Lesson plan
Puns with Homophones and Homographs
Learning Objectives
Students will be able to identify homophones and homographs in the context of puns.
Introduction
(2 minutes)
- Hook students with a funny pun (e.g., "What did one half of the fruit say to the other half? We make a perfect pair!").
- Draw a visual to illustrate the meaning (i.e., two halves of a pear holding hands).
- Ask students to explain what makes this joke funny and support them in understanding that the words "pair" and "pear" are homophones.
Explicit Instruction/Teacher modeling
(8 minutes)- Explain that this type of joke is called a pun because it uses multiple meanings of a word for a humorous effect. Many puns use homophones or homographs to give a statement double meaning.
- Remind students that homophones are words that sound the same, but have different spellings and meanings (like "pear" and "pair"). Homographs are words that are spelled the same, but have different meanings (like "bat").
- Divide a piece of chart paper into two columns. Label one column "homophones" and the other "homographs."
- With the class, generate a list of homophones and homographs to write in each column.
Guided Practice
(15 minutes)- Use a homophone from the student-generated list to model a pun (e.g., "This bread recipe is a family secret. I can only share it on a knead-to-know basis.")
- Explain that this joke is a pun because the homophone "knead" gives the joke double meaning.
- Display one copy of the Puns with Homophones #1 worksheet and work through it with the class.
- Then, give students a few minutes to work with a partner and come up with an answer for the "try it" question (write a pun with a homophone for "hair").
- Model a pun with a homograph from the list (e.g., "Why did the teacher wear sunglasses? Because his students were so bright!").
- Explain that this joke is a pun because the word "bright" can mean smart or shiny.
- Hand out the Puns with Homographs worksheet and complete the first two puns with the class.
- Then, have students complete the rest of the worksheet with a partner.
Independent working time
(10 minutes)- Hand out the Puns with Homophones #2 worksheet and instruct students to complete it independently.
- Circulate and offer support as needed.
Differentiation
Support:
- Use a digital exercise to give students additional practice identifying common homophones and homographs (see optional materials).
- Use visuals to support students' understanding with tricky multiple meaning words.
Enrichment:
- Follow up by looking at puns that use idioms to create double meaning (see optional materials).
- Challenge students to come up with more puns on their own, using homophones or homographs to create double meaning.
- Invite your students to tell jokes with their classmates using puns (see optional materials).
Assessment
(5 minutes)- Write a word on the board, like "meat," and ask students to write its homophone on their personal whiteboard.
- Have students hold up their answers and scan student responses to gauge understanding.
- Repeat with several homophones that students used through the course of the lesson (e.g., "hare"/"hair", "rap"/"wrap," "pole"/"poll").
- Write a homograph on the board, like "bug," and ask students to write two different meanings for the word.
- Have students hold up their answers and scan student responses to gauge understanding.
- Repeat with several homographs that students used through the course of the lesson (e.g., "stuffed," "fan," "saw").
Review and closing
(5 minutes)- Invite students to share the puns they came up with on their worksheets during independent practice (puns using a homophone for "beat").
Related learning resources
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