The guide provides teachers of English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) with classroom instructional activities that reinforce vocabulary or teach specific language skills (listening, speaking, reading, writing) while demonstrating that communicating in English can be fun. The activities are brief and self-contained, and an audiotape cassette (not…

Provides a general overview of humor and its use in educational settings and makes specific suggestions to educators who want to include or increase its use in their classroom. Discusses characteristics, benefits, categories, student perceptions, stages of humor, sources and forms of humor, and pacing. (DC)

A study was done to compare humor development in preschool children from poor Black, poor Mexican American, and middle class White racial-ethnic groups. Results suggest that, while the White group was different in the usage of verbal humor, the three groups did not differ markedly in their overall sense of humor. (JN)

The article describes a multidisciplinary humanities program (HIP) for gifted and talented ninth graders in Houston County, Georgia. HIP is comprised of project- and activity-oriented units that lend themselves to the humanistic and thematic approach. (DLS)

Describes an exploratory study of eighth-grade students and their use of online primary sources for an oral history unit on family farming. Highlights include using photographs from the Depression era to write stories; use of bibliographic information; higher level thinking skills; use of humor; and implications for secondary social studies and…

Examined impression management and humorous message production. Prekindergarten to grade eight children's humorous messages indicated an association between age, sex, target, and prosocial-antisocial humorous themes. Prior to grade four, children produced more prosocial than antisocial humorous messages, and after grade four, produced more…

Utilizes a 1775 political cartoon as the centerpiece of a lesson on political controversy and violence in Colonial America. The cartoon, printed in Britain, lampooned the coercive measures directed at Tory merchants. Learning activities include an extensive analysis of the cartoon, discussions, and timelines. (MJP)

In the formulation of new humanities--knowledge, truth and social action brought together in the defence of what makes us human in this place and time--there is also the need to identify the obstacles to honouring our humanity. This paper continues the task of critically examining contemporary forms of inhumanity, in this instance as perpetuated…

This study investigates young children's humourous activity as a form of play and considers the implications on their cognitive development and learning. The study was conducted in an infant room of a university based group child care center and multiple qualitative data collection methods were used. The findings of this study suggest that during…

The purpose of this paper was threefold: (1) to review the literature; (2) to determine the effects of the use of humor upon stress within the classroom; and (3) to examine the extent to which students and teachers use humor as a coping mechanism to deal with stressful school situations. It was hypothesized that humor in the classroom is effective…

It was hypothesized that a visual strategy that incorporates a humorous theme and cartoons with humorous comments relevant to the content helps motivate students to focus on and retain computer-based instructional material. An experiment to assess this hypothesis was undertaken with 43 college students who received a humorous presentation on…

A series of 10 high-interest, low-vocabulary reading books for adult basic education students is presented. The series begins with very simple vocabulary and gets progressively more difficult from book to book. Each book contains from four to six stories which focus on the lives and relationships of a variety of humorous characters living in a…

This annotated bibliography was created to identify research-based information to assist social scientists, educators, and leaders in developing public policies and programs that enhance the health and well-being of the elderly in their communities and throughout the nation. It includes a compilation of 10 separate Pathfinders from the United…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 24 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: (1) humorous children's literature and divergent thinking; (2) the development of children's ability to apprehend and distribute attention to important elements in…

In developing critical reading, humor may contribute to three broad categories of skills: discerning the author's purpose, inferencing, and evaluating content. Passages from children's books such as "Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing" or "The Great Brain" can help to illustrate the need for teachers and students to thoughtfully…