All You Need to Teach: Critical Thinking Ages 10+

Critical Thinking humour And TEXT

AGES10+

Jeni Mawter

All the tools a smart teacher needs!

All you need to teach . . . Critical Thinking, Humour and Text contains essential

information, lists, text models, lesson banks and more to support you as you

guide your students to think critically using humorous texts.

Teaching Tips — including information on twelve critical thinking skills,

the elements of humour, and teaching critical thinking, humour and text.

Assessment Rubrics — lists of levelled criteria to help

you assess students’ progress in the twelve critical thinking skills.

Text Models — original texts in different forms, so you

have everything you need to teach critical thinking today.

Lesson Banks — a bank of lesson ideas to dip

into for each of the twelve critical thinking skills.

Worksheets — covering all twelve critical thinking skills.

About the AuthorJeni Mawter is a

best-selling children’s

author. She is also a

popular teacher of

creative writing at

workshops and school

visits—for both adults

and children.

Also available:All you need to teach . . . Critical Thinking, Humour and Text 5-8

All you need to teach . . . Critical Thinking, Humour and Text 8-10

criticalthinkinghumour And TEXT

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Other titles in this series:All you need to teach . . . Drama

All you need to teach . . . Problem Solving

All you need to teach . . . Nonfiction Text Types

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Using humorous text to promote

critical thinking

Ages 10+

Jeni Mawter

Humour and Text

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First published in 2007 by

MACMILLAN EDUCATION AUSTRALIA PTY LTD15–19 Claremont Street, South Yarra 3141Reprinted 2012

Visit our website at www.macmillan.com.au

Associated companies and representatives throughout the world.

© Jeni Mawter/Macmillan Education Australia 2007All You Need to Teach: Critical Thinking, Humour and Text, Ages 10+ISBN 978 1 4202 0485 8

Publisher: Sharon DalgleishEdited by Raewyn GlynnDesign by Trish Hayes and Stephen Michael King Illustrations by Stephen Michael King Printed in Australia by TYPO Corporate Services, South Melbourne

Copying of this work by educational institutions or teachers

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For details of the CAL licence for educational institutions, contact:

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All the teAching tips You need ............................................................4Teaching criTical Thinking, humour and TexT ....................................5

criTical Thinking SkillS ...................................................................................6

exploring humour ............................................................................................7

elemenTS of humour in TexTS ...................................................................10

criTical Thinking and humour in The claSSroom ...........................12

aSSeSSmenT rubricS .........................................................................................14

gloSSary of humour ....................................................................................20

All the text Models You need ............................................................22Poem ................................................................................................................. 23-25

Narrative .......................................................................................................... 26-29

Statement ........................................................................................................ 30-34

Question .................................................................................................................35

Joke .................................................................................................... 36

Malapropism ...................................................................................... 37

Game ................................................................................................. 38

All the lesson BAnks You need ...........................................................39Social Thinking ................................................................................... 40

Parodical Thinking .............................................................................. 42

Imaginative Thinking .......................................................................... 44

Creative Thinking .............................................................................. 46

Judgemental Thinking ......................................................................... 48

Comparative Thinking ........................................................................ 50

Inferential Thinking ............................................................................. 52

Paradoxical Thinking ........................................................................... 54

Conceptualising Time and Space ......................................................... 56

Retrospective and Speculative Thinking .............................................. 58

Exploratory Thinking ........................................................................... 60

Flexible Thinking ................................................................................. 62

All the Worksheets You need ..............................................................64

Co n t e n t sCo n t e n t s


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Ex p lo r i n g c r it i cal t h i n k i n g It is essential that students learn to think in critical and creative ways, using imagination, confidence, and emotional and intellectual engagement to underpin their learning across all areas of the curriculum. Thinking involves inquiry, posing problems, acquiring and questioning information, thinking about possibilities, making decisions and forming judgements, justifying conclusions, reflecting on and refining ideas, seeing and valuing other perspectives, ethical reasoning, becoming aware of human existence, imagination and creativity, innovation and risk-taking. Being able to show and value enterprise and innovation, and being able to engage and respond to the world, are crucial skills for active participation in society.

