On March 17th, many men and women will celebrate the noble Irish
holiday, St. Patrick’s Day. They will honor the Saint who rid Ireland of snakes
by dying their hair green, wearing ‘kiss me” buttons and drinking green beer –
a lot of green beer!
Teachers enjoy partaking in these fun festivities, but it’s
not all drunken debauchery. They also have a little didactic fun in their classrooms by
sharing, writing and illustrating limericks.
Limericks are silly poems with five lines and are often nonsensical.
The first, second and fifth lines rhyme with each other and have the same
number of syllables (typically 8 or 9). The third and fourth lines rhyme with
each other and have the same number of syllables (typically 5 or 6). They often
start with the line “There once was a.” or “There was a …”
Limericks are often associated with the Irish because of
County Limerick in Ireland. And, let’s face it – the Irish can often be silly –
especially on St. Patrick’s Day!
Edward Lear is arguably the most famous poet of limericks.
He wrote the “Book of Nonsense” which is an entire collection of whimsical
limericks. They are entertaining to read and cool to share with your kids. Here are a few of my favorite limericks written
by 8th graders that I would like to share with you.
Cows Are Fat
Cows are fat and eat like pigs.
When they walk they snap the twigs.
Cows rumble the ground,
They make lots of sound,
My favorite one is named Bigz!
My Dogs
I have four loveable dogs.
But sometimes they smell like hogs.
They lick me a lot.
Their tongues are real hot.
And sometimes they chew big logs.
The Sly Spy
There once was a very sly spy.
He couldn’t catch a crook, but why?
Then he noticed that,
He was only a gnat.
The sly spy was only a fly!
Jacked Up Truck
There’s nothing like a lifted truck
I like my Chevys all jacked up.
Four doors – hunter green,
Best you’ve every seen.
Makes the boys holler, “babe, waddup?!”
Emu Named Bob
There once was an emu named Bob.
Who liked to eat corn on the cob
Since he had no hands,
He ate out of cans
Therefore, he would eat like a slob!
The Restaurant
There is a restaurant in the park.
Where you have to order in the dark.
It has tomatoes,
And baked potatoes.
It’s a fancy restaurant to mark.
We hope they inspire you to write some with your little
leprechauns. Reading and writing
together have almost limitless benefits. Among them are the modeling of the
love of poetry and literature, increased reading fluency, vocabulary and all
around development of language skills.
Illustrating your creations promote comprehension and displaying them
brings the St. Patrick’s Day spirit into your home while saying,” I’m proud of
you!” This is a creative way to spend
quality time together, and can be a very bonding experience. It may even turn
out to be a great conversation starter for your aloof tweens and teens. So sit
down with your children tonight and start writing some wacky, way out
limericks.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
