There is no unique definition of circus pedagogy; however, "scholars agree that such a discipline could provide a valid alternative to learn and deepen various mobility contents". This article aims to provide strategies for implementing an elementary physical education Circus Unit. An overview of how to design three basic routines of a…

In this article, we explore the idea that comedy, with its often unorthodox ways of looking at, experiencing, and responding to the world, offers untold possibility for classroom literacy instruction. The article focuses on the potential of Improv comedy as socio-materialist literacy in the classroom. It provides an account of Improv as a form of…

Provides a humorous view of the learning experience. (RB)

In three experiments boys and girls, aged 7 to 9, were played humorous recordings through headphones in dyadic and solitary conditions to investigate companion influences on humorous laughter and smiling. Interaction data discussed. (JH)

The Comanchee Wasp-eater clan was so named, because a group of men had observed them eating honey, but seeing only the bees, had assumed the Comanchees to be eating bees or wasps. (JC)

Presents an interview with Dianne Monson, 1994 winner of the International Reading Association's Arbuthnot Award, a woman of many talents and enthusiasms, all of which are apparent in the way she approaches both teaching and children's books. Discusses her career as a reader, a critic, and a teacher of children's literature. (SG)

By highlighting the dreadful and avoiding the droll, nonfiction presents an unbalanced picture of the world and deprives readers of the benefits humor could contribute. Humor is needed in literature because it ventilates or disrupts oppressive conditions, it provides a different lens from which to view reality, and it provides hope, pleasure, and…

Excerpted from Never Tease a Dinosaur'' (1961), this tongue-in-cheek account focuses on the practical workings of democracy in a classroom, democracy as practiced by children. (JB)

Various types of humor found among children of school age and among adolescents are placed in a structural-developmental framework. Also discussed are several ways in which teachers can use children's humor in their classrooms. (MP)

Notes that in his 20-year tenure as a picture book artist, Jon Agee, has produced a number of books that greatly vary in appearance. Provides examples of Agee's evolution as an artist while demonstrating his metafictive experimentation with artistic conventions, his play with concepts of reality and impossibility, and his abundant talent for…

Describes stand-up comic Jim Pelley's knack for making educators see a light side to serious problems. Principals should always be aware of the power of humor to take the edge off potentially depressing situations. Advice is provided for lightening up, including creating a humor first-aid kit, posting staff baby pictures and cartoons, and…

A principal and two teachers of a local elementary school were interviewed to establish a shared definition of humor in the classroom. A multidimensional definition emerged with intellectual, spiritual, and physical aspects. The teachers were observed to determine if specific uses of humor would be evident in their classrooms. Four types of…

Explores children's sense of humor and the various kinds of humor to which they respond. (JM)

The study examined the cartoon humor comprehension of 30 learning disabled and 30 non-handicapped boys in two age groups, eight- and twelve-year-olds. Significant main effects were found indicating a developmental lag in the cognitive structure necessary for understanding humor in the learning disabled subjects. (Author/DB)

Suggests ways of using limericks to teach creative writing. (DD)