Humor in the Classroom
Not Just How- But Why
Janet Aaker Smith
“Laughter is the shortest distance between two people.” Victor Borge, comedian
Ice Breakers & Team Building Challenges
With your teammates, figure out the following products or services based on their poplar
television, radio or newspaper jingles/slogans.
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Have it your way.
The dog kids love to eat.
It takes a licking and keeps on ticking.
Watch it quiver, see it shiver.
Because you’re worth it.
The happiest place on Earth
When it rains it pours.
Mmm mm good!
Priceless.
Think Different
Candy Quiz
1. An adventurer who explored with a guy named Lewis.
2. Two words combined that has to do with girls
3. Was a baseball player
4. Expressions of joy, mirth, or scorn in a suppressed manner.
5. Is a planet
6. Is a big mass of stars
7. Is what a worker looks forward to
8. Is a small hill
9. Was a famous trio of men
10. Is a definition of an object you can't identify
11. Is an elite street in New York City
12. Author William Sidney Porter’s pen name
Tongue Twisters
Make vocabulary come alive with alliteration and word meaning.
Pre-shrunk shirts. Fanny Fowler fried five floundering fish for Francis Finch’s father.
A pun is the lowest form of humor –when you don't think of it first. -'Oscar Levant
Riddles and Jokes
Riddles and jokes are usually misleading, or have a puzzling question posed as a problem to be solved or
guessed. The keyword is surprise, something unexpected that breaks the rules of logic or common sense.
Riddles and jokes can be one-liners or stories. Below are some examples of riddles and jokes that use
content information.
Geography
What is round on both ends and "hi" in the middle? Answer: Ohio!
Math
What can you count on even when things go wrong? Answer: Your fingers
Language Arts How many letters are in the alphabet? Answer: 11 (count them: the alphabet)
Science
What do planets read? Answer: comet books
Wuzzle Puzzles
Team members number off.
1= recorder 2= cheerleader
3= ________ 4 = social skills coach 5 = checker
Christmas Carols
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Give us fun and games and we will generate more energy
and productive ideas than the EverReady ™ Battery. –Anonymous
Janet Aaker Smith
Humor in the Classroom
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Humor Quiz
Here is a quick quiz for you to help you determine whether you have a good, bad, or non-sense of humor. You will be
awarded points for your answers and judged with extreme sensitivity according to fair, impartial biases. You may
begin.
Adapted from The Laughing Classroom
Yes
No
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2.
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6.
7.
8.
Do you have a classroom?
Edo you have a sense of humor
Do you have a sense of humor about your classroom?
If you don’t have one, would you like to find one?
Do you believe puns are the lowest form of humor?
Do you think there’s laughter in the hereafter?
Do you have a class clown?
Are you the class clown?
Do you like silly visual jokes
Yes
No 9.
10. Did you know that no one has died from too much laughter?
11. Do you laugh so hard that you shake, rattle and roll on the floor?
Connect the Punch Line
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14.
Why did the teacher buy bifocals?
What happens when principals retire?
Why are kindergarten teachers special?
a.
b.
c.
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What happens when you stifle laughter?
How is self-deprecating humor like history?
Why don’t man-eating lions eat clowns?
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e.
f.
They lose their faculties.
They know how to make the little things count.
It moves down your body and starts to expand your
hips.
They taste funny.
She had bad pupils.
It repeats itself way too often.
Please circle the correct answer.
18.
Do you use humor to
a. Escape reality?
b. Bond and cement?
c. Lose weight?
19.
Should laughter be encouraged?
a. Yes
b. None of the above
c. All of the above
20..
How intense are your “mirth-quakes”?
a. All my students crack up
b. I have no-fault insurance
c. I haven’t been able to “fissure” it out
21.
Which do you prefer
a. Belly laughs
b. Belly rolls
c. A different job
22.
Is your favorite funny expression
a. “I like moderation in excess?”
b. “I’m in favor of existential stencils”?
c. “I’m glad you asked me that question”?
Essay Questions - Be as unclear and verbose as you can
23. What was Hamlet’s major flaw?
24. What is your major flaw?
25. Where is the funny bone located, and how do you tickle it?
Bonus Question: Compare and contrast Mesopotamian obscurantist humor with the compendious humor of Mark Twain.
Scoring:
41 or up: Impossible to score this high
20-25: Unbelievable: You need to moonlight as a stand-up comic.
12-19: Humorosity Maximus: Perfect in every respect. You could be a teacher!
8-12: Humorosity Middlemus: You have a foot in both worlds. Wear stretch pants.
1-7:
Humorosity Minimus: you lack the basic skills. Pursue bill collecting as a hobby.
Under 1: Check your pulse.
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Janet Aaker Smith
Humor in the Classroom
Quizzes
Math Pop Quiz Use the words below to complete this quiz.
ARC
AXIOM CENTER
CIRCLE
POLYGON GEOMETRY INSCRIBE UNIT
COINCIDE
CONE COSECANT DECAGON TANGENT HYPOTENUSE PERPENDICULAR
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That which Noah built.
______________________
An article for serving ice cream.
______________________
What a bloodhound does in chasing a woman.
______________________
An expression to represent the loss of a parrot.
______________________
An appropriate title for a knight named Koll.
______________________
A sunburned man.
______________________
A tall coffee pot perking.
______________________
What one does when it rains?
______________________
A small dog sitting in a refrigerator.
______________________
What do you call a person who wrote for an inn?
______________________
What the captain said when the boat was bombed?______________________
What a little acorn says when he grows up.
______________________
What one does to trees that are in the way .
______________________
What you do if you have yarn and needles.
______________________
Can George Washington turn into a country?
______________________
Body of Knowledge Quiz
This activity will leave you in stitches! Give students a matching play on words exam using terminology that you
might find in science class.
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1. OUTPATIENT
2. NODE
3. ORGANIC
4. PROTEIN
5. BENIGN
6. TABLET
7. MORBID
8. VARICOSE VEINS
9. TUMOR
10. NITRATE
11. ARTERY
12. COMA
13. CONGENITAL
14. DILATE
15. HANGNAIL
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B.
C.
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J.
K.
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What you are after you are eight
The study of fine paintings
A higher offer
A small table
A coat hook
Lower than the day rate
A punctuation mark
Friendly
In favor of young people
A person who has fainted
To live long
Church musician
Veins that are very close together
An extra pair
Was aware of
Keep in mind:
 Laughter has physiological, psychological, cognitive, emotional, and social benefits.
 Laughter appears to be hardwired into the brain as a bonding mechanism.
 Laughter and humor facilitate learning by making it stronger, more engaging, more efficient
 and memorable; they facilitate communication, openness, rapport, and trust.
 Explain to students the reasons laughter and humor are brain-friendly.
 Don’t overuse humor: a little goes a long way.
 Use humor that fits your personality and teaching style.
 Remember that the unexpected delights the brain.
 Hurtful, sarcastic, off-color or other inappropriate humor is never okay.
 Laughter and humor benefit teachers as much as they do students!
Resource:
HUMOR:
Smith, Janet A. The Happy Classroom:
From Ha-Ha to A-Ha!
piecesoflearning.com
☺ Wit is the cognitive experience,
☺ mirth the emotional experience, and
☺ laughter the physiological experience.
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Janet Aaker Smith
Humor in the Classroom