When students think critically they:V become proactive readers/listeners/viewers, able to predict, hypothesise, infer, deduce,

and check for evidence that either confirms, extends or refines their views V become reflective readers/listeners/viewers, developing an awareness

of text-types, an understanding of text purpose and organisation, and able to relate texts to one another in ways that will improve their own writing

V judge and value texts, forming personal preferences and responses, noticing and remembering texts or parts of texts that are meaningful as models for composing their own new and novel texts.

lAnguAge

In order to think critically, students must develop an ability to use language effectively and to reflect on how language works. They must learn that language is used for a range of social purposes and varies from situation to situation. To become competent language users and learners, students must develop knowledge and understanding of different texts and how these are influenced by context (purpose, audience, channel of communication and content). By thinking critically about a broad range of spoken, written, graphic, and performance texts, students will learn how language functions and how texts reflect and shape social attitudes and structures. They will also learn to perceive how texts position their audience to take a particular view of people and events, for example, giving a character a sense of humour increases likeability, while a humourless character is less likeable.

MetA-cognition

Learning to think critically is not just about using language for a range of purposes – it is also about learning to reflect and talk about how language is used. To this end, students must learn meta-cognitive skills to plan, monitor and evaluate their own thinking processes and strategies. They must also develop an awareness that they ‘don’t know what they don’t know’ and have the flexibility to seek other perspectives and knowledge.

thinking skills

In order to think critically about components of a text, students must make decisions about whether it is: logical, precise, significant, accurate, relevant, clear, complete or incomplete, fair and whether or not it has depth and breadth.

teAching criticAl thinking, huMour And text

Key issues of critical thinking:

1. What is the purpose of our thinking?

2. What questions are we trying to answer?

3. What information do we need to answer these questions?

4. What concepts or key ideas will we use in our thinking?

5. What assumptions are we using in our thinking?

6. Whose point of view are we considering?

7. What inferences or conclusions can we make?

8. What are the consequences and implications of our thinking?

9. What steps will we take to bring about change?

10. What risk is involved?


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criticAl thinking skills

sociAl thinking

V Make connections in a collaborative situation.

pArodicAl thinking

V Make fun by identifying what is ridiculous about an idea or situation.

iMAginAtive thinking

V Create pictures or images in your mind.

creAtive thinking V Play with ideas in your mind in an innovative or ingenious way.

JudgeMentAl thinking

V Make decisions about what is socially appropriate and what is taboo.

coMpArAtive thinking

V Identify what is the same and what is different between two or more things.

inferentiAl thinking

V Make connections between what is stated and what is implied.

pArAdoxicAl thinking

V Hold in your mind two or more ideas that contradict each other.

conceptuAlising tiMe And spAce V Have concepts for both time and space.

retrospective And speculAtive thinking

V Review familiar things and predict future occurrences based on this knowledge.

explorAtorY thinking

V Manipulate ideas within and between texts.

flexiBle thinking

V Hold various possibilities in your mind at the same time.


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exploring huMour

Wh at i s h u m o u r?Simply defined, humour is the ability of an individual to evoke feelings of amusement in others. Each person uses their personal, social and cultural background and experiences to engage in a cooperative activity and interpret or derive humorous meaning from texts.

Humour requires us to relax the rules of reason, to accept the impossible and the illogical. We must turn off self-consciousness and self-censorship. Exaggeration and understatement, juxtaposing contradictory ideas, making inferences, forming expectations and dealing with contradictions are just some of the thinking skills enhanced with humour.

Some things to note are:

V humour is a social phenomenon V humour is linked to personality and age V humour can assist learning V humour is a skill that can be developed, taught and learnt V sharing a humorous experience is pleasurable V humour provides positive reinforcement for both students and teachers V humour frees a student to be a child, to mentally play. Teachers too!

st u dy i n g h u m o r o u s t E xtsIn our society, issues-based texts are valued more highly than humorous texts, yet humorous texts often have much greater complexity and variety and require more critical engagement. As such, they are the perfect tool to develop functional and critical literacy skills in listening, viewing, reading, speaking and writing and in developing an understanding of how language works in different social and cultural contexts. Studying humour forces students to think critically about how the humour works in a text, not just how the story works. As students move through the curriculum they can explore texts of increasing complexity and variety (from picture books to comics, graphics, novels, plays, television programs and films).

Humour requires us to be flexible in our thinking so that our minds are open to change. We must think about many different opinions and points of view. We must compare facts with other alternatives, observe and interpret, use logic and reason to imply, value and judge (or not judge). We must also cope with contradictions, predict what may happen and develop options. Critical thinking in response to humour requires that minds be open to change (based on extra information, opinions, facts or reasoning) even when faced with conflicting information.

One bonus is that humorous texts are fun to study and therefore promote student enjoyment, interaction and collaboration in the classroom. The seeking and giving of enjoyment establishes and cements relationships. The flow-on effect is that students will learn how to productively interact with their peers, to speak coherently and confidently in the classroom, to listen strategically, to comprehend, to write, to entertain and give pleasure. The idea is that by being able to create mental images of place, space, ideas and relationships, students will be able to express their thoughts, values, feelings and ideas about their own creativity and the creative and artistic endeavours of others.


