Definition:

Humor is the capacity to perceive, appreciate, or express what is funny, amusing, incongruous, ludicrous, etc.

 

Humor is the healthy way of feeling a "distance" between one's self and the problem, a way of standing off and looking at one's problem with perspective.

 

 

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Books about Humor:

Primary -

 

The Gruffalo

by Julia Donaldson

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Giraffes Can't Dance

by Giles Andreae

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly

by Simms Taback

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Commotion in the Ocean

by Giles Andreae

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Knock, Knock! Who's There?:

My First Book of Knock Knock Jokes

by Tad Hills

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Intermediate -

FREAKY FRIDAY
Rodgers, Mary
A thirteen-year-old girl gains a much more sympathetic understanding of her relationship with her mother when the two switch bodies. 

 

 

 

 

 HARRIS AND ME: A SUMMER REMEMBERED
Paulsen, Gary
Pig wrestling and mouse hunting are just two of a young boy's raucous escapades the summer he lived on his cousin's farm. 

 

 

 

 

HOW TO EAT FRIED WORMS
Rockwell, Thomas
Two boys set out to prove that worms can make a delicious meal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

KNIGHTS OF THE KITCHEN TABLE
Scieszka, Jon
A magic book transports three boys back to the days of King Arthur in the first book of the "The Time Warp Trio."

 

 

 

 

 

THE PHANTOM TOLLBOOTH
Juster, Norton
Milo, a little boy who didn't know what to do with himself, goes through the phantom tollbooth, behind which lies a strange land and even stranger adventures.

 

 

 

 

 

SQUASHED
Bauer, Joan
Ellie is determined that Max, her 600 pound pumpkin, will win the big weigh-in at the County Fair.

 

 

 

 

 

THE TWITS
Dahl, Roald
The misadventures of two terrible old people who enjoy playing nasty tricks and are finally outwitted a family of monkeys.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Resources on the Web:

http://www.humormatters.com/kidsjoke.htm

 

For Teachers:

Reasons for teaching with and about humor

http://radicalpedagogy.icaap.org/content/issue8_2/shatz.html 

Writing with humor:

http://teacher.scholastic.com/writeit/humor/teacher/humorwriting.htm

 

 

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Ideas & Activities: