Not Quite

The poetry challenge for my sixth grade students today was to write a limerick, and I thought the directions were pretty clear:

A limerick is a silly poem with five lines. They are often funny or nonsensical. Limericks were made famous by Edward Lear, a famous author who wrote the Book of Nonsense in the 1800's. This was an entire book of silly limericks.

How to write a limerick:

The first, second and fifth lines all have 8 or 9 syllables.
The third and fourth lines have 5 or 6 syllables
The rhyme scheme is AABBA
Limericks often start with the line "There once was a..." or "There was a..."

First of all, bless their hearts, all 25 kids who took time out of their Sunday to try and compose a limerick, which is not an easy task at all. Some were really good, and some were just a little off. This one, though? Was my favorite:

There once were golden ducks
which loved to smuggle old bananas
but when they were caught
they quack and grunt
" but we are innocents!" With mistakes

Reteach?

You bet! And I can't wait for the conference to see where my directions went so wrong!