The Haifa District, English Inspectorate, Newsletter. 

  

With Purim just around the corner, this edition is aimed at making you and your pupils laugh. So, sit back, relax and enjoy.  
                                                   Miriam.  
 

 

Not only is laughter the best medicine, it can also be a very useful teaching tool. The use of humor in the EFL classroom can create the foundation for a greater metalinguistic understanding of the language. Humour is cognition personified.  

What better way to check reading comprehension than to give your pupils a joke or humorous story to read and wait for that smile or laugh once they understand what they have read? The miserable pupils who do not produce the smile or laugh are the ones who are having difficulty and need help. The same goes for listening comprehension. As for writing, writing funny stories or jokes can be a great incentive for creativity. In order to get your pupils accustomed to speaking out loud in class, have a different pupil prepare a joke to tell the class each day. Even if the pupils make mistakes while telling the joke, it's the punch line that counts and their sense of achievment at getting it across.  

Phonetic games are fun and help improve pupils phonetic awareness. Vocabulary games enrich the pupils vocabulary and allow for practice and drill while keeping the activity interesting. Rhymes, riddles and puzzles improve pupils cognitive awareness of the language, not to mention the remedial effect they have on pupils with learning differences.  

Fun activities in class create a relaxed atmosphere which makes for better learning and easier teaching.  Show your pupils you have a sense of humor. Don't wait for Purim to have a bit of fun in the classroom!  

Gail Mann.    Back to contents  

The Internet is a great source for jokes, puns, brainteasers and puzzles. Teachers can use them in class to point out plays on words, to solve problems, or to just have fun. These sites are not recommended for use by the student as many jokes may be off color and inappropriate. It is recommended that the teacher uses the sites as a resource for bringing the material into class.  

Here are some sites for your enjoyment:  

For humorous pictures with captions.  

For thousands of puns.  

For brainteasers, puzzles, trivia and jokes.  

Here are some examples of puns you can use in class:  
One foot was looking for another foot because it wanted a sole-mate. 

Sign on a hair salon: "Curl Up and dye". 

On the tombstone of a farmer whose dying wish was to be buried alive in his vegetable garden: "Rest in Peas". 

What direction does a sneeze travel? Atchoo! 

When she told me I was average, she was just being mean. 

Show me where Stalin is buried and I'll show you a communist plot. 
Debbie Wolkinson  
   
     Back to contents  

Book Recommendations: Shel Silverstein  

A) Shel Silverstein's wonderous books of poems and drawings offer a unique source of fun and enjoyment to be used in any class. Have your students discover the joy of reading poetry for pleasure. Read the poems to them at the end of a lesson . Post them on a bulletin board. Have your students memorize them . My students just love reciting them. Some of Shel Silverstein's books are: FALLING UP, WHERE THE SIDEWALK ENDS and A LIGHT IN THE ATTIC.  
                                                                                     Zehavit Linn  

  Back to contents 

Book Recommendations: "The Lighter Side of TEFL."  

B) Another good resource book is "The Lighter Side" of TEFL edited by Thomas Karl.  

This book is available from "The American Cultural Center" in Tel Aviv, telephone: 03-510-6935 for the very reasonable price of 15 NIS. (18.50 NIS. including postage).  

The book is a collection of activities taken from the English Teaching Forum and includes the following categories:  

Word Games, Crossword Puzzles, Idioms, Limericks, Jokes and Riddles, puzzle Stories, Shaggy Dog Stories and Folk Wisdom.  

Here are some examples from the book:  

A) Jokes and Riddles.  

Which is correct, "Six and five are thirteen" or "six and five is thirteen"?  

A boy was talking to his mother.  
Gee, Mom, I'm really glad you named me Albert.  
Why?  
Because that's what all the kids at school call me.  

And many more.......  

B) Word Shapes - Pyramids and Diamonds.  

Each word in the pyramid is formed by adding a letter to the word above it, and re-arranging the letters if necessary. In the bottom half of the diamond, each word is formed by subtracting a letter from the word above it and rearranging the letters if necessary.  
  
  C) Picture Idioms.  

Each of the following pictures illustrates a common English phrase, idiom or proverb.  

