Verbal irony and puns in context
I can interpret verbal irony and puns in writing.
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General
In this lesson, students will discuss the importance of figurative language and how verbal irony and puns play a part in literature. They will read many sentences and determine whether they express verbal irony. Students will also review homophones and homonyms to prepare to learn about puns. Then, they will read many puns and even write their own.
Standards
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.8.5a
Learning objective
Students will be able to interpret verbal irony and puns in writing.
Introduction
Students will discuss if they've ever forgotten to buy something at the store and had to run back to get it. Someone may say, "Oh great! Now I have to run back to the store." Students will discuss if this person really thinks it is great. They will then discuss why it is important to understand figurative language.
Instruction
Students will look at an example of verbal irony where a man gets into a car accident and says, "Guess today's my lucky day..." Next, they will read sentences describing situations and determine whether they express verbal irony. They will do the same thing while looking at pictures of a messy room and a man with moving boxes. They will also read short excerpts from Beauty and the Beast and Romeo and Juliet, and tell how they show verbal irony.
Then, students will learn about puns, wordplay based on the fact that words can sound alike and also have multiple meanings. They will review homophones and homonyms. They will interpret the meaning of many puns, including "Newspapers are black and white and re(a)d all over." They will do this as a class and in pairs.
Quiz
Review verbal irony and puns with 10 multiple-choice and true/false questions.
Closing
Students will recall what they learned about verbal irony and puns. Lastly, they will read an example ("No lion, I'm feline that cats make the purr-fect pets.") and write and share their own puns.
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