This Lesson's Title:

Puns and Punctuation

reviewing dialogue punctuation rules using Tom Swift-ie puns

This lesson was created by NNWP Teacher Consultant Corbett Harrison. Visit Corbett's website for writing teachers by clicking here.

The intended "mentor text" to be used when teaching this on-line lesson is any of the Tom Swift Adventure Series by any of the Victor Appletons. Before writing, students should listen to and discuss the writing style of this book's author, especially during the dialogue exchanges between his characters.

Check out Tom Swift And His Flying Lab at Amazon.com.

If you are a Washoe County teacher, click here to search for this book at the county library.

Teacher Instructions & Lesson Resources :

Corbett's personal history with this prompt:  Explains Corbett, "I first discovered Tom Swiftie jokes in the back of Boys' Life Magazine, on the Think and Grin joke page. At first glance, I was confused.  I needed to read six or seven of these types of puns (from several back issues) before I finally understood what a Tom Swiftie was; the magazine, never explaining, simply published the jokes under the label 'Tom Swiftie.'  At eleven, I successfully deduced what they were through less than a dozen examples, and thusly was inspired to write my own Tom Swiftie a year later at age twelve.  I sent it in to the magazine.  In those days, you earned a dollar or a free Boy Scout Handbook or Fieldbook if you submitted a joke on a postcard and had your joke chosen for publication.  I don't remember what my Tom Swiftie was now, because it never got published.  My first rejection as an aspiring writer, I suppose.

"Probably fifteen years later, I came across an original Tom Swift book from the Tom Swift Series in an antique store.  Until then, I had no idea that Tom Swiftie jokes were named for anyone.  I'd never heard of this series of books.  I'd devoured those Hardy Boys, that Great Brain, and the Encyclopedia Brown Series, but I had been too young to know Tom Swift's collection of adventures.

"Long story short, I was inspired to find the whole history of the Tom Swiftie joke, which you too can enjoy by clicking here and visiting the Wikipidia Encyclopdia.  My abbreviated version of the history is just below the next paragraph.

"What I really want to say about this page's prompt is this: The first time I shared it with some teachers, all told me that it seemed like it was a fun idea and a great way to teach dialogue punctuation, but that it seemed it would be too hard for most students, especially the younger ones.  I disagreed.  I saw a whole continuum of possible Tom Swifties, from the very simple to the very sophisticated.  I felt that with the right level of examples to examine, any student who was taught to love words could learn to create this type of pun.  And I set out to do just that.  Over the past few years, I shared Tom Swiftie jokes with students of all ages, and I am pleased to share their examples on this page.  With a proper introduction from a teacher who loves and laughs at language, any student can start thinking in Tom Swifties."

Step one (introducing an abbreviated history of Tom Swiftie dialogue puns):  Give as brief or as detailed a history of Tom Swift and Tom Swifties as your students need.  Click here for a free website with the complete history of the boy hero and the Tom Swiftie pun.  Or explain to your students this:  In short, Victor Appleton (pseudonym for writer Edward L. Stratemeyer, who wrote the original Tom Swift books) had a very predictable style when he wrote dialogue for his books' characters; he often slipped an -ly adverb or a phrasal adverb into his tag lines.  Here are three examples from Tom Swift and the Flying Lab:

• "I'd better check in with Harlan," Tom said tensely.  (chapter two, Tom Swift and His Flying Lab)

• "We’re almost 250 feet along the tunnel," Tom said wonderingly, "and a good thirty feet below ground level."   (chapter three, Tom Swift and His Flying Lab)

• Instant concussion," said Tom in a wry voice. "Science marches on!"  (chapter four, Tom Swift and His Flying Lab)

Amused by Appleton's predictable style, fans of the books and its characters began changing lines from the stories by re-writing what Tom had said in quotes so that the adverb created a type of pun.  Here are some true Tom Swiftie examples--for the three lines above--that students helped me write after they learned about this type of pun:

• "Mom really needs a neck rub," Tom said tensely.  (←from a third grade class)
• "Past, present or future?" Tom asked tensely. (←from a sixth grade class)
• "There are seven that I know of," Tom said wonderingly, "and the great pyramids in Egypt are just one of them."  (←from a ninth grade class)
• "I just love white bread," Tom said wonderingly.  (←from a fourth grade class)
• "I want a sandwich," said Tom in a wry voice. "What kind of bread do you think I should get?" (←from a ninth grade class)
• "Holden Caulfield," said Tom in a wry voice.  "I'll catch you later." (←from a ninth grade class)

