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Ya-ta Boy
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Established in 1994
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 Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2007 5:29 am Post subject: One Way to use Jokes in the Classroom |
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Two factory workers are talking.
The woman says, "I can make the boss give me the day off."
The man replies, "And how would you do that?"
The woman says, "Just wait and see." She then hangs upside-down from the ceiling.
The boss comes in and says, "What are you doing?"
The woman replies, "I'm a light bulb."
The boss then says, "You've been working so much that you've gone crazy. I think you need to take the day off."
The man starts to follow her and the boss says, "Where are you going?"
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Punchline to follow...
I have two-hour block classes with adults who sit in their seats for 8 hours a day and have to return to study for 2 more hours after supper. Numbness, physical as well as mental, is a constant problem.
I stumbled on a way that helps a bit and might be useful to others.
Running Dictation is a nice activity anyway, because students read, write, speak and listen while practicing spelling, punctuation and question formation. Pretty good basic activity, if you ask me. The only problem was finding worthwhile 'stories' for the students to work with.
Then I came across several sites that have jokes and the light dawned. I print out several jokes: short, medium and long and keep them on hand with a pair of scissors and some tape. When the eyes glaze over, along about hour two, pull out the scissors and a joke appropriate for the time available. I cut the joke apart, number the strips and tape them to the classroom walls. The students work in pairs, taking turns being the runner and the writer. To win, they must be the first pair finished with no spelling or punctuation mistakes. The students love it, because 1) they get to run around for a few minutes and 2) they are advanced enough to get the humor.
Today I had a further brainstorm. I taped up the joke above, but withheld the punchline. At the end, I had the pairs write their own punchline and put them on the whiteboard. They did a great job (except for Pair #1):
...the boss says, "Where are you going?"
1) You said, "You." (They said 'you' is plural, but that didn't help.)
2) The man replies, "I'm going to fix the walking light bulb."
3) The man replies, "I'm going to break the useless light bulb."
4) The man replies, "I'm going to buy a new one."
5) The man replies, "I'm a garden tiger moth which likes a light bulb."
6) The man replies, "I'll replace the light bulb."
7) The man replies, "I'm a lamp shade."
 The man replies, "I need a new light bulb."
9) The man replies, "I'm a socket, so I have to follow her."
10)The man replies, "Without the light bulb, it's too dark to work."
Pairs #7 & #10 came close to the original punchline: The man says, "I'm going home, too. I can't work in the dark." |
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ddeubel
Joined: 20 Jul 2005
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| Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2007 2:05 pm Post subject: |
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I have a whole pile of funny stories (jokes), all with a punchline. Glad I took the time to type them all out because they work wonders with adults. Really do.
I usually begin by telling my own joke (usually an easy one, say 3 guys on an island, lots of repetition.). As I'm doing this, one student is out of the room, reading another joke I handed him/her. When I am finished, she / he re-enters and the class retells this person, the joke. Then he/she takes the main seat and either reads or retells the joke they read.
Then in groups of 3/4, each person is given a funny story. They read it and then tell the members of their group who try to guess the punchline. After that, they rotate to a different group and again retell their joke. (crucial, by repeating it, they are consolidating lots of language structures/vocab). You can continue this snowballing but even better in my opinion, - at this stage put them in one more new group and ask them to retell a story they were told (like the modeling at first), the one they liked the best.
To finish, they can share any stories, jokes they know. Or discuss which one was the funniest. Or since not all the students heard all the jokes, as a full class, get the better speakers to retell a joke the group thought the funniest.
I usually end this with a classic story. I tell them that they will get a great prize if they can answer my easy question at the end of the story. So they should listen carefully.
Tell the story about a bus driver picking up people. He makes 5 stops. Various people get on the bus, different names, ages and sit in different seats. Each time the driver says hello. Tell the story but begin with, "OK, so YOU are driving a bus and....." At the end of the story, ask them what the name of the driver is..... 99% of the time, they are stumped. But you have to tell it well.
You can find the stories in my teaching folder on my website if interested in this sort of thing. Lots of laughing and as YaTa said, they need something that makes them learn but really changes the pace, atmosphere...
DD |
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poet13
Joined: 22 Jan 2006
Location: Just over there....throwing lemons.
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| Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2007 4:25 pm Post subject: |
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| Very nice idea ya-ta. |
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