  Back to contents 

 
Humour In The Classroom.  

With the ups and downs of today's current events, SCUDS or no SCUDS, a little humour goes a long way, and so I encouraged my class six pupils to write some jokes. This in itself raised some interesting and valuable moral issues about humour in general. The first enthusiasm of telling jokes waned when they realized I wouldn't accept jokes about political figures or ethnic groups, and in general, 'touchy' subjects. At some stage, I was even pushed to remind them about the elephant jokes of the sixties - "How do we get four elephants into a mini car? Two in the front and two in the back." Another good idea was to come to class equipped with a Hebrew joke book which some pupils used for inspiration.  
  

1) A man is walking with a penguin. A policeman asks,: "where are you taking that penguin?" The man replies, "To the zoo." Next day, the policeman sees the man and the penguin again. "Didn't you say you were taking that penguin to the zoo?" The man replies, "That was yesterday. Today, it wants to go to the cinema."  

2) Mother to son: "Many people that sing together are called a 'makela' - a choir." Son to mother: "Then, if I sing alone, will I be a 'makel' - a stick?"  
*The above riddle demonstrates that 'double meaning' words don't translate from one language to another, a point raised by a class six student.  

3)Model: "You say I'm the first model you kissed." Artist: "Yes." Model: "How many models were before me?" Artist: "Four. An apple, two oranges and a vase."  

4) Neighbor A: "Could you please get rid of your dog? My daughter had to stop singing because your dog howled (barked). Neighbor B: "I'm sorry, but your daughter started first!"  

5) How does an elephant go up a tree? It sits on a plant and waits for it to grow. How does an elephant come down? It sits on a leaf and waits for fall.  

6) A driver is travelling in his car. He sees a man on a Suzuki. The man on the Suzuki says, "Do y__ ____ Suzuki?" The motorcycle passed the car. A few kilometers later, the driver saw the man on the motorcycle again. Again the man said, "Do you know _____ ____ ____ Suzuki?" The driver passed the motorcycle, but soon the motorcycle passed the car again. The man shouted, "Do you know where ____ ____ Suzuki?" Later on, down the road, the driver saw the man standing next to his motorcycle. The motorcycle was crushed. The driver asked the man, "What were you trying to tell me?" The man said, "I was trying to ask you if you knew where the brakes are on a Suzuki!"  

7. A man goes to the laboratory. He is thirsty. He sees a glass of heavy (nuclear) water. Suddenly a scientist comes and asks the man if he has seen the missing glass of heavy water. The poor man says, "Oh! I drank the water!" The scientist tells him to go immediately to the doctor. The doctor examines the man and doesn't see anything wrong, so the doctor says, "go home, and if something happens, call me." A few hours later, the man calls the doctor, "Doctor, I had gas and made a pook". The doctor says, "Why did you call me for a pook?". "That's the problem," said the man, "I'm calling from Tokyo."  

8. A fly goes in the desert and he is tired. Suddenly a bull is coming. The fly says to the bull, "Take me on your back". The bull agrees. They go along. Suddenly the fly says, "Look at the dust we are making".  

9. Two friends were sitting together in a room. One was playing music on an instrument, and the other was listening. The friend who was playing said, "I heard you like music". "Don't worry," said the friend who was listening, "Keep on playing".  

10. A woman with three hairs on her head goes to the hairdresser. The hairdresser asks, "What do you want?' The woman says, "I want you to blow-dry my hair." The man dries her hair, but one hair falls out. The woman says, "Never mind. I want pony tails". The man makes pony tails but another hair falls out. "never mind," says the wpman, "Leave it free". Dee Stein  Back to contents    

 

Plexers are a type of rebus, or what we consider insight- phrases. Plexers is derived from the word perplex which means " to make unable to grasp something clearly or to think logically and decisively about something.  

They are usually words.( The general form of rebus contains pictures as well as words.)  

Students are to determine what word or phrase the Plexer brings to mind. The direction , size and / or position of the letters are often vital to understanding the puzzle.  

Using Plexers in the classroom:  
Add a Plexer to a worksheet, quiz, or a test as a last question or as a "fun" item. 