In more recent times, Tom Swifties no longer rely on changing lines from actual Tom Swift books.  To create a joke, a writer needs to first brainstorm an interesting adverb, adverbial phrase, or verb that might be used in a line of dialogue's tag line.  The writer then creates both an original line of dialogue and a tag line that pun off each other.  These jokes have become more sophisticated to be sure; the bottom example in each column almost goes Shakespearean with its level of pun sophistication:

The above chart comes as a one-page handout that can be used as either an overhead for a whole class or a handout for small groups.  Click here to access and print this one-page explanation of the different types of Tom Swifties that currently exist.  I have successfully introduced Tom Swift jokes to groups of students by first handing this one-pager out to them, saying, "These are a type of joke called Tom Swifties.  How long until you can tell me the rules of this type of joke?  Why are these funny?"  Within five minutes, a class can deduce a pretty good explanation of how Tom Swifties work.

Step two (introducing student models of writing):  Next, have students (as a whole class, in groups, or as individuals) create original Tom Swifties using the following handout, which include student samples to help jump start your students' brains. 

Require each group/individual to post their favorite Tom Swiftie from the handout on the blackboard, whiteboard, or classroom chart.  If students are working in groups, have them double- and triple-check their dialogue punctuation before posting their favorites.

• We're looking for additional student samples for all grade levels for this prompt!  Help us get some, and we'll send you a free resource for your classroom!  Contact us at publish@writingfix.com for details.

Step three (thinking and pre-writing): This lesson comes with a two-page worksheet that contains additional Tom Swiftie examples, plus it showcases the rules of dialogue punctuation.  The worksheet also has a place for students to write three original Tom Swifties, after they are inspired by the interactive buttons on the Student Instruction Page.  If you don't have the ability to have the students be on the computer to play the game, you (as teacher) can write five to ten good examples from the game above on your whiteboard or overhead for students to choose from at their desks.

• Two-page Tom Swift Worksheet

Step four (revising with specific trait language):   You might have your students establish up a page in their journals or writer's notebooks just for Tom Swift jokes.  After sharing and revising their original Tom Swifties with friends, then double- and triple-checking the dialogue punctuation, have them write their original Tom Swift jokes on these established pages.  Encourage them to continue listening or looking for interesting adverbs or speech verbs that might make a good Tom Swift joke.  If your students create any more in the future, celebrate their continued love of words by not only giving them extra incentives, but also reminding them to add their new Tom Swiftie to the page they had set up in their journals or writer's notebooks.  If you highly celebrate the first few post-assignment Tom Swift jokes, you'll be surprised how many more will continue to trickle in over the school year. 

Here's a guarantee: You have word-lovers and avid readers in your classroom right now who will start the ball rolling for your whole class by independently creating even more Tom Swift jokes, if you encourage them to.  Celebrate and continue encouraging!

Step five (editing for conventions):  Remember, the focus goal of this lesson if dialogue punctuation (the conventions trait).  Students will look differently at lines of dialogue that intrigue them.  Tom Swift jokes can be naturally intriguing.  Use this lesson as an opportunity to make them look differently at those crazy little uses of punctuation that accompany dialogue.  Before publishing, require each student to triple-check the punctuation with classmates--with a fourth and final check from you, perhaps--before they finalize their Tom Swifties anywhere.

Step six (publishing for the portfolio):   When they are finished revising and have second drafts, invite your students to come back to this piece once more during an upcoming writer's workshop block.  Their stories might become a longer story, a more detailed piece, or the beginning of a series of pieces about the story they started here.  Students will probably enjoy creating an illustration for this story as they get ready to publish it for their portfolios.

Interested in publishing student work on-line?  We invite student writers to post final drafts of their original at WritingFix's Community of Student Writers.  This is a safe-to-use blog for students and teachers. No writing is posted until it is approved by the moderator. Contact us at publish@writingfix.com if you have questions about getting your students published.

Learn even more about Tom Swift--boy hero--by clicking here.