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Cornett, Claudia E.Learning through Laughter: Humor in the Classroom.Fastback 241.Phi Delta Kappa Educational Foundation, Bloomington,Ind.ISBN=0=87367-241=08645p.; This publication was sponsored by the NiagaraOntario Chapter of Phi Delta Kappa.Phi Delta Kappa, Eighth and Union, Box 789,Bloomington, IN 47402 ($0.90).Viewpoints (120)

MF01/PCO2 Plus Postage.*Behavior Patterns; Class Activities; *ClassroomEnvironment; *Classroom Techniques; ElementarySecondary Education; *Humor; *InstructionalInnovation; Psychological Needs; Teacher StudentRelationship; Teaching Guides; *Teaching Methods

Focusing on humor as a powerful instructionalresource, this booklet addresses a rariety of issues regarding humorin the elementary and secondary c.assroom. Thirteen ways in whichhumor can help teachers to achieve educational goals are presented,specifically that it (1) attracts attention and provokes thought, (2)liberates creative capa:ities, (3) helps gain friends, (4) improvescommunication, (5) soothes difficult moments, (6) can stimulateintercultural study, (7) promotes health, (8) develops a positiveattitude and self-image, (9) motivates and energizes, (10) solvesproblems, (11) increases quality and quantity of students' reading,(12) reinforces desired behaviors, and (13) has entertainment value.An age-based, developmental sequence of a child's sense of humor,derived from various cognitive stage theories, is outlined. Next, thebooklet postulates that knowledge of this progression and anawareness of the nature of humor enables teachers to help studentsanalyze their own sense of humor, use humor appropriately in socialsituations, and speak and write creatively. The physical aspects ofhumor and the superiority and incongruity theories of humor arediscussed and 11 reasons for including humor in one's daily routineto relieve stress are presented. Finally, a list of 49 currentlyused, practical teaching ideas for employing humor in the classroomare offered. A bibliography is included. (JD)

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CLAUDIA E; CORNETT

Claudia E Cornett is an associate professor in the Education Dzpa.rt-ment at Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio, were she teachescourses in reading, language arts, and children's literature. Shc regu-larly conducts inservice workShops in schools and has made presen-tations on all aspects of the learning process; including motivation,visual imagery, empathy; comprehension; and the use of humor inthe classroom. She has a weekly instructional television program called"Sounds Abound!" broadcast by PBS for children in primary school.

Cornett's publications include articles and tiociks for teachers as wellas children's b-ooks. She is the author of fastback 191 What You ShouldYnow About Teaching and Learning Styles and co-author with herhusband, Charles F. Cornett; of fastback 151 Bibliotherary: The 16ghtBook at the Right 7irtzt%

She is a member of the Springfield Area Chapter of Eli DeltaKappa:

Series Editor Detek L. Burleson

Learning Through Laughter:Humor in the Classroom

byClaudia E. Comm

L ibrary of Congress Catalog Card Number 86-61756ISBN 087367=2414)

Copyright 1986 by the Phi Delta Kappa Educational FoundationBloomington, Indiana

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This fastback is sppnsored by the NiagaraOntario Chapter of Phi Delta Kappa in mem=ory of the late Ken Milson, a friend and col-league of many chapter members.

Sponsorship of thiS fasthack was madepossible through contributions from family,friends, and chWer members as an expres-sion of their admiration for Ken Milson.

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Table of ContentsIntr6duction 7Why Get Serious About Humor? 9A Short History of Humor )8Ekvelopment of a Sense of Humor 20The Nature of Humor 24

Physical Aspects of Humor 25The Superiority Theory of Humor 26The Incongruity Theory of Humor 29

A Laugh a Day 30Humor in the Classroom 33The Punch Line 38Bibliography 40

IntroductionLaugh and the workl Laughs with you;Weep and you weep atone;For the sad old earth must borrow its mirth,But has trouble enough of its own-.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

What do Jan-ies watt, Chuckles candy, Tickle deodorant, AndyRooney, M*A*S*I-L the Mona Lisa, the Bible; and Norman Cousinshave in common% Well, Watt lost his job because of it, Chuckles- andTickle got their names from it; Rooney writes it, M*A*S*H haSvariety of it, Mona's smile reflects hers, the Old Testament haS 29references to it; and Cousins claims it helped cure him of ankylosingspondylitis. The answer: Humor!

Humor is a significant part of our lives, yet it often goes unac-knowledged. Slain the TV schedule to discover an abundance of sit7coms, cartoons, and other comedy programs: Turn to the editOrialpage of any newspaper to find a satirical cartoon. And don't forgetthe comics that make us laugh at oumelves and society as seen throughthe eyes of Lucy and Charlie Brown, Garfield, and'Fiinky Winker-bean. Erma Bombeck has another Wokon the beSt-seller list this year:Her stuff is tame compared to the Truly Tasteless Jokes trilogy thatsold more than a Million copies in 1983. Last Christmas I received

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a joke-a-day calendar: Jost the other day on my ear radici, I heardthe reSiiltS Of a ll about what men and women look for in a mate.Right up at the ton, along With intelligence and boks; was a goodsense of humor. The car righi in front Of hie had a license plate thatread; "PUN"!

We really do love to laugh. chortle, giggle, guffaw, grin, snicker,bellow, chuckle, cackle; crow; snort; titter, and ho-ho-he. Our lin=page i.8 full of words and phraws chat express the tragaitude of laugh-ter in our liVeS: "laugh till I cried," "side-splitting gulaw,""pokingfun;" "how) with laughter," "tickle yOtit fuutly bone," "laugh it off,"And from the darker side of hiinibt We find: "StUng_by wit," "bittenhy satire," "butt of a joke," laughing Stikk," "being laughed at," and"no_ laughing matter:"

_HUttior has something to offer each of us as we work with childrenOf all ages aud abilities. Humor can be used _to help _correct readingproblems; contrOl tiehatribtal disorders, build vocabulary teach for-eivn languages, and integiat,-; SOcial iSolates. Humor can be one ofour most powerft0 instnictional resOurces. AS I_Shall atternot to showin this fastback; we really ,:an learn through laughter.

Why Get Serious About Humor?The jeste. is brother to the sage.

Arthur KoestlerThen I commended mirth because a man hath no better thing underthe sun than to eat, dnd to drink, and to be merry.

Ecclesiastes 8:15

One of the pieces of advice frequently given to preservice teachersgoes something like this: "Never smile until Christmas!" While obvi-ously meant as hyperbole, there are beginning teachers who take thisadage literally, thinking that humor aitcl laughter in the classroom con-tribute to discipline problems. How sad! Humor can function in waysthat help us achieve the educational goals we hold most dear. Herearc 13 reasons why teachers should get serious about incorporatinghumor into their lessons;

1. Attracts Attention mud Provokes Thought. Consider this riddle:What goes ha-ha, plop? If you haven't heard it before, then ifs likelyyou're at least mildly curious about the answer. Ohce you're set upfor a jam or nddle, you eagerly await the punch line like you'redoing right now. So I have your attention and keep it until I give youthe answer and you groan; smile slightly; or laugh right out loud;By now you're getting aggravated because you've been kept waitingtoo long. Here's the answer: A man laughing his head off!

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Now whatever rating on your laugh meter you give that one; itserves to make my point: humor attracts attention and provokesthought two objectives that must certainly be on every teacher'sdaily lesson plait Humor as an attention-getting mechanism has longbeen used by public speakers who introduce their remarks with ajokeor humorous anecdote. Could you see yourself starting a history les:-son in a similar manner, or is there nothing funny in all of history?Remember Roosevelt cracking jokes at Churchill's expense and there-by breaking the ice with Stalin at the Teheran meeting in 1943? Howabout the Nast political cartoons that helped to break up the BossTweed ring in New York City in the 1870s9

Look at it another way; Some of our most troublesome disciplineproblems are students who seek attention through any means availa-ble. Are there creative ways to get these students involved by lettingthem tell jokes or humorous anecdotes, which will give them the at-tention from peers for positive reasons? Of course there is the prob-lem of where they will get these nuggets: Answer: You provide thetime; they find the material: Yes; it's there if you look for it in thelibrary; The assumption here is that everyone enjoys hearing some7thing funny; and as author Arthur Koestler put it, "ha-ha can leadto ah-ha!"

