What to do with this activity?
What is a Limerick?
It's a short poem with five lines and the following rules:
1. The 1st, 2nd and 5th lines have 8 syllables each and the end word rhymes. (Look below to learn about syllables.)
2. The 3rd and 4th lines have only 5 or 6 syllables each and the end word rhymes.
3. A Limerick is usually funny or silly.
Here are two examples:
There was a young woman called Ann
Who said she would fry in a pan
Some rashers and eggs
Along with frogs' legs
To madly impress her young man.
There once was a woman from Naas
Who wanted to go into space
She borrowed a rocket
Plugged into a socket
And now they can find not a trace.
Encourage your child to have a go at writing a Limerick and then get them to read it out loud. Try rhyming the names of people or places you know. Don't take it too seriously - it's a bit of fun with words, rhyming and writing.
A syllable is a chunk of sound. Some words are only one syllable, like "and". Some words have two syllables, like "woman" made up of "wo" and "man". The word "Limerick" has three syllables - "Li", "mer", and "ick".
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Why am I doing this?
Writing is like a muscle – the more your child practices it the stronger their writing ability will become. You child is also more likely to write about things they like or are interested in – writing is a way to express yourself and using writing in this way can be more meaningful to a child.
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How can I do more?
Decide on a writing project you could work on either together or with you standing by to help. This could be writing or sending an email to a family member or friend living away or your child writing about one of their interests. List key messages you want to write about, who else might read it and then begin work on the piece. Have a dictionary at the ready and use the spell checker if working on a computer.
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