Developing a Humor Being

Essential to Learning!

Developing A Humor Being Is Essential to Learning!

ObjectivesReview child’s humor developmentShare humor and fun strategies for integration in

classroom!

What do you get when you cross a Snowman with a Vampire?Frostbite!

3Understanding Humor through

A Framework for Learning

Context

Process

Content

Where?

How?

What?

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A Closer Look at Humor

What is Therapeutic Humor?

Therapeutic humor is any intervention that promotes health and wellness by stimulating a playful discovery, expression, or appreciation of the absurdity or incongruity of life’s situations.

AATH Association for Applied and Therapeutic Humor

What is Humergy?

“Humergy describes the energy that radiates the optimistic joy of our inner spirit, reflects our unique

personality, and nourishes a healthy mind/body balance.”

Mary Kay Morrison

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Humor DevelopmentGrowing Up Funny

Peek a Boo- Birth to Two

Knock-Knock- 2 years to School Age

Riddle De Dee- Early Elementary Years

Punny Funny- Later Elementary through Teen Years

Fun Finders- Peak Experience/Utopia

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TextChpt.2

Peek a Boo- Birth to Two

The game of Peek-a-Boo assures the child that what disappears will reappear. This game helps children understand that their caregiver will return. The initial fear of loss is replaced with surprised relief which eventually results in laughter. This laughter is appreciated by adults and the game is frequently repeated.

Adults engage infants in numerous games which provide the basic skills for the “reading” emotions. Silly noises, hiding objects, repetition of nonsense sounds and rough housing all elicit laughter while forming the trusted relationships necessary for humor development. These fun games also contribute to the foundation of a strong attachment between parent and child.

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Knock-Knock- 2 years to School Age

Pretend behaviors, exaggeration of reality and imagination emerge in this stage of humor development. Within Piaget’s pre-operational stage emerges the capacity for children to appreciate fantasy creatures and to employ their own imagination to create silly stories and drawings. Dramatic play begins. They use their imagination to pretend, often laughing at their own ingenuity.

Bathroom humor emerges at this stage and reflects the concerns that children have with their own bodily functions. Taboo words and laughter about body parts are common in early childhood. Jokes about elimination and sexual ideas are often silly accompanied with giggles. There are numerous creative books have been written on these topics.

It is intriguing to note the use of humor in children’s literature. Word-plays and repetition are important in the knock-knock stage of humor development. Three to five year olds begin to find humor in things that appear incongruent such as an elephant washing a car .

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"Know why Miss Tomato turned red?" "Cause she saw Mr. Green Pea!"

Riddle De Dee Early Elementary Years

The comprehension of verbal irony seems to emerge between 5 and 6 years of age. Jokes, riddles and clowns are beginning to be appreciated by children. Practicing jokes and repeating riddles are valuable components in this stage of humor development.

Teachers find they can generate excitement for reading through joke and riddle books, especially for those students who might not be too enthused about other kinds of literature. Since children are drawn to these books, many educators use them to promote vocabulary development,

encourage creativity and improve reading skills.

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“Children with the ability to use humor skills in social interactions were found to be chosen for social activities

more often than children with less developed skills.” (McGhee 2002)

Punny Funny Later Elementary through Teen Years Children have an increased understanding of the subtle differences

in language. Their more fully developed language skills accelerate the magic of humor which can become a magnet that will captivate children grades 4-8. This is the period where the students will be able to detect and enjoy a language twist at the end of a story. They will also be able to understand a subtle variance in word selection and therefore, “Get the joke”.

The pun-fun stage also requires the capacity to perceive differences between feelings of joy, surprise, silliness, happiness, and sarcasm, all necessary elements for humor development. The emotional growth of the child is an important factor in appreciating and learning to use humor at this stage.

The middle years initiate the emergence of puberty with jokes about sex and aggressive behavior. Adolescents experience anxiety about the changes they are experiencing physically and this sexual humor can provide relief from the stress of puberty. As with the bathroom humor of earlier ages, physical changes evoke challenges for pre-teens who resort to laughing with others as a coping device. Note: some folks never outgrow the bathroom/sexual humor stages.

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Time flies like an arrow.Fruit flies like a banana.

Fun Finders Peak Experience/Utopia

The ultimate or peak experience as identified by Maslow and described by Csikszentmihalyi as a Flow or a spiritual experience. (Csikszentmihalyi, 1997)

Humergy is extraordinary optimism and a passionate energy for life combined with a gentle understanding of others. It describes the energy that radiates the optimistic joy of our inner spirit, reflects our unique personality, and nourishes a healthy mind/body balance

JoyFlow is the degree to which we have accomplished optimal growth and self-discovery. This peak experience exemplifies the capacity to view challenges with optimistic amusement. A heightened state of positive emotionality defines the fun-finders peak experience. For many Joy-Flow is a spiritual journey.

Joy-Flow is evident within groups. Visualize a classroom of laughing students filled with excitement where each school day offers opportunities for brain compatible learning facilitated by passionately optimistic teachers.

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Magic

Music

Yoga

Pair-Share

Chants

Cheers

Mind Maps

Hi-Five

Groupwork

Games

Dance

Ball Toss

Humor

Every 10

minutes

How Does Humor Development Impact Teaching Style?

How do you use humor with your students?

Share ideas and strategies!!!

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What do you call cheese that isn’t yours?Nacho Cheese!

Using Humor To Maximize Learning by Mary Kay Morrison

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Using Humor to Maximize LearningMary Kay Morrison

Rowman and Littlefield Education. Blue Ridge Summit, PA. Dec. 2007

http://www.rowmaneducation.com

Chapters•The Tonic for Tired Educators•Developing your Humor Being; A Nut is Born•Mouse Droppings :Examining Brain Research and Humor•Hurtful Humor; NO Laughing Matter•The Humor Workout; Pumping Up with Practice•It’s a Circus Out There•Survival Humor for Stressed Leaders