Back to the decapitated man riddle. Think about what happenedas you read the question part of the riddle. Did you begin thinkingof possible answers (prediction)? Did you come up with several an-swers from which you chose the best (decision making)? Did you tryto remember the answer from a previous telling (recall)? Now con-sider what happenal when you read the punch line. Suddenly it allmade sense, and yet it was all nonsense! Perhaps you had a mentalimage of the gruesome decapitation and felt repulsed. Whatever youdid, you were thinking; and note the possible levels of thought: prob-lem solving, prediction, decision making; visual imaging. Of all thethings teachers teach; these higher-level critical and creative think-ing skills have to be some of our greatest challenges. Humorousmaterials provide ideal content to teach such thinking Skills becausechildren are motivated to read and listen to stories that make themlaugh, even though they may not lealite they are using higher-level

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thinking processes to comprehend funny stories, poems, jokes, andriddles.

2. Liberates Creative Capacities. Besides attracting attention andstimulating critical-creative thirrking; humor offers nt. velty; a quali-ty that all individuals seek; Creative people have the ability to seethings from an original vantage point, often a humorous one. Highlycreative people have been found to initiate humor more often, to placegreater value on having a sense of humor, to appreciate and under-stand others' humor more, and to be more playful verbally when in-teracting with others. From their early fantasy play; creative childrengrow into adults who thrive on discovering incongruous relationships:Such adults possess the kinds of playful frames of mind necessaryfor solving strious problems in creative ways.

In order to "get" a joke or riddle, like the one you were just given,you must think ahout phrases like "laughing his head off" in an un-common way. The distort6d visual images created by this type of pun-ning are very similar to the idea of play used in any creative process:Humor in the curriculum stimulates the kinds of thinking processesused frequently by highly creative people. (Many of the responsesscored as highly original on creativity tests are the humorousresponses.) My hypothesis is that engaging in humor can free up orincrease the amount and qiiality of a person's creative capacities.

3. HelOs Gain Friends. Humor serves the social functions of promot-ing group membership and helping us deal with awkward moments:When you have laughed with someone after sharing a joke or ex-periencing a humorous incident; you tend to feel a bond with that per-son. You tend ;xi setk out that person to recount the incident:"Remember the time when . We develop these sorts of relation-ships with individuals aild groups lieCause laughter is pleasurable. Infact, people do laugh louder and longer when in larger groups. Onereason for this is the contagious nature of laughter. The point is weare attracted to people who have a sense of humor similar to our own;the emotionally positive experience of laughing together creates a groupfeeling; giving the members a sense of security and self-confidence.

Unfortunately, when there are hi-groups there are also out-groups.The experience of being around a group who is having a gb6d time

when yOu are not in the group is uncomfortable: Yet; secure, self-confident individuals can tolerate being on the outside of such a groiipbecause they have others with whom they share Meg and Stories.But what about children who have never learned tieW tb share in ajoke? Because mentally retarded Children Often haVe difficulty tell:ing jokes and understanding the Werd play involved in most formsof humor, they may feel left out Of ine

_group: The same would betrite for children with behavioral disorders; Fortunately joke tellingand understanding cart be and are being taught to help siith childrengive pleasure to others and gain friends in the prOceSt (Dale 1979).

4: Improves Commlatication. Think for a minute Went the languageskills imolved in joke telling. TO deliVet jOkO effectively requiresspeaking skills related to volume, rate, tone, and pause especiallypause. We all appreciate George Burns' niastery of the pause, but itiS another matter to try to replicate it: In addition to speaking skills,joke telling requires a good listener: Then there is reading involvedin finding a joke to work on: If vocabulary development iS part ofyour language arts package, consider thiS jOke: "Did you hear aboutthe butcher who backed into his meat grinder and got a little behindin his work?" Puns,_figutative language, homonyms, and homophones

all theSe are staples ofjokes and riddles: When children tell jokes,it maybe the first time peers_ have laughed wim them rather than atthem. In no time joke tellMg can turn into a communicatiOn Skillscurriculum with the advantage of having fun in the learning process.

5: Helps Deal with Difficult Morn-Mt:V. What de you de when read-.

ing to a crowd of a hundred and mit comS the phra.se "firecrappersin the medicine cabinet" instead Of "firecrackers?" Or you get copy-ing fluid all over yourself the one day you wear a white suit? Or thetransparency starts to smoke while you are conducting an ingervicesession with 200 English teachers? If you have had incidentt SiMilarto mine, I hope you did what 1 did under such circumStariceS: laughedat myself. Coping with embarrassing tnonientt by pbking fun at our-selves enables others to laugh with us, and We Save face at the sametime. In a few seconds the disastrous incident can be rendered impo-tent, and in the process all can enjoy laughing together:

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If you are able to respond to an awkward situation with a flash ofwit, the occasion becomes memorable. (My attempt at wit was to tellthe 2(30 English teachers that my transparencies were so secret theywould self--destruct after five seconds.) While everyone is not blessedwith a quick wit; it can be learned, just as we can learn to laugh atourselves. And in the case of humor we have many potential teachers.Children develop their own sense of humor from the people aroundthem If children have parents and teachers who laugh at their ownfoibles, then they have models to imitate. Wouldn't it be wonderfulif all children could apprentice under masters who know how to findthe lighter side of the dark times in life. As author and lecturer JoelGoodman puts it, "Levity defies gravity."

6: Can Be an Entree into the Study of Other Cultures: The studyof various form cf humor in different cultures is fascinating: Elliott(1960) examined "shame" cultures in which being laughed at was rea-son for suicide. In some cultures fools and satirists were thought topossess magical powers. One extreme example is the Gri land Es-kimos, whose disputes are resolved by a laughter duel. Contestantsridicule one another with humorous insults and obscene jokes whilebeating a drum; Audience laughter determines the winner; and theloser is humiliated and may even go into exile: Hindu humor is con-sidered savage by many Westerners who slx the pranks of the monkey-god, Honuman, as cruel. On the other hand, Japanese humor comesoff with a gentleness, as in the story of the D :non King whose wifethinks she must have a monkey's liver or she will die. With verbaltrickery the monkey saves himself and his liver. A the story's cli-max when the wife is told there is no liver; she simply says; "ThenI'll just have to get better without it!" American Indians; known fortheir reserve, endow a ritual clown or trickster with respect and eventolerate his violation of their sti-:-.mgest social tabOOs, including incest(Levme 1961). Oh a more contemporary level, Ainerican viewers whohave watched such British TV production:, as Benny Hill or All Crea-tures Great and Small often are bewildered by the "inside" jokes orphrases peculiar to the British: Particularly with Benny Hill; thereare sexual innuendoes that are unfamiliar to Americans, so they don'tcatch the humor.

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The examples cited above show how humor reflects the values ofparticular cultures. Moving from these exotic examples, think al5outpeople in your own social circles. Do they tell jokes that degrade wom-en or minorities? What about the current fascination with ethnic jokes;sacrilegious riddles, and ribald jokes packaged in best-selling bookslike Totally Gross Jokes; Gross Gifts; and Outrageously OffensiveJokes? Do they reflect a "breakdown of decency" as historian I;ar-hara Tuchman claims, or have these forms of humor always beenaround? Or is it just seeing them on the b-est-seller list that is shock-ing? When dealing with culture-specific humor, parents and teachersshould realize they are teaching powerftil value lessons to childrenwho hear their jokes.

Nothing seems to be above a good laugh; especially when it comesto politics. A bum traveling out West learned he could scrounge freedrinks in bars by shouting insults about Presidential candidates in theupcoming election. He was getting pretty go-6d at guessing which oneto degrade. He came to a little Colorado town, went into the firstbar, and shouted, "Jimmy Carter is a horse's ass!" But instead of adrink he got booted out the back door: At the next bar he took a differ:ent tack. "Ronald Reagan is a horse's ass!" he shoutivi, but again foundhimself face down in the street He looked up at a cowboy standingnearby and asked in a bewildered tone, "If this ain't Carter Countryand it ain't Reagan Country, what is it?" "Son," replied the cowloy,"this is hbrse country!" International politics also generates its shareof jokes. A riddle currently making the rounds is "What dish is radio-active and has feathers?" Answer: "Chicken Kiev:"

Teachers might want to develop a multicultural education unit on hu-mor in different countries. A gocK1 resource is Barilara Walker's taugh7ing Together (1977), a collection of children's jokes from dozens ofcountries. StUdying the distinguishing characteristics of humor in dif-ferent cultures will lead to an understanding of similarities, too; forgrilling and laughing transcend an cultures. In general, it is the humorstimulus that varies from people to people; although there seem to besome archetypal forms of humor that am dependent on neither time norcu.,. 're. As an example, when shown a film of the pantomiming artisttyof Charlie Chaplin, African tribtsmen dissolved into hilarious laughter.

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7 . For the Health of 11! While one might be skeptical of NormanCousies "humor-as-a-cure" claim, it cannot be denied that a go-cd laughmakes you feel better. There are physiological reasons for this: in-creased oxygen in the blood; exercising of lungs, diaphragm, facemuscles; and sometimes even arms and legs (as in knee-slapping);a ptdse drop; and increased production of the body's natural painkillers(endorphins). Tension created in initial phases of joke or story tell-ing (..anticipation) subsides after laughter and actually falls below thepre-joke level. The length of time the decreased tension continuesdepends on the intensity of the laughter, but it may be as much as45 minutes (Peter and Dana 1982).

Laughter's relaxation possibilities have direct relevmce for manystressful school situations; such as test taking: Using a couple of hu-morous items on the test, casual joking with students right before thetest, and structured student-led joke sharing before the test or at breaksduring long tests are tension-reducing techniques teachers can use.

Next to test taking, one of the tensest situations in a classroom iswhen there are rhscipline problems or some kind of disruption. Someclass disruptions can be overlooked: Often gentle teasing can accom-plish more than a vicious scolding. A smile can be a powerful rein-forcer. Children enjoy being around teachers who, by their smiles,appear relaxed themselves and relax those around them.

8. Devetops a Positive Attitide arid SeY:Tmage. My mother couldnever spank my brother, Todd. One look into his twinkling blue eyesand at his dimpled mischievous grin and she just had to laugh. Toddlearned early that humor disarms. You cannot be ang. and laughat the same time: Resistance melts in the face of humor; and so itcan become an important resource in resolving conflict and diffusingtension.

Teachers who use their sense of humor to maintain a positive class-room atmosphere know how to reverse the direction of negative ener-gy. When a substitute teacher had a class pull the old trick a alldropping their books on the floor at the same time (negative energy);she went right over to her desk and pushed a book on the floor, too."Sony I'm late," she said. The teacher who gets a class to laugh withher will enjoy teaching more and feel better about herself. Why? lle=

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cause when I make you laugh I feel better be-cause I've made you feelbetter. Of cours-e, it works the same way for children. Studen:s whohave poor self-concepts hegin to view themselves differently if theyuse humor appropriately to bring pleasure to others. A class that hasopportunities for sharing humor will have a more positive atmosphere,and the students and teacher in it will even look better: Yes, smilingimproves your appearance:

9: Motivates arid Energizes. We all have feli the tensions of beingunder stress, and we all have experienced the eihilarating feeling thatfollows laughter. Studies of how the brain reacts during laughter haveshown that there is a chemical explanation for the responses. Laugh-ter triggers the prckluction of a substance called catecholamine; whichactually boosts alertness: Also; the cholesterol that is producal wh,nwe are under stress stops being made when we hask in the relaxedstate following a hearty laugh.

Are there classroom implications in this bit of brain chemistry? Cer-tainly! With lethargic, inattentive students, starting a lesson with ahumorous story, joke, or riddle can gain their attention and actuallyput them in a more active mental state: Interest can then be main-tained in the lesson by injecting humor throughout the lesson. Fora description of how humor breaks during lectures increases reten-_tion; see Training Today, 21 May 1981. Of course the hest use ofhumor is when it is content-related and spontaneous.

10. Solves Problems. There are at least two ways humor aids inproblem solving. First, it helps all of us to cope with seemingly in-soluble problems by enabling us to separate ourselves from the prob-lem at Icast temporarily: Second; for students with behavioraldisorders; humor is a means of helping them cope with hostile andaggressive feelings. Joking with students about problems is a meansof releasing tension that might otherwise he acted out by hitting,punching, or kicking. Even among addlts the potential of humor asa tension reducer is demonstrated by how they joke about such sensi-tive topics as sex, religion; and politics:

11. Increases Quality and Quantity of Stztdents Reading. Studentswill read more if they are enjoying what they are reading. This cer-tainly is not a new idea, but using humorous materials as the major

content of reading programs for poor readers is a new idea. John andPriscilla Bennet provide a description of one such program in the Read-ing Teacher (may 1982).

12. Reinforces Desired Behaviors. We should not forget the rein-forcing effects of a smile c: a wink. Good teachers do this frequent-ly. We could all use this technique more: There also are goodpossibilities for using humorous books, films, and tapes in contin-gency management systems.

13. it's Chew Entertainment!With these 13 reasons for using humor in the classroom, I rest my

case. Now let us look at a brief history of humor in order to under-stand the context for contemporary humor.

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A Short History of HumorMen have been wise in _very different modes;but theytiv always laughed in_the same way

Samuel Johnson

No one will ever know when the first human smiled, but it musthave been long ago. Even our distant relatives, the chimpanzee, mon-key, and gorilla, eihibit baring of the teeth behaviors, which lookremarkably like siiiiles. Also, chimps and monkeys love to do funnyposturing and downing to amuse human audiences.

What is recorded in history is the origin of the word; "humor:" Itis a Latin word meaning "liquid;" "fluid;" or "moisture." In ancientGreece a person's temperament was thought to be controlkd by fourhumors (fluids). When in proper balance, a person was in a gziod hu-mor, so to speak. But too much of one of the fluid:s prdduced moods:irritable if yellow bile was disproportionate, gloomy or melancholyif black bile predominated, sluggish if phlegm was too abundant; andsanguine if an individual had an oversupply of blood: A person pos-sessing an excess of one of the fluids came to be called a "humorist"or a person subject to "humours." The prescription for controllingbad temperament caused by excessive "humours" was laughter. Un-fortunately, when the poor soul could not just laugh it off, he bicamethe object of others' laughter. Gradually try the 18th century; "humorist"

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came to mean "someone who was skilled in the artistic or literaryuse of humor;" and humor had come to include ever;thing from witto buffoonery.

Over the centuries views of humor and what makes people laughchanged. We now think it appalling that Renaissance princes amusedthemselves by collecting dwarfS, hunchbacics, and other deformed hu-mans. Yet it is refreShing to read that laughing was thought to "movethmuch aire in the breast, and sendeth the warmer spirits outward"(Richaxd Mulcaster; 16th century physician); Our pilgrim fathers con-sidered laughter a low form of behavior. These 17th century Christi-ans looked askance at any form of comedy, finding it contradictoryto "Christian silence, gravity and sobriety; for laughing, sporting, gam-ing, mocking, jesting, vain talking, etc is not Christian librty, norharmless mirth" (Robert Barclay, Ailo logy for the True Christian Di-vinity, 1676). Imagine being a female in Victorian England where"girls and women were permitted to smile in deference or to giggleat the slightest suggestion of impropriety; [but] they were not to laughwith glee. They could be embarrassed but not happy" (Goldstein andMcGhee 1972).

Today definitions of humor focus mainly on cognitive aspects ofwhat makes us laugh (language play and unlikely visual and auditoryimages). Yet remaining with us is the idea of humor as somethingthat is ludicrous; incongruous; abnormal; and out-of-the-ordinary;Laughter as a curative is now becoming a topic for research and apopular subject of books.

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Development of a Snse of HumorWrinkles merely indicate where smiles kive been:

Mark TwainYou grow up the iay you have your first real laugh at yourself

Ethel Barrytnore

Each person's sense of humor is unique, but it changes as one ma-tureS. In one study involving students aged 7 to 13 and teachers, theywere asked to do a variety of activities that would reflett their senkof humor; such as draw a funny picture. While nearly every childfound the drawing activity hilarious and went to Work With great en:thusiasm, 80% of the teachers ignored the draWing ASSignment (Brum-baugh and Wilson 1940).

FOrmation of a sense of humor seems to follow a developmentalpattern that parallels the child's intellectual and emotional develop-ment. Influencing this developmental progression are personality vari-ables; cultural and educational background; fantasy and playopportunities; intelligence, which is positively correlated With prefer:ence for certain types of humor; and sex, which accounts for the sin-gle largest source of individual differences in Sense of humor (Kappas1967; McGhee 1979).

The Significance of sex differences in sense of humor warrants ashort discussion-. As early as age six, differences between male arid

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female humor become obvious: boys initiate more humor, tell morejokes, do more silly rhyming, use more "naughty words," and clownaround and make faces more frequently. McGhee speculates that thefactors leading to humor sex vping may be operating even by agethree (McGhCe 1979). By the first grade there is a tendency for boysto laugh more, while girls smile more. Eventually girls come to laughmore; but mostly when others are laughing: In addition to sex differ-ences; left-right brain differences in humor have been found. The righthemisphere is thought to bc the locus of "Harpo" or slapstick-typehumor, while the left hemisphere is the locus of 'Groucho" humorsuch as puns and_satire (Gardner 1981).

T.Yevelopment of a sense of humor moves from a visual to a verbalfocus. In general, the progression is toward more objectivicy; mani-fested by being able to laugh at oneself and at life's predicaments.Familiarity with these developmental stages enables teachers to se-lect books that children find humorous as well as to understand whychildren see humor in siniations that are not funny to their teachers.The following developmental sequence of humor is derived from thecognitive stage theories of Jean Piaget, Lawrence Kohlberg; and JaneLoevinger and the work of Paul McGhee:

Developmental Sequence of Humor

Age Humor WehaviorI week Smiles during sleep and in response to tactile stimu-

lation.2 months Grins in response to configuration of human face.4 months Laughs when presented such stimuli as tickling, body

contact, large toys, rhythmk or unexpected move-ments, teasing, and peekaboo games.

2 to 4 years Responds to perceptual Mcongruities such as distor-tions of objects and words; rhyming nonsense wordsare funny ("daddy addy" or "maddy saddy").

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4 to 6 years Body functions, li&ly noises, tabiio words, clowning,silly rhyming, slapstick, chanting, and misnaming arefunny: Enjoys simple riddles and word play with ownname (Sticky Micky or Silly Sally). Responds to thesocial smile but has little capacity for sympathetic hu-mor. ExaggeratiOns of size and shape are funny, asis any form of surprise.

7 to 8 years Becomes aware of linguistic ambiguity and realizesthat words and phrases cannot always be taken liter-ally: This is the height of the practical joke period;others' discomfort is perceived as ftmny. Riddles andjokes are repeated incessantly. Enjoys stories in whichanimals liehave like humans.

9 to 12 years At the beginning of this stage, concrete puns, con-ventional jokes, woro plays; and moron and knock-knock jokes are popular. Gradually sympathetic hu-mor emerges; but there is still perseveration of thingsthat strike them as funnny: retelling jokes and doingstunts. Delights in anything that deviates from thenorm, tat:0-o subjects or things adults disapprove of.Begins to accept some jokes aliout self, can lie teaSed.Marked increase in verbal humor over the previousstage. Toward the end of this stage; begins to learnto use humor for personal ends; including channel-ing negative feelings into positive humorous situ-ations.

13 years + &gins to reflect on "Why" someone laughs and depre7cates laughter that is unf&ling. Original gOckl-naturedhumor, including sarcasm and self-ridicule, are ap-preciated; Tongue-in-cheek humor; social sa6re; andirony become preferred humor modes: Kiddiag; jok-ing insults, lcud laughter in public places may be ob-served. Forbidden topics are not laughed at in mixedcompany. Verbal wit is increasingly dominant overvisual. Noticeable tendency to use humor to save face.Ability to parody

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Once individuals reach a certain level of cognitive and emotionalmaturity, an interesting shift in perception occurs: when we becomecapable of empathy, jokes at the expense of other people are funnyordy when we perceive them as not being harmful to these people.This cognitive shift toward sympathetic humor occurs as early as thirdor fourth grade when, for example, taunting that formerly prdducedhilarious laughter is now seen as hurtful, b..-cause children begin tothink about how they would feel if they were on the receiving end;Of course, not all individuals grow out of the egocentric stage; Weall know adults that laugh boisterously at incidents we perceive asembarrassing for someone else:

The Nature of HumorA joke is the shortest distance between two points.Humor . . . is essentially a complete mystery.

E.B. White

To appreciate different kinds of humor requires varying levels ofcognitive development For example, slapstick and clowning are vis-ual, nori-erbal types of humor, while satire requires inferential think-ing. A teacher who knows something about the nature of humor willhave greater insight into discipline problems involving students whoare consistently the butts of jokes, those who make frequent sarcasticremarks; those who poke fun excessively; and those who persist indrawing attention to themselves by constantly clowning. Also, un-derstanding the nature of humor helps to explain why some childrenhave difficalty takins certain things seriously, why some laugh at thewrong times, and why some have trouble understanding certain typesof humor such as puns or political cartoons.

By knowing what humor is, teachers can help students analyw theirown sense of humor and its effect on others. They can help childrenlearn how to ust humor appropriately in social situations and to useit creatively in writing arid speaking.

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Physical Mpects of Humor

Who has not responded to laughing eyes and a broad pearly smile?Who can resist joining others caught up in convulsive laughter? Whatmakes it happen? Why does oi:e person roll in the aisles watchinsMel BrookS while another person is offended? Why are certain wordsand phrases funny? How can we laugh at the misfortunes of others,usually those less fortunate than ourselves (morons; fools; bums)?The mystery of how humor works has yet to be completely unraveled-,but there are theories about why we laugh when stimulated with every-thing from tickling to satire.

In simplified form; humor involves a three-step process: arousal;problem solving; and resolution: In the arousal stage we are set upby familiar cues to indicate that the situation is a humorous one:. Cuescan be anything from a symbol, such as a clown costume, to twink-ling eyes that signal the tease. Social circumstances will influence thearousal process, depending on whether you are with friends orstrangers, the same or opposite sex, cn in a sinall o large group. Also,the content; structure; and complexity of the joke will have a bearingon the arousal process: For example; most adults have outgrown theknock-knock jokes that children take delight in: To amuse adults; theknock-knock joke must overcome the simplified structure with a cleverplay on words.

Once the arousal or set-up is seen or heard; the problem-solvingstep begins in order to make sense of incongruous information: An-ticipating the punch line, using visual imagery; and trying to remem-ber an answer you heard before are some thinking processes that gointo action at this point. These mental efforts produce physical aridemotional changes (for example, increaSed ptilse rate; mOdd change).Finally; you get it. The punch line is delivered and the incongruitiesare resolvM. With resolution comes myriad types of laughing or smil-ing; which are outlets for the emotions stimulated in the arousal stepbut left hanging during the problem-solving step-.

The laughter reflex results when suddenly it all makes sense. Men-tal energy built up to unlock the joke puzzle is still there at the endof the joke but is worked off by the laughter. Immanuel Kant described

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thiS phendnienon as -the sudden transformation of a tense expecta-tion into nothing."

Tickling is something else; We don't always laugh when tickled.Arthur Koestler points out that babies laugh 15 times more often Whenfielded by their mothers than hy strangers. It seems that at leaSt twoconditions must be met before tickling turns to laughter: 1) ticklingmust he perceived as a "nkick attack," with alternating feelings of secu-rity and apprehension; and 2) it must e done by another person: Sur-priSe alsO iS an important component of tickling; The "Fm gonna getya" or "Here I come" heighten the aggressive mood of a tickling epi:sode. As Koestler says; "The best tickler impersonates an aggressor,but is simultaneously known not to he one!" (Koestler 1979).

Theories about the natUre of humor from Plato to Freud have triedto accoUnt for the paradox of laughter. How a "complicated_mentalaCtiVity like reading a page of Thurber should cause a specific raotorreSportSe On the reflex levels is a lopsided phenomenon which haspuzzled philosophers since antiquity" (Koestler 1964, p. 30). Koes-tler concludes that "Humor is the only domain of creative actiVitywhere a stimulus on a high levei of complexity prOduces a MasSiveand sharply defined response on the level of physiological reflexes."

The Superiority Theory of HumorMorons; fcols; clowns, buffoons, gluttons, drunkards, and miSerS

have all served as objects of ridicuie in jokes and humorous StorieS.The superiority theory of humor asserts that humans derive pleasurefrom seeing themselves as hater off than others. Of the 29 referencesto humor in the Old Testament, 13 are about scorn, derision; or mak-ifig fun -of Soineone; only two describe nonaggressive laughter. Weseem to need to pick on those less fortunate than ourselves by pokingfun at them. French philosopher Henri Bergson called thiS our "im:avowed intention to humiliate and consequently to correct our neigh:hour." We laugh at morons who make mistakes that we would knowbetter than to Make. We may, in retrospect, learn to laugh at our ownpaSt foibleS because we now feel superior over what we did or werethen.

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Bergson saw as the source of humor "something mechanical en-crusted upon the living." That favorite character of children's litera-ture, the maid Amelia Bede lia, is humorous because she is thecaricature of literal mindedness. She behaves like a machine, doingexactly as she is told. When her employer tells her to draw the drapeS,she gets out paper and pencil; dressing the chicken callS for a pairof suspendered short pants. Children can laugh at Arne lia's antics whenthey understand that words can have more than one meaning. Theyfeel smarter than Amelia. Caricatures of any kind puppets; jack-in-the-boxes, and impersonators are humorous to us because theyrepresent lower forms of beings to which we feel sugerior. The cloWriwho pours water into a bucket full of holes and Don Quiicite Whotilts at windmills are other examples of characters we laugh at be-caus,t they are "dumher" than we are.

Aristotle, Cicero, Descartes, and Francis Bacon all tOtk the vieWthat laughter arises when a defect or deformity is seen in others. Chil-dren often think mispronauilced words and mistakes of classmatesare grand opportumnes for ridicule. It seems that humans are capa-ble of what Bergson calls "anesthesia of the heart." Psychologist Wil-liam McDougall thought laughter was "an antidote to sympathy, aprotective reaction shielding us from the depressive influence of theshortcomings of our fellow man."

Seeing defects in others is humorous to us only when the defettis perceived as not being painful to the victim. If we thought StanLaurel really was hurt when he took one Of his many pratfalls, weprobably would not think it was funny. The situation must be Seenas a fantasy, a pretense, like the mirror at the fair that reflects backgross distortions of our hodies.

The sugeriority theory seems to explain the humor we fmd in defectsof persons who usually are accorded great dignity or respect. TheEnglith teacher who misspells a word, the violin virtuoso whose stringsnaps during a concert, the corporate president whose fly is unzippedare all funnier because they are larger than life to some. For a mo-ment the superior are inferior to us. As Mark Twain put it, "EVery=thing is funny as long as it's happening to someone else."

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The superiority theory doesn't explain all humor. For example, didyou hear the one about the absolutely perfect man who had no friendsbecause no one was perfect enough for him? Feeling lonely he decidedthe only solution was to have himself cloned. Inde-ed, when the clonearrived he was perfect in every way, except for one thing: he onlyspoke in obscenities. The perfect man was appalled at this defect;and when he could stand it no longer, he decided to do him in. Hetook his clone to the edge of a cliff and told him to look at the panoram-ic view. When the clone leaned out to see ihe scene; the perfect manpushed him off the cliff: And that was the first obscene clone fall!

Analysis of the above joke reveals a familiar joke structure: "didyou hear the one," and "all except one thing." The listener is cuedinto a particular frame of mind, and logic is willingly suspended. wepretend to believe the logic that there coUld be an absolutely perfectman and that technology can order up a clone. The suspension of logicis part of the humor illusion that, like dreams; is packed with expec-tations of exaggeration and nonsense. It's a game; a puzzle; a mys-tery to be solved; we play because we know from past experiencethe reward of laughter waits at the end.

This joke has humorous elements that can be explained by the su-periority theory. The perfett man i one in whom we would like tofind flaws that are possessed by the rest of us; the clone is a techno-logical invention that looks human, but has the intriguing defect ofspeaking only in obscenities. There is fascination with obscenity be-cause it is taboo in polite society. While all these elements are a part.of the joke; they are only background: The punch line is a simplepun, and it is unexpected: The pun works if the listener is familiarwith the phrase "obscene phone call." It is acoustical humor .7 ratherlow level to be sure but funny be-Cause of the unexpected punchline Koestler describes thi punch line as "the intellect turning a som-ersault." There is pleasure in the unexpected; we enjoy being sur-prned in this way. It is much like someone jumping at you from arounda corner, initial fright dissolves into laughter when you discover afamiliar friend simply playing a trick.

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The Incongruity Theory of HumorHumor resulting from unexpected connections is explained by the

incongruity theory. Lewis Carroll's nonsensical "Jabberwocky" is amixture of invented words and real ones; but all are ordered accord-ing to standard English syntax. The mix is incongruous: Puppies whoseheads and feet are too big for their bodies are incongruous: Big; bulkytubas seem Mcongruous with the rest of the instruments in the sym-phony orchestra. Our humorous feelings about the examples aboveare similar to our feelings a&out the fat lady in the circus. Theyshouldn't be but they are!

The flip-flopping pmcess of incongruity-baSed humor involves twoconflicting sets of rules; two frames of reference; or a reversal offigure and ground: Female impersonators are simultaneously man andwoman: Alice Roosevelt Longworth's Law of Dinner Companions:"If you can't say anything good about someone, sit right here by me,"has the elements of "refined lady" of position, the opening words ofa familiar adage, and then POW! the unexpected. We chuckle whenthe stereotype of "refined lady" is punctured.

One more example should suffice: If you haven't read FredGwynne's The King Who Rained and A Chocolate Moose, you havemissed a real treat: Gwynne, the former star of the TV series Mon-sters, has created picture books that delight all ages. He uses a sim-ple device, figurative expressions in our language, and drawsillustrations depicting the figurative expressions literally. Somefavorites of both children and adults: "Mammy says she sometimesgets a frog in her throat," and "Daddy says our family has a coat ofarms:" Each of these statements is illustrated literally with a bizarrepicture, which is nonsensical but funny. We laugh because we knowbetter (superiority theory) but primarily lletause of the literal represen-tation of idiom (incongruity theory).

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A Laugh a DayMirth is God's medicine.

Henry Ward BeecherThe effect of laughter upon the mind not only brings relaxation withit, so far as mental tension is concerned, but makes U also less_proneto dreads and Fess solicitous about the fitture. 77us favorable _effect onthe mita Influences yartous functions of the body and Makes themhealthier tkati would otherwise be the case.

James Walsh, Ain,..rican physician

After z, good laugh we all feel mom relaxed; we am relieved oftension born of immediate or long-term stress. We sigh, breathe moredeeply, and feel renewe4. Our mood is positive and spirits are high.No stress-management workthop could offer more!

