Nothing gets a classroom groaning and laughing at the same time quite like a pun. Kids roll their eyes, but secretly they love wordplay that makes them think twice. This figurative language lesson on puns includes a free organizer and digital resources. Students in 4th, 5th, and 6th grades will love these fun activities. This lesson covers the definition, along with examples suitable for upper elementary students.
What Is a Pun?
A pun is a joke exploiting the different possible meanings of a word or the fact that there are words that sound alike but have different meanings.
Here are a couple of examples:
- A chicken farmer’s favorite car is a coupe.
- She had a photographic memory but never developed it.
More Examples of Puns
- I am a baker because I knead the dough.
- Dough – a mixture used to make bread, cookies, etc. OR money
- Dough – a mixture used to make bread, cookies, etc. OR money
- It’s pointless to write with a broken pencil.
- Pointless – needless OR without a point, as in broken
- Pointless – needless OR without a point, as in broken
- What do you call a sleeping bull? — A bulldozer.
- Dozer – a person who sleeps OR a vehicle with a power shovel
- Dozer – a person who sleeps OR a vehicle with a power shovel
- I was struggling to figure out how lightning works when it struck me.
- Struck – hit forcefully OR to occur to someone
- Struck – hit forcefully OR to occur to someone
- What was the reporter doing at the ice cream shop? — Getting the scoop!
- Scoop – the amount of something that is held in a scoop OR to report a news story before any other newspaper
- Scoop – the amount of something that is held in a scoop OR to report a news story before any other newspaper
- What do you get from a pampered cow? — Spoiled milk.
- Spoiled – to lose freshness OR to give someone everything that they want
Free Pun Activities
Free Mini Lesson on Puns: Includes a Video, Slides, and Printables
Introduction to Puns:
This lesson introduces students to puns, serving as a fun vocabulary-building exercise for upper elementary and middle school students.
Interactive Learning:
Students begin by watching a video explaining the definition and providing pun examples. They then pause the video to complete a digital or printable organizer. Afterward, they resume the video to check their responses, reinforcing their understanding of puns.
Classroom-Friendly:
These activities are designed as individual lessons, making them perfect for assigning through Google Classroom. This setup ensures students can work independently and revisit the material as needed.
Check out the lesson video here. Be sure to get the handout first. It contains the organizer that goes with the video.
Want to Dig Deeper?
Activity 1: “10 Tearable Puns”
In this “10 Tearable Puns” activity, students explain the meanings of puns.
Activity 2: Jokes in English
This link takes you to “Jokes in English for the ESL/EFL Classroom.” You can incorporate the list of jokes containing puns on this site into your lesson.
Activity #3 Pun of the Day
Start each class with a “Pun of the Day” to get students thinking about puns and set a lighthearted tone for the lesson.
Pun of the Day Examples
Why did the scarecrow win an award?
He was outstanding in his field.
What do you call fake spaghetti?
An impasta
Why don’t skeletons fight each other?
They don’t have the guts.
What’s orange and sounds like a parrot?
A carrot
Why did the math book look sad?
It had too many problems.
What do you call an alligator in a vest?
An investigator
Why are ghosts bad at lying?
Because they are too transparent
What do you get when you cross a snowman and a vampire?
Frostbite
Why did the bicycle fall over?
It was two-tired.
What do you call cheese that isn’t yours?
Nacho cheese
Activity #4 Fun Comic Strips or Advertisements
Have students create comic strips or advertisements that include puns. This activity combines visual arts with language arts, encouraging creativity.
Unleash Creativity with AI-Powered Comic Strips!
Encourage your students to bring their punny ideas to life with our AI drawing tool. This intuitive platform allows students to create vibrant comic strips that cleverly incorporate puns. With easy-to-use templates and a vast library of characters and scenes, students can focus on crafting their witty narratives and visual gags. This tool enhances creativity and reinforces language skills and makes learning fun and engaging.
Create Eye-Catching Punny Advertisements!
Let your students’ imaginations soar with our AI drawing tool, designed for creating pun-filled advertisements. Students can design visually appealing ads that cleverly use wordplay to grab attention. The tool offers a wide range of customizable templates, graphics, and fonts, making it simple to produce professional-quality advertisements. This activity fosters creativity and helps students understand the power of language in marketing and communication.
In summary, puns are a clever and entertaining way to play with language, using words with multiple meanings or similar sounds to create humorous effects. By exploring examples from jokes, everyday conversations, and literature, students will learn to recognize and appreciate the humor and wit in puns.
Be sure to download the free mini-lesson with video, slides, and organizer to introduce puns in your classroom. Then expand with activities like Pun of the Day, comic strips, and student-created jokes for a lesson that sticks.
Check out the entire series on figurative language.
See the product that inspired this post.
The video lesson on puns is a sample from Figurative Language Digital + Printable Video Lessons & Organizers.