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Through critical analysis of a variety of humorous texts students will be able to comprehend how:

V knowledge and experiences influence our understanding of a text V pictures and other graphics can represent non-literal things V understanding helps us to make predictions, confirmations and inferences V different reading strategies are required for different text typesV texts are deliberately put together in a certain way to create meaningV texts present a particular point of view.

En co u rag i n g a s E n s E o f h u m o u rWe tend to think of humour as part of our genetic make-up, like blue eyes or size-eight feet. But a sense of humour is actually a learnt quality that you can nurture. A good sense of humour is a tool that children can rely on to help them:

V see things from perspectives other than the most obvious V be spontaneous V grasp unconventional ideas or ways of thinking V see beyond the surface of things V enjoy and participate in the playful aspects of life V not take themselves too seriously.

stag Es i n t h E d E v E lo p m E n t o f h u m o u rA student’s developmental level impacts on their ability to perceive, understand and appreciate humour and reflects cognitive growth. The appreciation of humour is related to social, cognitive and linguistic development as well as to an individual’s personality and emotional state.

By ten years of age, students’ humour already approaches that of an adult’s, with much more adult content, enabling them to genuinely share a laugh with adults. Humour is generally the funniest during the months/year after it is first understood because it still poses a cognitive challenge. For example, ten year olds find riddles less funny than eight year olds because they are much easier for them to understand. It must be noted, however, that a child at a later stage of development can still appreciate the humour enjoyed by a child at an earlier stage of development. Not only do children in the 10+ age range understand more about humour, they are also learning how to use humour as a way to facilitate social interaction and to test their belief systems about the world.

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The ability of students aged ten years and over to detect, understand and explain humour is improving. They take great pleasure in verbal humour, preferring puns and satire to riddles and jokes. They appreciate humour that not only presents incongruity but also presents a solution to the incongruity. Students in this age group are developing an appreciation of the challenges of humour, finding cognitively more challenging humour more amusing. They comprehend sarcasm from both intonation and contextual cues.

Humour takes on an increasing social significance for ten year olds as they develop an awareness of how humour can be used to serve various social-emotional objectives. Students begin to see that humour can be used for bonding and to further social goals rather than just for enjoyment, i.e., humour is viewed as a means to an end. We see the emergence of the secret or ‘in’ jokes to increase solidarity, relieve tension, conceal discomfort or to avoid embarrassment. Secret nicknames for people are an example of this. Students at this age also have a propensity to share joking mannerisms with friends, downplaying some mannerisms and amplifying others. Gender differences between the type and use of humour also begin to emerge.

At the same time, students are also begining to use humour for antisocial rather than pro-social purposes. They enjoy making fun of others, primarily through wit and sarcasm. Students now have less fear of authority, which leads to the teacher becoming a source of humour as well as someone to conceal humour from:

Teacher: ‘What are you laughing at?’

Student: ‘Nothing.’

They also find increasing humour in the mistakes of others, especially their peers

Other types of humour appear or continue to be appreciated. We see more metahumour, humour about humour. Crude and gross humour is still popular, especially amongst boys. Slapstick humour is still appreciated, although the interest has decreased. As cognitive abilities develop, children find pleasure not only from the incongruity of humour, its novelty and its social connectedness, they also enjoy humour for the sheer challenge it presents.


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Elements of Humour in Texts

Subject matterV Age and development determine the response

Topical or political humour, as well as self-deprecatory humour, have more appeal to older students

Situation

V What you see or hear is different to your expectations

A judge who still lives with their parents

V A certain expectation is set up, then there is a twist or surprise ending

A cockroach at the bottom of a bowl of soup

V The rules of reason are relaxed and the impossible becomes possible

When the underdog wins

V Exploring what is socially unacceptable or taboo

Dinner at a friend’s house turns into ‘Fear Factor’ when deep-fried bugs and sheep eyeballs are served up

V Switching of identity, roles or function

A teenager who waits up for their parents to come home

V Authority figures such as parents and teachers are opposed

“Build a bonfire, build a bonfire, put the teachers on the top ...”

