Curated OER
Homophones: Fun with Puns
What is a homophone for aloud? Or right? Fifth graders complete a list of 24 homophones, choosing another word that sounds like a given word but has a different meaning. At the bottom of the page, they write punning sentences to practice...
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Exploring the Power of Puns
Read and analyze a variety of Shakespearean and contemporary puns using Visual Thesaurus computer software. Middle and high schoolers analyze a pun as a class; in small groups they analyze a Shakespearean pun using contextual clues and...
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What Makes Jokes Funny?
Explore how language is used for comic effect. Middle schoolers determine which of the three formulas for jokes (double meanings, unexpected outcome, humorous mental image) make each of 18 classic, corny examples funny. They complete a...
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Playing with Puns
"O pun" the door on this activity. Have your pupils compare the puns and word play in scenes from Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night to those in Gary Blackwood’s The Shakespeare Stealer. Warm up and introductory activities, as well as...
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Errors vs. Rhetorical Devices
Is there a difference between writing errors and employing rhetorical devices? This presentation argues that there is a difference, but it might be a finer point than one would think. Addressing double entendre, oxymorons, and parody,...
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Ambiguity and Puns
Get a giggle from this presentation about puns and ambiguity. From ad campaigns to old jokes to pictures of animals made out of vegetables, the slides are amusing, informative, and bizarre. The presentation spends more time providing...
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The Pillsbury Doughboy
Mourning the death of the Pillsbury Doughboy (from a yeast infection and pokes in the belly), this presentation discusses the use of puns, metaphors, and polysemes. The slide show continues by discussing other popular metaphors and...
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Headlines
See the effects of puns, letter play, alliteration, and rhyme in newspaper headlines. Writers use such language effects to have their headline stand out. Examples are given with a slide prompting practice at the end. Use in a journalism...
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Linguistic Humor and Language Play
By George, there are so many literary devices illustrated here! Help your pupils create interest in their writing by presenting one or two of these literary devices at a time. The slides contain examples and beg participation from the...
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Shakespearean Puns
Tickle your funny bone with a worksheet that presents five famous puns drawn from Shakespeare's Richard III, Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, and Much Ado About Nothing. Readers identify the play on words as a homographic or homophonic pun.
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Playing with Puns
Students examine the wit of characters in two plays. For this drama lesson, students read The Shakespeare Stealer by Gary L. Blackwood and Twelfth Night by Shakespeare. Students analyze the puns used in both plays and write essays that...
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Punning Vocabulary
Students analyze and practice presenting vocabulary words in out of the ordinary ways with word play, frisky words and puns. They also identify the correct definition of each word and then use them in gimmicks to add flair and fun to the...
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Puns
Nothing's better than the sound of children's laughter. This humorous presentation should have your young learners laughing. Jokes and puns are the focus. Classics such as, "Why did the turkey cross the road? To prove he wasn't...
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Puns
In this puns worksheet, students create puns of their own after reading examples of puns. Students read 12 examples of puns on this worksheet.
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Goldilocks and the Three Hares
Students read the book Goldilocks and the Three Hares and complete activities to go along with it. In this Goldilocks and the Three Hares lesson plan, students complete activities on puns, facts about weasels, rabbits and hares, and more.
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Visual Puns or Composite Imagery
Students discover art that contains composite imagery and visual puns. They create their own picture of composite imagery and explain the visual pun. Students develop skills using the drawing media.
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Lesson Plan for Puns
Students examine what puns are and how they are useful in poetry. They examine how they are used in advertising slogans, Valentines, and everyday language. They create posters depicting their favorite pun.
