Teacher notes for this lesson. Two sides of A4, not for pupils.Mild sheetMedium sheetSpicy sheetAnswers
Teacher notes · not for pupils Writer's craft sequence

Lettuce Begin!

Puns and wordplay

Lesson 11 of 12
Year 5 45 min

Objective

Explain how a pun works (a word that sounds like another, or one word with two meanings), tell a pun from a plain joke, and write puns for signs, headlines and jokes.

Board title: Puns and wordplay  ·  Say it: “By the end of today you'll be able to explain how a pun works and write your own.”

Curriculum

  • Y5/6: reading — discussing and evaluating how authors use language; words and phrases that capture the reader's interest
  • Y5/6: spelling — homophones and other words that are often confused (built on)
  • Y5/6: composition — selecting language for effect
  • Terminology: pun · homophone · double meaning · wordplay

Success criteria

  • spot a pun
  • say the two meanings
  • tell a pun from a plain joke
  • write a pun of your own

Key vocabulary

pun · wordplay · homophone · double meaning · headline

Run of the lesson

4 min
Starter on the board: Lettuce begin! against Let us begin! Why is it funny? One minute of paired talk.
8 min
Model Example 1 and 2. Say each pun out loud, then name the two meanings or the two words it sounds like.
6 min
The trap: The cookie felt purple. Silly, but no second meaning. Crumby has two.
6 min
Flavour Match on the whiteboard, Spicy band, Level 15 then Level 16. Say each one out loud before choosing.
18 min
Worksheet, independent. In Task 2, pupils turn plain lines into puns; saying them aloud helps.
3 min
Plenary: Polpetta's sign that isn't a pun, then the class quiz for PUNSE on the board.
On screenSPAGhetti → Flavour Match → Spicy. Play Level 15 (finish the pun) then Level 16 (which words make the pun?); both are open from the start. ~10 items in 6 minutes with discussion.
SPAGhetti · Writer's craft sequence · Lesson 11 of 12  ·  Teacher notes 1 of 2
Teacher notes · not for pupils Lettuce Begin! · side 2

On the day

If the tech failsSkip the game. Give pairs a food word (bread, olive, lettuce, pear, grape); they find what it sounds like and write a sign with it. The class votes for the best groan. The lesson works with no screen at all.
If they're on devicesLesson code PUNSE (on the worksheet footer) opens Flavour Match on Spicy, with the two pun levels open. For writing, set Cook Up a Story and ask for one punning headline or sign in the story.

Misconceptions to watch for

Any joke is a pun. A pun needs wordplay: two meanings, or one word sounding like another. Why did the cake laugh? It was a banana is silly, not a pun.

You have to get it at once. Many puns only land when you say them aloud. Read them out, slowly, and listen for the second word.

Puns are spelling mistakes. A pun is on purpose and the reader is meant to hear both meanings. Grate in a cheese shop is a pun; grate for great in a letter is a mistake.

Puns suit everything. Puns are for fun: signs, headlines, jokes. In a serious letter or a sad story they spoil the tone.

The three sheets

Same four tasks on every sheet, in the same order, with the same look. Only the demand changes. Print the one each child needs; nobody does two.

Mild

Same four tasks as every other sheet, same order, same look, the demand is lower, not the dignity. Shorter passage in Task 2, and in Task 3 a word bank or words to tick, with printed sentence starters. Give it to anyone who needs a way in, and expect them to move up.

Medium

The core sheet. Give this to most of the class. No word bank; in Task 3 pupils choose from a few close options, then use one in a sentence of their own.

Spicy

Same four tasks, more demand, a longer passage with a subtler error, and Task 3 asks for two things at once. Not extra work; harder work. Nobody should be doing Spicy and the Medium sheet.

Adaptive teaching

  • Support: Give a word bank of punnable food words with what they sound like (lettuce / let us, olive / I love, pear / pair) to build signs from.
  • Stretch: Write the front page of a newspaper where every headline is a pun, then explain each one in a footnote.
  • SEN: Gentle mode on. Some pupils, especially autistic pupils, find double meanings hard. Teach them explicitly: show both meanings as two pictures side by side, and never laugh at a literal reading.
  • EAL: Puns depend on English sounds, so they can be hard. Invite puns from home languages and explain how they work.

Play it

Lesson code PUNSE at playspaghetti.com. The code is printed on the bottom of every pupil sheet with a QR, and Class Quiz in your dashboard opens the plenary quiz for this lesson pre-picked.

SPAGhetti · Writer's craft sequence · Lesson 11 of 12  ·  Teacher notes, not for pupils 2 of 2  ·  Ludora