Koestler calls laughter the "luxury reflex." It seems to have a mindof its own arid is as unique as our fmgerprints. Listen to the laughsof people around you for one day; you are bound to hear everythingfrom cacklers to snorters: Unlike other reflexes; laughter seems toserve no biological purpose. Koestler concludes that "the involuntarycontraction of 15 facial mus-cles, associated with certain irrepressi-ble noises, strikes one as an activity without any utilitarian value, quiteunrelated to survival." However, it is clear that laughter work offtension, as in "nervous laughter"; and it has long been considered an

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aid to digestion (remember the court jesters at banquets in Medievaltimes). Laurence Peter and Bill Dana; in their book; The b2ughterPrescription (1982); list four ways humor and laughter control pain:1) by distracting attention; 2) by ralucing tension, 3) by changingexpectations, and 4) by increasing pr6duction of endorphins theWy's natural pzinkillers. They claim that laughter's ability to causethe muscles suddenly to go limp can be of great value in the treat-ment of stress. Following are some things to do to improve your healththrough humor.

1. Adopt a playful frame of mind and don't take yourself too seri-ously ("I got a master's degree in English so I could supervise a studyhall!") Smile more, it improves your appearance.

2. Look for the lighter, brighter side. Joel Go6dnian calls this us-ing "mental aikido." (Aikido is a defense skill in which power canbe removed from a negative force by simply flowing with the direc-tion of the force.) An example Goodman uses is a man whose carwas crushed by a tree in a tornado: The man made a sign for his au-tomobile that said; "compact car:"

3. Laugh at yourself. As Ethel Barrymore said, "You grow up theday you have your first real laugh at Yourself." We all are foolssome of the time, and adinitting it is a sign jf real maturity. By laugh-ing at ourselves we enable others to laugh with us.

4. Make a humor first-aid kit containing anecdotes; stories; car-toons; and jokes that make you laugh again and again: Put all thesepepper-uppers together and pull them out when you need a lift. Butdon't be selfish with your first-aid humor kit. Grin and share it onbulletin boards, in newsletters, or in the teachers' lounge.

5. Laugh with others, not at them. Students are especially vulner-able to sarcasm and public ridictile. If there is any doubt about whethera joke or jibe will be misunderstood or will offend someone; do notuse it.

6: Make others laugh; not by becoming a clown but by letting yourown natural sense of humor emerge. This includes being a gScil lig=tener._ Others will enjoy sharing theirjokes with you because you re-spond enthusiastically. As Koestler says, "Laughter ne&ls an echo,"so join in when the opportunity presents itself.

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7. &come a humor consumen_Listen and look for humor all aroundyou, in church bulletins, on road signs, in the newspaper, and espe-cially in classrooms. It's everywhere, so stop and enjoy it.

8. Build a humor support group. Gather around you people whoshare your sense of humor; especially in the workplace: Everyoneneeds someone to laugh with no matter how corny the joke or stupidthe story.

9._ Think fimny. Teachers should_lie mfsdels for sttidentS. This in-cludes showing how your sense of humor gets you through embar-rassing moments and enables you to accept problems that have nosolutions. Students learn more from the teachers they laugh with.

10: Permit it; reinforce it; use it in your teaching, teach studentshow to use it. Instead of "Let's get serious" and "Wipe that smile offyour_ face," wmetimes we ne-ed to encourage students to "get silly"and laugh.

11. Meet the minimum daily requirement. The 2verage Ainericanlaughs 15 dmes a day. You need atleast 5 fill minutes of hearty laugh-ing each day. Get it wherever and whenever you can, but find a regularsupplier because it's very addictive:

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Humor in the ClassroomAmong_those whom I like;I can -firid nc common deaominawr;but among those whom I love, I can:all Of them Make me laugh.

W .H. Atiden

If teachers are exempt from what Max Eastman called the "handi:cap of being grown up," then they will be able to see the funny Sideof life and use humor to solve discipline problems and to enrich thecurriculum. Following is a list of 49 activities teachers currently areusing to get humor on their side in the classroom. Try one or try them

Practical Teaching Ideas1. Read aloud something humorous each clay; See the bibliography

for lists of humorous books. Shel Silverstein; Jack Prelutsky, andWitham Coles have delightful poetry books. Rtshert NeWtOnPeck's Soup books are great read-aiouds for interrnediate Stiidents.Nothing can beat Beverly Cleary for grades 2 to 4.

2. Start a humorous quotations collection to whach students can add.They could he on a bulletin hoard or in a file box. Bartletn Quo-

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tations and other collections can he found in most libranes; manyare organized by subject areas.

3. Organize a joke festival or marathon as a culmination of a lan-guage arts unit: Build up to it with a joke-of-thelyeek on the boardor have a joke drop-box that students can read from when otherwork is complete.

4. Hold a hest-joke contest. Have sruaents rate submitted jokes orread them aloud to determine ftinn.mess rating.

5. Collect spoonerisms (for example; It's kisstumary to cuss thebride) and other humorous language forms: puns; pleonasms,conundrums; mixed idioms; palindromes; epimphs, tall tales; tan-gletalk; chants; limericks, riddles; etc.

6. Do an art project with pictures of animal or body parts combinedto create incongruous images. Have students name their creations.

7. Collect and then alphabetize into a class book all the words stu-dents can think of that describe ways to laugh and smile.

8. Do group creative writing using the word "laugh- w many times aspcysible: Student izams can compete; but their stories must makesense.

9. Share personal humorous anecdotes and allow students to do thesame.

10. Compile a school "humor directory" that includes people's namesand something humorous they can do or tell about to a class.

11. Analyze humorous literature for types of humor (for example,Amelia Bedelia taking things too literally):

12. For vocabulary development ask half the class to pantomnnedifferent smiles, while the other half guesses (for example, po-lite sinile, grimace, grin, bearn).

13. Put different laughs on cards; distribute them, and have studentsdemonstrate (for example; guffaw; snicker; giggle; chortle, snort;cackle; chuckle).

14: Draw or pantomime nonliteral expressions (for example; shoplift-ing; cooking up a storm).

15. Parody television program titles or product names (for_example,Crappy Days, Crust Toothpaste, Aiwell House Coffee).

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16. Make a chart of what makes people laugh: words; people; ob-jects; events:

17: Create a funny "word wall" where students can tape up wordssuch as zoot suit, bubble, burp.

S. Build a humorous learning center. See "Joke Center" in Teacher(Mardi 1979) and "Limerick Center" in Language Arts (Septem-ler 1976).

19. Have students keep a log of when and why they laugh.20. Play tickle tag: Elementary students wiE ezljoy tickling instead

of tagging:21 Do humor collages, for example, words, smiles, faces.22. Collect humorous songs or songs that have something to do with

humor and sing one a dayfor example, "I LOve to Laugh," "TheShadow of Your Stink," "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling," "WhenYou're Smiling," and "Smile Awhile." Don't forget favorite campsongs like "The Ole Gray Mare," "On Top of Old Smokey,""Mares Eat Oats," and "Bill Grogan's Goat:"

23. Give each student a humor-related word to look up in a largedictionary to determine its etymology (for exampk, laugh, chor-tle, _giggle, smirk).

24. Study the history and science of humor. Every encyckpedia hasa section on humor.

25. Investigate the possibility of having a physician speak on the phys-ical changes laughter produces: (More and more doctors are be-coming interestal in humor's healing powers.)

26. Put a humorous item on each test.27. Find humorous art (for example, Mona Lisa parddies). EX=

plain/discuss parcidy.28. Collect laughs on a tape recordei . Label and try to match to

owners.

29. Collect humorous quotations and photos from newspapers.30: Listen to humorous records (for example, Bill Cosby).31. Set up a tongue-twister station for stUdents to use when work is

complete. Have students practice and record times on a giaph.See Alvin Schwartz in bibliography.

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32. Start every Monday with something fun so students will look for-ward to coming to school; that is, BGIM (Be Glad It's Monday)instead of TGIF.

33. Use Immorous sentences diming Spelling tests.34. Practice punctuation by using unpunctuated jokes and limericks.35. Have a backWards day. Run yeur schedule backwards; put some

clothes on backivards, do last items on worksheets first; etc.36. Have students research axid then write biographies of comedians

and authors of humorous works.37: Take candid school shots with a camera and let students caption

them.38. Re-write fairy tales, mythS, &C., in Updated form.39. Find humorous (safe) stunts that students can learn to do (for ex-

ample, push potato across room with nose; roll eyes; wiggle ears,hambone rhythms).

