Notes for teachers

These resources were developed by computer scientists at the University of Aberdeen,
as part of a public engagement grant provided by the EPSRC.

The resources are available for use without charge for educational purposes.

They are designed for use with children aged 9-13, to assist in understanding language
(especially homonyms and homophones) and ICT.

Slides 2-27 are intended to be delivered by an adult as a presentation to children.

Slides 28 – 33 should be printed off as worksheets for the children. Print them off
double-sided, so that the hints are on the back of each work sheet.

If you have any questions or comments about these materials, do get in touch! Our
email address is jokingcomputer@abdn.ac.uk
The Joking Computer
What is it?
It is a computer that makes up jokes.
It uses:
1. A very large
dictionary
2. Some recipes for making jokes
Dictionary
What sort of jokes?
Riddles : question and answer
What do you call a puppy that is wet?
A soggy doggy!
Why create a Joking Computer?
Some children have trouble with speaking
- e.g. if they have a disability such as cerebral palsy
The Joking Computer helps children like this to explore language…
…and to make up jokes of their own.
Why create a Joking Computer?
Computers don’t normally understand jokes.
We are trying to teach the Joking Computer
what is funny, so that it can behave a bit like
a real person.
This is called Artificial Intelligence.
?
?
?
?
Can you think like a computer?
You can use our recipes to make funny
jokes too !
Here’s an example….
Choose 2 words that
sound the same
Joke
recipe 1
An adjective
(describing word)
A noun (naming
word)
means roughly
means roughly
the same as
the same as
What do
you call a
Copy
A
?
Copy
!
Choose 2 words that
sound the same
Joke
recipe 1
An adjective
(describing word)
A noun (naming
word)
means roughly
means roughly
the same as
the same as
What do
you call a
Copy
A
?
Copy
!
Choose 2 words that
sound the same
Joke
recipe 1
bare
An adjective
(describing word)
A noun (naming
word)
means roughly
means roughly
the same as
the same as
bear
What do
you call a
Copy
A
?
Copy
!
Choose 2 words that
sound the same
An adjective
(describing word)
bare
Joke
recipe 1
A noun (naming
word)
bear
means roughly
means roughly
the same as
the same as
What do
you call a
Copy
A
?
Copy
!
Choose 2 words that
sound the same
An adjective
(describing word)
bare
Joke
recipe 1
A noun (naming
word)
bear
means roughly
means roughly
the same as
the same as
What do
you call a
Copy
A
?
Copy
!
Choose 2 words that
sound the same
An adjective
(describing word)
bare
Joke
recipe 1
A noun (naming
word)
bear
means roughly
means roughly
the same as
the same as
What do
you call a
naked
Copy
A
?
Copy
!
Choose 2 words that
sound the same
An adjective
(describing word)
bare
Joke
recipe 1
A noun (naming
word)
bear
means roughly
means roughly
the same as
the same as
What do
you call a
naked
Copy
A
?
Copy
!
Choose 2 words that
sound the same
An adjective
(describing word)
bare
Joke
recipe 1
A noun (naming
word)
bear
means roughly
means roughly
the same as
the same as
What do
you call a
naked
Copy
A
teddy
?
Copy
!
Choose 2 words that
sound the same
An adjective
(describing word)
bare
Joke
recipe 1
This is my
joke question
A noun (naming
word)
bear
means roughly
means roughly
the same as
the same as
What do
you call a
naked
Copy
A
teddy
?
Copy
!
Choose 2 words that
sound the same
An adjective
(describing word)
bare
Joke
recipe 1
A noun (naming
word)
bear
means roughly
means roughly
the same as
the same as
What do
you call a
naked
Copy
A
teddy
?
Copy
!
Choose 2 words that
sound the same
An adjective
(describing word)
bare
Joke
recipe 1
A noun (naming
word)
bear
means roughly
means roughly
the same as
the same as
What do
you call a
naked
Copy
A
bare
teddy
?
Copy
!
Choose 2 words that
sound the same
An adjective
(describing word)
bare
Joke
recipe 1
A noun (naming
word)
bear
means roughly
means roughly
the same as
the same as
What do
you call a
naked
Copy
A
bare
teddy
?
Copy
!
Choose 2 words that
sound the same
An adjective
(describing word)
bare
Joke
recipe 1
A noun (naming
word)
bear
means roughly
means roughly
the same as
the same as
What do
you call a
naked
Copy
A
bare
teddy
?
Copy
bear
!
Choose 2 words that
sound the same
An adjective
(describing word)
bare
Joke
recipe 1
A noun (naming
word)
bear
means roughly
means roughly
the same as
the same as
What do
you call a
naked
Copy
This is my
joke answer
A
bare
teddy
?
Copy
bear
!
Joke recipe 1
So here’s my great gag….
What do you call a naked teddy?
A bare bear!
Now make your own jokes