Post 2-3 Plexers on a bulletin board. At a convenient time , ask for hands on who has a conjecture of what the Plexer is. Very hard Plexers may stay on the board for a couple of days or more. Provide a new hint each day. 

Give a copy of a page of Plexers to your students. Have them work individually, in pairs, or in small groups to solve the puzzles. 

After your students have solved a few puzzles, they will probably be ready to create their own. 
Let the students create Plexers to be solved by their classmates. Students might post their puzzles on the bulletin board or might create a class " original Plexers" box.  

For more ideas see Plexers, Dave Hammond et.al., Dale Seymore Publications 1983

Zehavit Linn.

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Mnemonics - For Remembering Spelling.  

Mnemonics is a technique which helps one to remember. A word that tells a story is a terrific way to remember spelling - especially if the story is amusing. It's easy to make up a mnemonic - make them up yourself to help your pupils or have your pupils make them up themselves.  

Here are some examples of illustrated mnemonics - thanks to Naomi Roffman.  

Please note that these illustrated mnemonics are copyrighted to Vic Parry Publishing.  

  Back to contents 

 

Cut up each joke into two or three parts. 

Hand out one part of a joke to each pupil. 

Ask the pupils to walk around the class and find the pupil or pupils with the other parts of their joke. 
Here is another variation of this activity:  
Collect and photocopy a few cartoons. 

Copy the captions on a separate sheet and then erase them from the cartoons. 

Hand out one cartoon or caption to each pupil. 

Ask the pupils to walk around the class and find their matching caption / cartoon. 
You can use the same procedure with quotations, proverbs and idioms.  

You can repeat this activity with the same class many more times as the chances that a pupil will receive the same section again is minimal.  
  

Shoshana Leshem.

A tobacco-company executive travelled the country looking for long-time smokers in good health. He found one man who admitted to    

 
smoking for 70 years. "If you do a commercial for us," the executive explained, "we'll pay you $10 000".    
 

It's a deal, said the smoker. "When do I start?"  
"How about 10 a.m. tomorrow?"    

 
"Can't do it then, son - I never quit coughing till noon!"    

 

Attending a wedding for the first time, a little girl whispered to her mother, "Why is the bride dressed in white?"    

 
"Because white is the color of happiness," her mother explained. "And today is the happiest day of her life."    

 
The child thought about this for a moment. "So why is the groom wearing black?"    

 

Just before graduation from the university of Maine at Oreno, my son and several friends were discussing the roles their families had played in their career plans.    

 
My son who had been accepted by a college of optometry, had been quiet during most of the talk. "How about you, Dale?" one of his buddies asked. "Was your mother pushy?"    

 
"No," he replied. "I had complete freedom of choice. I could be any kind of doctor I wanted to be."    

The following are examples of quotations, proverbs and idioms that can be divided:  

If a man owns land 

the land owns him.

Whenever I feel like exercising 

I lie down until the feeling passes.

If you see a penny on the ground, 

pick it up and you'll have luck all year.

If you sleep with your socks on, 

you will have nightmares.

There is no pleasure in having nothing to do; 

the fun is in having lots to do and not doing it.

There's one thing about baldness: 

it's neat.

If you eat all the seeds in grapes, 

grapevines will come out your ears.

If you sleep with your socks on, 

you will have nightmares.

  Back to contents 

Cartoon Internet Activity. 

If you are lucky enough to have an Internet connection on the computers at your school, try this fun activity suggested by Pamela Segev. If not, keep it for future reference - you will have Internet in the near future.  

This activity is suitable for grades: 8, 9, 10.  

This is where you find the site: borg.com/~rjgtoons/toon.html  

Description of site: This site has quite a choice of cartoons in different categories. It is fun and there's some reading. The students can make nice posters.  

Duration: 1 lesson  

Suggested procedure: Have the students go to the address , browse through the cartoons, choose the one they like best, print it and answer some questions. (See worksheet below for specific procedure.)  

What should be done in class before commencing the activity: Make sure they read the page of instructions and follow them carefully so as to print the cartoon they have chosen only and not the whole page!  

Worksheet - Humour - Cartoons on the Internet.    