40. Do creative writing or original riddles; jokes, tall tales, ete. (SeeJournal of Reading Mari.:h 1981 and Ottob-er 1982 and ReddingTeacher 1982 for bibliographies )

41. Learn signing of humor wordS AS iiSed by deaf people (for ex-ample, smile, laugh, etc.).

42. Study humor of different cultures and collect jokes and humorousstories from different countries:

43. Do a urat on humor using art; music, cre-ii five writing, sgeaking,listening; humorous literature.

44: Play a trick on the class etch day by Making something incon-gruous in the classroom that they must find.

45. Set up a display on humorous literature and authors in the library:46. Have students collect and write "books" of Funny Family Folk-

lore. Begin by_having them ask parents; grandparents, and sib-lings to tell_ stories of funny things that happned to them

47. Watch sit-coms and other television program& and hSt types andexamples of humor used.

48. Invite a comedian to speak to the Class about how he or she pre-pares material. Perhaps this could be coordinated with a careerday.

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49. Give the humor questionnaire below and share the results withthe class.

Find Your Funny Bone1. Humor is2: On a 1 to 10 scale my sense of humor is

(rate 10 as excellent and 1 as nonexistent).3. My favorite comedian/comedienne is4. is funny to me.5. A funny thing that happened to me was6. I laughed until I cried when7. My laugh could be described as8; has a memorable laugh.9 snorts when he or she laughs.

10. My favorite joke is11. I hate it when someone laughs when12. People are funny who13. Babies are furmy when14; A funny thing heard a child say was15; I ain ticldish when16. The last time I blooped was17. I had to laugh at myself when18. rnakes me laugh.

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The Punch LineHe who laughs, lasts.

Norwegian ProverbThe fellow wka !aughs last tnay laugh best; but he gets the reputationof being a dumb bell.

Iflumor is a great liberator. It frees thought and suspends the rulesof time, place, logic, and conduct. Yes; humor in the classroom doeshave its dangers. If it occurs at the wrong moment, it can destroya mood or distract attention; if it gets out of hand, it can turn a class-room into a circus; and if it ridicules (like sarcasm can), feelings canbe hurt. Humor can I* ukt1 for gond or bad, to delight, or to devas-tate. But it is only those who cling to rigidity and conformity whofear humor. As Koestler said, "Dictators fear laughter more thanbombs" (Koestler 1979).

Somewhere; somehow; students must learn to use humor appropri-ately so they can enjoy its many benefits. Teachers with a sense ofhumor bring joy to themselves and show studentS a side of being hu-man. Teachers that share humorous personal anecdotes, read hu-morous literature aloud, and laugh at students' jokes demonstrate totheir students that they are capable of a range of other emotions; whichwill withstand the stress of chose "terrible horrible no-good very baddays."

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The power of humor could not be more eloquently expres&e-d thanin the words_uf a great American humorist who has made gettera=tions_laugh at themelvas and others. In one of his Unfunny books,The Mysterious kr-anger, Mark Twain writes:

your race; m its poverty, }vas unque-stiortably one really effective weaponlaughter. Power; money; persuasion; supplication, pet-Sean:Oh

these can lift at the colossal humbug push it a little waken ita little, century by century; but only laughter can blow it to rags andatoms at a blast. Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand:

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Cleary, Beverly. "The Laughter of Children." Horn Book (Oetob-er 1982):555-64:

Cogan; Patricia. "M*A*S411 Rz for Teachers: Take Two Smiles; Call Mein the Evethng:" Instructor 89, no: 2 (September 1979): 126-28; 130:

Cornett; Claudia E "Gifte4 Kids Need Laughter; Too!" English LanguageArts Bulletin (Spring 1986).

Crosby, Nine; and Marten; Elizabith. Dont Teach Lit Ali Learn About Tear-Jerkers, Humor, Canoons dad Comics. Buffalo, N.Y.: D.O.K. Publish=ett, 1979.

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Colwell; C:G. "Humor as a Motivational and Remedial Technique." Journalof Reading 24 (March 1981): 484-86.

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McGhee; P.E. "Development of Children's Ability to Create a Joking Rela-tionship." Child Dewlcpment 45 (1_974): 552-56.

MeGhte, P.E. "Moral Development and Children's Appreciation of Humor."Devetopmented Psychotogy 10 (1974): 514=25.

Mitchell-Dwyer, B. "Are We Gonna Dti Anything Fun?" English Journal70 (October 1981): 24-25

Moe; Alden J: "Jingles; Jokes; Limericks; Poems, Proverbs, Puns, Puzzles,and Riddles: Fast Reading for Reluctant Readers:" Language Ans 55, no.8 (November-December 197S): 957-65; 1003;

Nilsen, DOIli and Nilsen; Aileen. "An Exploration and Defense of the Hu-mor in Young Adult Literature." Journal of Reading (October 1982):58:65.

Perri, M. A.G. "Just a pooriful of Sugar." English Journal 70 (October 1981):4142.

Peter, Uurcnce, and Dana, Bill. The Laughter Prescription. New York:Dana/Corwin Enterprises; Ballantine Books; 1982:

Pfordresher; John. "An Approach to Analyzing Jokes;" English Journqd (Oc-tober 1981): 50-54.

Roberts, Marion A. "Reading Comprehension Breakthrough." Language Arts56, no. 8 (Novembr-D7aCember 1979): 922;14.

Tamashiro, Roy_T. "Children's Humor: A Divelopmental View " Elemen-tary School Journal 80, no. 2 (NovenWer 7979): 68:75.

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Terry; Roger L., and Wds, Margaret E: "Effects of Humor .3n the_ TeStPerforthante Of Elementary School Children." Psychology in the Seheicilt.12, no. 2 (April 1975): 182-85,

"A Touch of Humor." Elementary English 52, no. 5 (MaY 1975): 617-19.Schwartz; Alvin: "Children; Humor; and Folklore." NOM HoOk 53, no: 3

(June 1977): 281-87; no. 4 (August 1977): 471-76.Sudol; David. "Dangers of CIASStdtirn Humor." English Journal (October

1981): 26-28.Thaler; Mike. "Reading Writing and Riddling:" Learning 2, no. 9 (April:

may 1983):_ 58=59.TownSeild, M.A.R., and Mahoney P. "Humor and Anxiety:_EffictS On Ci4g

Test Performance." Psychology in the Schools 18 (April_ 1981): 228-34.Tway, Eileen: "How to Find and Encourage the Nuggd.- in Children's Writ-

ing:" banguage Arts 57; no. 3 (Mardi 1980): 2997304.Tyson; Eleanore S.; and Mountain, Lee. "A Riddle or Pun Makes Learning

Words Fun.' Reading _Ted-ch& 36, no. 2 (November 1982): 170-73.Walker, Barbara K. LaUghing Tog-eh-et. New York: FourWinds Press; 1977.Weissi M. Jet-6'. "The Serions Name of Humor:" English Journal (October

1981): 72-74.WhiteSel, Sue. "Joke Center: Wher Kids Go to Play on Worth." Teather

96, no. 7 (March 1979): 44-49.Ziv, Avner: "Facilitating Effects of Humor on Creativity."..Tournal of Educa-

tional Psychology 68; no. 3 ( i 976): 318;22.

PDK Fastback Setiet Titles3. OpewEdudtion: Promise and problems7. Busing: A Moral IssueS. Discipline or Disaster?

