Stupid Jokes

[Virginia]

So, I arrived at school and discovered that we are now expected to use a textbook to teach with. Meh, says I. Let me use this as a springboard to other things.

Now, my first chapter is about jokes. Yeah! Jokes in the classroom! Awesome!

Or is it?

From a linguistic point of view, jokes are very difficult to teach. Fortunately, I was able to find a good activity that I will be able to integrate in between 2 of the textbook things.

1. Each student has 4 joke "questions". I've made 3 different series of questions (Person A, B, C) to cut down on copying.
2. Stick the punchlines on the walls around the class. Students have to find the punchline that matches their joke.
3. Students pair up - Person A with B or C - so that they are with someone who has different jokes, then share their jokes (The prescribed roleplay from the book is: "Let me tell you a funny joke." "Go ahead. I'm all ears." blah blah blah)

Do I expect the students to understand all the jokes? Heck no. And these were the easiest ones that I found.

[Virginia]

So, I actually tried it out today and here are two things to do to make sure everyone understands:

After they have found most of the punchlines, (A has the hardest time of this, C seems easiest), get them to sit down in groups (A, B and C). Start with A - they probably won't have all the answers, so go over the questions with them to be sure they understand and see if they have the right punchline. You may need to explain the jokes a bit too, then laugh as if it's the funniest thing you ever heard. Note - when you are going over the answers with one group, the other two groups are alone... maybe ask the co-teacher to watch them so they don't burn down the classroom or something.

Sometimes the kids (especially the ones with A page) will need to go back for a second try (while you go talk to B and C).

Then, get them into pairs to exchange jokes (only about 2 or 3 minutes on this). If they need a roleplay, try:

1-Let me tell you a joke.
2-Go ahead, I'm all ears!
1- JOKE (Student picks a joke to tell from their page)
2- LAUGH

...then change roles.
The whole activity, including instructions etc, lasts about 25-30 minutes.

[wattawoman]

Virginia,
It just so happened that this week my 2nd grade HS class was learning about laughing, so I used this lesson.  It worked really well.  The kids all got up and wandered around the classroom looking for the right answer.  After they found all the answers, I read the jokes out loud to the whole class.  I didn't explain the jokes, just laughed hilariously at the punchlines.  This got the kids laughing, too.  My co-teacher (who is fluent in english) also got in the act and started laughing at the punchlines with me.  I think we all enjoyed it!