candy gold coins to the top limerick writer or another treat. The St. Patrick bulletin board is a humorous way to showcase limericks. And, teachers have a lovely display of student work for the month of March.
Kellie Hayden - She is a 19 year veteran teacher with a master's degree in education and NBCT, 2000. Kellie teaches 8th grade language arts, TAG and ...
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