There Was an Old Man with a Beard Copywork
Lear's limerick about a bearded man whose whiskers become a bird sanctuary
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About this printable
A five-line limerick from Edward Lear's Book of Nonsense — the shortest set in the collection and a perfect first copywork assignment. Students get quotation marks, an exclamation point, and a dash in a piece they can finish in one sitting. Ideal for kindergarten through second grade, or as a light day between longer poems. 8 pages, 1/4-inch letters in Chaloops display on dashed manuscript lines. Sheets included: Copywork (Step 1), First Letter Hints (Step 2), Memory Lines (Step 3), Source Text, First Letters Only. Edward Lear, 1846. Public domain text.
ON THIS SHEET: There was an Old Man with a beard, · Who said, “It is just as I feared!— · Two Owls and a Hen, · Four Larks and a Wren, · Have all built their nests in my beard!” — Edward Lear, 1846. LETTER SIZE: 1/4-inch. HANDWRITING: Chaloops display. SHEETS: Copywork (Step 1), First Letter Hints (Step 2), Memory Lines (Step 3), Source Text, First Letters Only.
- Category Poetry
- Price Free
- Format Printable PDF
- Usage Print unlimited copies
Inside the PDF
3 pages from the 8-page PDF, as they print.
A plan for this set
A short text: Steps 1, 2 and 3 fit in one school week, one sheet a day.
- Days 1–2 Copywork (Step 1). Read the whole text, then copy it exactly.
- Days 3–4 First Letter Hints (Step 2). Write it again with only the first letter of each word as a prompt.
- Day 5 Memory Lines (Step 3). Write it from memory on lines sized to each word.
Paste any poem and print it stanza by stanza as copywork, first-letter hints and memory lines, line breaks kept. Free for 20 pages a month, no card.
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