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...

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. 

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...

"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...

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...

Encourage more pun-derstanding of word play in your literary scholars as they explore Brian P. Cleary's book Rhyme and Punishment: Adventures in Wordplay. Although this isn't suggested, consider beginning this study by simply showing...

Explore the pop art movement and create a sculpture in the pop art style based on a visual pun, or play on words. The scholar's work may use humor, allegory, metaphor, or be in the form of a parody. Visual examples are provided, and some...

Learners examine the wit of characters in two plays. In this drama lesson, students read The Shakespeare Stealer by Gary L. Blackwood and Twelfth Night by Shakespeare. Learners analyze the puns used in both plays and write essays that...

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...

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...

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...

In this puns activity, students create puns of their own after reading examples of puns. Students read 12 examples of puns on this activity.

Learners 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.

Young scholars increase their knowledge of homonyms and become familiar with 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.

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...

Students create visual puns. They draw the name of bird from a basket and then create a visual pun illustration based on the bird's name. Students evaluate their drawing using a rubric and then present their work to the class.

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...

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,...

You've got your topic—now how do you make your poem funny? Explore ways to make a poem humorous, including puns, exaggeration, silly words, and surprising endings, with a helpful poetry lesson.

I have a pair of ducks; one can’t swim. Viewers are introduced to several literary terms (paradox, oxymoron, pun, irony, etc.) that are defined and illustrated with examples. Then they are asked to identify the figurative language used...

Scholars explore a variety of texts to locate wordplay. Partners read their selections and discuss meanings.

In this chemistry learning exercise, students use their imagination and the elements in the Periodic Table to solve each of the puns listed on the sheet. Then they create some of their own and write them on the back.

In this chemistry worksheet, students use their imagination and the elements in the Periodic Table to solve each pun listed on the sheet. There are 24 to complete.