Go into Windows. 

Open up the Internet box by double-clicking. 

Double click on Netscape. 

Write the following address in "Location": http://www.borg.com/~rgtoons/toon.html 

Scroll down and look at the different categories. Click on the category you are interested in. If you do not like any of the cartoons in that category, go back to the previous page and click on another category. 

When you find a cartoon you like, stand on it with the cursor, click the right mouse button, then click "View Image" and go to "Print". 

On a separate page type/write the answers to the following questions:

d) In your opinion, are there people who wouldn't find it funny? Why?   GOOD LUCK!  Back to contents 

Answering Machine Messages. 

Read some of these messages out to your pupils and then have them make up their own original answering machine messages. Thanks to Leah Wolf for forwarding these to the ETNI discussion list (see below for details).  

"Hi. Now you say something."  

"Hi, I'm not home right now but my answering machine is, so you can talk to it instead. Wait for the beep."  

"Hello. I am David's answering machine. What are you?"  

"Hi! John's answering machine is broken. This is his refrigerator. Please speak very slowly, and I'll stick your message to myself with one of these magnets."  

"This is not an answering machine - this is a telepathic thought-recording device. After the tone, think about your name, your reason for calling, and a number where I can reach you, and I'll think about returning your call."  

"Hi, this is George. I'm sorry I can't answer the phone right now.  
Leave a message, and then wait by your phone until I call you back."  

Please leave a message. However, you have the right to remain silent.   Back to contents  

The ETNI Discussion List. 

The above funny message was sent out on the ETNI discussion list - The English Teachers Network of Israel e-mail discussion list. If you have e-mail, join the list - it's fun and serious and keeps you up-to-date with English teaching in the country.  

In order to join the discussion list, follow these steps exactly:  

Write to: majordomo@environment.negev.k12.il 

Leave the subject area empty 

In the message area, write: subscribe etni 

Send the message and you will be added.

  Back to contents 

 

I have a spelling checker  
It came with my PC  
It plane lee marks four my revue  
Miss steaks aye can knot sea  
Eye ran this poem threw it  
You should be glad two no  
It's very polished in it's weigh  
My checker tolled me sew  
A checker is a bless sing  
It freeze yew lodes of thyme  
It helps me right all stiles of verse  
And aides me when aye rime  
To rite with care is quite a feet  
Of witch won should be prowed  
And wee mussed dew the best wee can  
Miss stakes are knot aloud  
And now bee cause my spelling  
Is checked with such grate care  
There are know flaws within my site  
Of nun eye am a wear  
Each frays come posed up on my screen  
Eye trussed to be a joule  
The checker pours o'er every word  
To cheque some spelling rule  
That's why aye brake in two averse  
My righting wants too pleas  
Sow now eye sea why aye dew prays  
Such soft wear for pea seas  

Anonymous.

  Back to contents 

 
Why I Like Humor!  

Suggested procedure for guided creative writing (could also be used in a computer lesson):  

Brainstorm the word "Humour" and write the words up on the board. Tell the pupils to use the words to write sentences or a passage about "Why I like humour".  

Ruth Silbermann.   

  Here are the collaborative results:  

  At bed time it cheers you up. 

  At party humor helps to break the ice. 

  Humor can change your mood. 

  Humour should be original. 

  I like simple humor which is just funny but not silly. 

  I don't like it when people laugh at other people. 

  I especially like some sarcastic humor. 

  I like all kinds of humour. 

  I like humor because it releases people. 

  It represents the bright side of life. 

  Sometimes when you are down it can cheer you up 

  I like humour because it is fun to laugh. 

  I like sarcastic humour or just regular humour that makes me laugh. 

  It is a pleasure of life 

  It makes me a better person and less angry. 

  It makes me laugh 

  On television it is entertainment. 

 Some jokes and a little fun will raise his spirit. 

  Sometimes it is so funny that you cry 

  The quality of sense of humor is the quality of a person. 

  Unfortunately not everyone has a sense of humor 

  I sometimes laugh with tears. 

  When I laugh I'm happy. 

  Without a sense of humor the world is boring. 

  You need to have some fun and to laugh.

 

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