Limerick

In Caught ya! #29 William Waggish whispered another one of his inimitable limericks. We learned that limericks were invented in 12-century China as a marching ditty for the army. The form is 5 lines. The first 2 lines and the last line are to have 8 syllables & rhyme and the 3 & 4 lines are to rhyme with 5 syllables. (Info from Caught Ya!).

We also learned through Wikipedia that the limerick was made popular by:

Edward Lear in his first Book of Nonsense (1845) and a later work (1872) on the same theme. Lear wrote 212 limericks, mostly nonsense verse. It was customary at the time for limericks to accompany an absurd illustration of the same subject, and for the final line of the limerick to be a kind of conclusion, usually a variant of the first line ending in the same word.

(Lear's limericks were often typeset in three or four lines, according to the space available under the accompanying picture.)

The girls got a chance to write their own limerick!

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My teacher said to write this trick,
But I never knew what to pick.
So I thought and thought,
Unsure what'd be taught
And now I have this limerick.
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On this white canvas I shall paint,
With colors that will try to taint,
Colors I can say,
Will be used today,
While I use this canvas to paint.
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Thanks girls you did great!

Grammar with a Giggle

The best book we have found to teach Grammar is Giggles in the Middle: Caught'ya! Grammar with a Giggle for Middle School.

From the Maupin House Book Publishing company: Jane Bell Kiester, author of the popular Caught’ya! Grammar with a Giggle series, has adapted her effective and fun approach to meet the specific learning needs of middle-school students. This resource improves writing and editing skills, raises test scores, engages students, and creates classrooms filled with giggles!

Occasionally we will post things that we learn from this book. Check it out for yourself! It totally rocks Grammar!