Humorous literature for children has been around since Randolph Caldecott first started writing and illustrating picturebooks. In the article, the authors try to understand what makes picturebooks funny and discuss ways to use humor in the classroom. Many examples of humorous picturebooks are cited to provide teachers with resources for their…

In this article, the authors present a literacy research project in which humor, popular culture, and improvisational comedy (improv) are viewed as curricular resources to engage students' minds "and" bodies in multimodal story building, following a posthuman assemblage theory approach to literacy learning. This approach takes students'…

This Teaching Tips describes a yearlong process of facilitating meaningful discussion groups about literature with first-grade students in an urban Title I school. At the beginning of the year, the teacher provided explicit instruction in speaking and listening skills to support students with the social skills needed for thoughtful discussion. She…

In this paper, we explore the affordances of literature-based, arts-infused and digital media processes for students, as multimodal practices take centre stage in an English Language Arts unit on fractured fairy tales. The study takes up the challenge of addressing multimodal literacy instruction and research in ways that utilize a range of…

Native speakers of a language learn word play as part of the language acquisition process, but learners of a new language rarely get that opportunity. English has an unusually large number of opportunities for humorous puns, based on the complex system of spellings, pronunciations, and meanings of English words. There are three main categories of…

The author explores how the use of joke books can promote fluency in young readers. One young girl's fluency improved measurably, and her engagement and motivation to read the particular kind of text involved played a significant role. (Contains 2 tables.)

What kinds of books do children want to read? And how can a teacher find those books? The author provides some ideas for interesting new books in the categories of graphic novels, humorous adventures, poetry, and books about math.

This article addresses issues surrounding critical media literacy using popular culture texts. The authors focus on the example of their work with a fourth-grade class involved in a project to unpack the messages of popular media and advertising texts. This project, which they call the Elementary Bubble Project, was inspired by guerilla artist Ji…

Discusses why elephant riddles are viable catalysts for word play and language development in the primary grades. Explores some relationships between children's thinking and elephant riddles. Offers some suggestions for incorporating them as a regular part of the classroom flow. (SR)

Contains a humorous dialog between a university professor and the director of a district educational center, describing some of the effects of specialization in reading. (RB)

Offers a humorous look at the problem of assessment. (FL)

Reports on a research project in which students read books considered to be funny by media specialists and rated them for their humor. Presents a list of the books read and the ratings provided for each by the students. (FL)

Provides examples of word play that reading teachers can use to reinforce a variety of skills. (FL)

Argues that humorous books have the potential to brighten the classroom environment, motivate students, and develop reactive, thinking readers. (FL)

Points out the need for humor and a relaxed atmosphere in the classroom and makes specific suggestions about how to achieve it. Bibliography. (RW)