Fill in a Joke Recipe worksheet stepby-step
• Work with a friend or by yourself

There are 3 different recipes to try

Make up as many jokes as you like!
If you get stuck…
 There
is an example on the left of each
Joke Recipe worksheet.
 There
are examples of words to use on the
back of each joke recipe.
 Try
using a Thesaurus to find words that
mean the same as each other.
Want to find out more?

Website

Contact us by email
http://www.abdn.ac.uk/jokingcomputer/
jokingcomputer@abdn.ac.uk
And finally…
WHAT DO YOU CALL A
DINOSAUR THAT KNOWS
LOTS OF WORDS?
A THESAURUS!
Joke Recipe 1
Your joke
My joke
Choose 2 words that
Choose 2 words that
sound the same
An adjective
(describing word)
funny
sound the same
A noun
(naming word)
means roughly
the same as
the same as
you call a
witty
Copy
A
funny
A noun
(naming word)
bunny
means roughly
What do
An adjective
(describing word)
means roughly
means roughly
the same as
the same as
rabbit ?
What do
Copy
bunny
?
you call a
!
Copy
Copy
Your name
A
!
Joke Recipe 1: Some words you can use
yummy / mummy
mad / dad
round / hound
drunk / skunk
lather / father
loose / moose
airy / fairy
runny / honey
limp / shrimp
smelly / telly
The authors give permission for these worksheets to be reproduced for educational purposes.
Joke Recipe 2
Your joke
My joke
Choose 2 words. Word1 should
sound like the start of Word2.
Choose 2 words. Word1 should
sound like the start of Word2.
Start of
Word2
Word1
hair
End of
Word2
aer oplane
means roughly
means roughly
the same as
the same as
What do
you get
when you
cross a
fur
with a
hair
jet
?
Copy end of Word2
Copy Word1
A
Word1
-
oplane
Start of
Word2
means roughly
means roughly
the same as
the same as
What do
you get
when you
cross a
with a
?
!
Copy Word1
Your name
End of
Word2
A
Copy end of Word2
-
!
Joke Recipe 2: Some words you can use
smelly / elephant
juice / goosebump
trick / ticket
ham / handbag
moose / museum
van / vampire
fang / fantastic
eye / ice-cream
sock / chocolate
mum / marmalade
harm / homework
The authors give permission for these worksheets to be reproduced for educational purposes.
Joke Recipe 3
Your joke
My joke
Choose 2 words. Word1 should
sound like the start of Word2.
Choose 2 words. Word1 should
sound like the start of Word2.
Word1
baa
is a kind of
Start of
Word2
End of
Word2
Word1
ba nana
Start of
Word2
is a kind of
is a kind of
What
do you
call an
animal
noise
Copy Word1
A
that
is a
fruit
is a kind of
?
Copy end of Word2
baa - nana
What
do you
call a
?
that is
a
!
Copy Word1
Your name
End of
Word2
A
Copy end of Word2
-
!
Joke Recipe 3: Some words you can use
jelly / elephant
wine / dinosaur
bat / catapult
horse / hospital
moo / movie
sock / chocolate
mum / marmalade
boy / toilet
jelly / helicopter
The authors give permission for these worksheets to be reproduced for educational purposes.