19. Sex Difterktitii in Learning to Read20. Is Creativity_ Teachable?22. The kiddie Scheel: Whence? What? Whither?26. The Teacher and the-Ding Scene29. Can Intelligence BO Tiiight?M. How to Recognize i Geed School43. Motivation and Leatning-iii School47. The School'ilesponsibility ler Sex Education59. The Legal Richts of Stud-Wits60. The Word Gain& improving- Communications66. The Pros and Cons_of Abilit GrOuping70. Dramatics in the Classroom: Making Lessons- Come Alive

_

7t Private Schools: From the Piiiitiiit to thePresentis: Di People and Theirkhools10: Uhriels of the Past_A Treasury ef Photographs

Stlism: N. Issue in_krnerican Edireition13: The Lige Rights of Teacherste: Wining in hip Laguna_

_It Silent Uneasy in_the Class_rcom17. Meltiithnic Education: Practces end Prodises11. ilowakheill Board Operates91. What I've Learned About Valuesiducation92. The Ahucet Of StandardizedTesting93. The_Uses_of Standardized Testing95. Detiningthe lams of American Education96. Soatelractidi LAWS of Learning97. Reading_1967.1977: A Decade of Change

and_Promise99. Collective_Bargammgin the Public Schools11XL Now to Individuahze Learning

105. The Good_Mind10i. Law in the_Curricoluin107. Fostering_a_Pluralistic Sotiety Through Multi---- Ethnic Education

_

Ot Education widths _Bain11. Teacher Improvement ThroUgh Clinical

Supervision14. Using Role Playingin_the Clitirdem15. ManagementbrObjectivel in the Schools16: (*lining Enrollments: A No* Dilemma forEUetiton

117. Wee* Centers-Whert: What Why?11t TM Use for ComwettiwyBasetEdfication111 TanChiflg the Gitted_andJalented120: Paid: Nave Rites:Tee121: Steroid-Discipline andthe Law122: Seta khools and Ours123-. Church-Statt Issues in Eduotion124. Mainstrifeming Merging Regular and Street&EdentiOn126. Stedentand reachir Absenteeism127. Wens Centers in the Elementary School121. A_Primer on_129. Tim lestoratied Of Standards: ThellodestoPde130. Deeling_with_Strid: A-Chilling* for Edeated131. heuristics and Edidtioi

BEST COPY AVAILABLE132. ilow_Pirent-Tdchei Conferences BuildPartnerships133. Early:blabbed EdUdation: Foundations forlifelorg Learning135. Performance EvalWation of Educational

Personnel136. Writing for Education Runnels137. Minimum Competeney_leiting1311 Legit! Implications or CompetencyTestify_139. hap Education: Goals ord Practices140. Education in West Germany: A ()nest for

Eicellencs141. !Usenet Schools: An Approach to Veluntary

Disagregation142: Intertultural Education__141 Tbe Pricess of Grartt_Proposal DeVelopriant144: Citidnship and Consumer Ideation: ley

AsSiMPtions and Basic Compatentiet145: Migrant Education: Teaching the WanderingOntt146: 1:ontredraiii Issues in Ow Schools147. Nufritien and Learning1411 Eduation the USSR149. Teaching With Newsoapers: The livingCurricclim -150. Population: Eilitition. and Children'sfutimet151. Bibliotiarapy:_ The Right Book at the Right Title152. Educational Phineing for Educationallocced153. Questionsand Antlers on Moral Education154.155.156.157.151,159.

160161162.

163164165166

167.161.169.170171.172.

173.174.

175.176.

4 d

Illasted_turnihtThe Third_Wave end Education's Futures_

_ -Title IX: ImplicatiOnt tor Education of Women__Elementary_Mathomititi: Priorities for tho 1910sSummer School: A NeW-LiSoiEducation for Central Plifilism: GlobalRoots_StewPluralism knelledEdocation Atdidaloz tte 1910i-The Public Community Coll*: The People'sUniversitlWall-treaty in Edecation:ItS Neale PotentialChildren s Soots: A Legacy terthii flungTeichir Unions and_thelower StettedProliiiiive Education: WWI Kee ThreeWit Etdcation: A Hisdrical_PertenctivnU-StMtit Educatios aed_thm Quality ef Lid

Learning_Disabied_-

Safety Edit:slim in the_glementary ScheelErhWation -hi ContemporadiapamThe WWI'S Rea in the Prevention of ChildAbaseDeath Edam:abet A Concern tor thstivingYowtt_PartitiVation for Early Adolescents:Leerniegand kering W the CommunityTllanageWeet fier-EdocatomEthwating Yabill, Gifted Yoeth_

(Caekiiiitd or Mside back cover)See ititide back cover for pritet.

Fastback Titles (contmued from back cover)177. Beyond Schooling: Education in a

Broader Context178. New Audiences for Teacher Education179. Microcomputers in the Classroom180. SUpervision Made Simple181. Educating Older People: Another View of

Mainstreaming-182. khool-Public Relations: Communicating-- to the Community183. Economic Education Won the-Curriculum184: thing the Census as a Creative Teaching_ _ Resource185: Collective at-lining: An Alternitiie to

Conventional Urgaining186. Legalissues in Education of_the Hiiidicapped187. Mainstreaming in the Seconbey Sthool: The

Itale_of the Regular Teacher _18t TudionTeriCredits:fact and Fiction__189. C_hallenginthelifted_and Talented_Through

Mentrn-Assisted Enrichment ProjeaS190. The CesaforlhaSmaller School191. What You Should Know About Teaching and

Learning_Slyles_192. Librery_Researchitratfties tor _Educators193. The Teaching of Writing in_Our Schools194. Teaching and the Art of Questioning_195. Understanding the New Right and Its Impact

on Education196. The Academic Achievement of YoungAmericans197. Effective Programs for the Marginal High

School Student198. Management Training for School Leaders: The

Academy Concept199. Whit Should We Be Teaching in the

Social-Studies?200. Minr-Granti for Classroom Teachers201. Master Teachers202. leather Preparation and Certification: The Call_ ler Reform

203. Pros-and-Celts-of Merit Pay204. Teacher Fairs:-Counterpoint to Criticism205. The_Case_for the-All-Day Kindergarten206: Philosophy for Children: An Approach to

Critical Thinking_201 Television and Children_208. Using Television in the Curirculiiin209. Writing to Learn Across the CurriCriliiM210. Education_Vouthers211. Decision Making in Educational Settingt212. Derision_Makinginin _Era of Fiscal instability213. The Schoors Role iniducating Severely

Handicapped Students

214. Teacher Career Stiatt: implications for StanDevelopment

215. Selling School_ &Agit% in Hird Tiniet216. Education in Healthy tirestylet: Ciirritulum

implications217. Adolescent ttkohol_hbuSe218. Hornewort-And Why_219. America's Changing Families:

A Goide for Educators_220. Teaching Mildly Retarded Children

in the Replar Cla5V0001221. ChangMg Behavior: A Nactical Guide

for Teachers and Parents222. Issues and Innovations in

Foreign Language Education223. Grievance Arbitration in Education224. Teaching About Religion in the Public Schools225. Promoting Voluntary Reading in

School and Home226. How to Start a School/Business Partnership227. Bilingual Education Policy: An International

PertriettiVe228. Planning for Study Abroad229: Teething Abed Realm Disarmament230: IniprOiring HomaSChool Communications231: Community SerVite Projacts: Citizenship in

Attion232: Outdoor Wend the Classroom Walls233: What Educators Shentd_1(iiriii Abent Copyright234. Teenage Suitide:Whit Uri the Sthools De?235: Legal lasicslor TeaChetS236. kLodel for Teaching Thinking Saint:

The Inclusion ProtesS_237. The Induction_of New Teachers238. The Casafor_Basic Skills PrograinS in

Higher Education239. Recruiting Superior Teachers: The InterVieW

Process_240. Teaching and Teacher Education: Implementing

Reform241. Learning Through Laughter: Humor in

the Classroom242. High School Dropouts: Causes; Consequences:

and Cure243. Communi?y (ducation: Processes and Progiams244. Teaching_the Process of Thinking, K-12245. Dealing with Abnormal Behavioi in the

Classroom246. Teaching Science as Inquiry247. Mentor Teachers: The California Model248. thing Microcomputers in School Administration

ThisJastback and others m the series are made available at low COSt through the PhiDelta Kappa Educational Foundatidri. Single Cdpies Of fastbacks are 904 _(754_to PhiDelta_Kappa members). Write to Phi Delta Kappa, Eighth and Union, Box 789, BMA=ington, IN 47402 for quantity distOilfitt for atiY title or combination of titles