Lesson Plan: A Taste of English Humour (Slightly Simpler Version)

Lesson Plan : A Taste of English Humour (Slightly Simpler Version)

Lesson Level:       Senior                 Duration:  45

Lesson Title:     A Taste of British Humour

Grammar and Vocabulary

Words for discussion of humour .

Lesson Objectives

 Students will be able to read and understand jokes (words and pictures) and explain why they think (or don’t think) that they are funny.

Materials Required

Worksheet showing six humourous pictures. (Or pictures from unit 12 Practical Oral English, Senior 1, Spring Term)

Worksheet showing simple jokes with punchlines mixed up.

Preparation

Print enough copies of the worksheet to give one per group of four  

Procedure

1 Write “A Taste of English Humour on the board.

Elicit what we mean by “humour” and “joke”.

Ask class if they think English humour is the same as Chinese humour.

Elicit several answers.

2 Put class into groups of four.

Tell class that you will now tell them two jokes.

For each one they must decide

Is it funny?

Why is it (or isn’t it) funny?

Then they must choose the one they think is funniest.

(Optionally gve students written copies of the three jokes.)

Elicit from groups which they have chosen and what makes it funny. (See notes below.)

3 Tell these three (or three others) jokes.

a) Two men go camping. In the middle of the night one man wakes the other. He says,

“Look at the stars. Tell me what you think.”

The other man says,

“Well, there are millions of stars. Some of them must have planets around them. Some of those planets must be like Earth and some of those must have life. So I think that we are not alone in the Universe.”

Some time passes and then the second man asks the first,

“So, when you look at the stars, what do YOU think.”
The first man answers

“I think someone stole our tents.

b) Two men are talking. The first man says to the second,

“Why do you look so sad?”

His friend answers

“It’s like this. Every time I take a girl home to meet my parents my mother hates her so we break up.”

The first man answers

“What you should do is find a girl who is just like your mother. Then your mother will be happy.”
A month later they meet again. He asks,

“Did you find a girl like your mother?”

The other replies.

“Yes. She looks like my mother. Sounds like my mother. Cooks like my mother and is just like my mother.”

“So why do you still look so unhappy?”

“My father doesn’t like her.”

4 Elicit and discuss answers.

5. Give out picture worksheets.

Tell groups that they should discuss the pictures and put them in order - funniest to least funny.

After five minutes elicit some answers for which they think is funniest and why.

6 Give out jokes worksheet.

   Tell students to match the set ups to the punch-lines.

    Elicit and explain the answers.

7 Extension task.

Get each group to write a new joke. Monitor the writing. Have the best groups stand up to tell their joke,

Notes

1. You will need six humourous pictures, These can be found on the internet.

2. Set ups

What did the balloon teacher say to the balloon  boy who brought a pin to the balloon school?

What do you sing at a snowman’s birthday party?

Why is a broken drum the greatest present?

What do you get if a sheep and a kangaroo have a baby?

What is orange and sounds like a parrot?

What do you call  bears with no ears?

What do you call a gorilla with no ears?

Punchlines:

Freeze a jolly good fellow.

You have let me down, let yourself down and let the whole school down.

You can’t beat it.

A little woolly jumper.

Anything you like, he can’t hear you.

A carrot.

B