V Imitating a work, author or idea to make fun of it

‘The Wizard of Aus’

V Topical humour or ‘in’ jokes

A child who spends so much time on the phone they can only speak in SMS-speak

V Exaggeration leads to disastrous results

A jockey who ends up riding under the horse’s girth

V Absurdities

A drip that floods the house

V Something does not fit in its proper place or situation

A nanny who hates babies

V Irony, where you say or do the opposite of what you mean to

An athlete who spends a long time getting into the perfect start position, then finds themselves stuck in that position

V Human predicaments

A pimple on the tip of your nose


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Characters

V Who have fears and flaws

A police officer afraid of butterflies

V Who are unusual or extreme

Someone who refuses to wear the colour red, use the letter ‘p’, or leave the house on any day with an ‘s’ in it

V With funny names

Mr Popinjay, Mrs Piffle

V Who are torn or in conflict so that they suffer in some way

Walking into the wrong classroom

V Who are funny, but are not trying to be funny

Someone learning to cook who has no sense of taste or smell

Talking funny

V Puns

There was once a cross-eyed teacher who couldn’t control his pupils . . .

V Double meanings or ambiguities

The Smile File

V Word plays

If we have ninety-nine why don’t we have tenty-ten?

V Made-up or nonsense words

Spaghetti-brained

V Exaggeration

“I’m so hungry I could eat a swarm of bees.”

V Understatement

“I think I’m about to get squashed.” (as a building falls)

V Plain talk

“Mum, are you trying to look like my older sister? Because it’s not working.”

V Turning things upside down or inside out

“Yay. I’ve been waiting for a chance to go to the headmaster’s office.”

V Jokes

The four food groups: Fast, Frozen, Instant, and Chocolate

V Internal dialogue/thoughts

A student looking at their teacher and thinking, “Have you completely lost it?”

V Anecdotes

“This boy had a ride on the ghost train ...”

V Taboo language/behaviour

Why do monkeys have big noses? Because they’ve got big fingers.

V Substituting or switching

A fourteen year old turning into their father/mother

TimingV Judging the right moment to do

something for maximum comic effect

Someone walking into a room after the person they’re looking for has just walked out


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lit E rac y, lit E rat u r E an d lan g uag EFor the budding reader, humour can develop and sharpen cognitive tools that help them construct meaning and sense. Not only will students understand what is being read, they will also enjoy the process.

In oral cultures, thinking involves the complex logic of metaphor more than it follows the systematic logic of rational inquiry. Metaphor involves representation of one thing as though it were something other. The use of language that is rich in appropriate metaphors can stimulate creativity. Humour is rich in metaphoric language.

With the development of language came the discovery that words could be used to generate images in the mind. Imaginative thinking in humour also creates pictures in the mind. This image-generation is a cognitive tool for teaching literacy.

Because humour is extraordinarily diverse, with a hierarchy of complexity, the less sophisticated reader can share a joke with a more sophisticated reader, even if their depth of understanding differs. What a wonderful tool to use in a class of ranging abilities and development!

huMour, text tYpes And literAcY

Literacy education focuses on thinking critically about a wide range of print and non-print-based texts. Texts include humorous prose narrative, verse narrative, comics and cartoons, film and television, picture books, the oral tradition and performance. Critical analysis of humorous texts allows students to apply a wide range of thinking strategies to understand, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. Students will draw on:

V their own experiences V interactions with other readers and writers V knowledge of word meaning and of other texts V word-identifying strategies V understanding of textual features such as sentence structure,

contexts and graphics V knowledge of language structure: language conventions

(e.g., spelling and punctuation), media techniques, figurative language, and genre.

the lAnguAge of huMour

Humour is all about surprise, innovation and rule-breaking. Between the ages of eight and ten children love wit and word play, banter and bum-fun, captions and catchwords, allusion and alliteration, parody, irony, satire, limericks, rhythm and rhyme, puns, scrambled spellings and skewed pronunciations. Humorous language plays with the notions of expectation and probability — with the game of prediction.

One theory of humour is that we laugh at the unexpected. Humour occurs within a certain context based on the element of surprise; for example, in ambiguous words, phrases and sentences the double meaning deliberately misleads the audience to set up the surprise punchline. Many jokes occur at the phonological level where there are two meanings for the same sounds or in homophones, two words that are pronounced the same but spelt differently. (What’s black and white and read/red all over? A newspaper.) Knock-knock jokes rely on ambiguity.

In written language the unexpected can be seen in concrete poems, graffiti, street signs, and epigraphs where letter and word boundaries can be blurred, rearranged or deleted. Other instances of incongruous language are oxymorons, contradictions, tautologies, metaphors and similes. Scripted humour can play with mixed metaphors. Personification is seen in picture books, cartoons and fairytales. Parody, satire and irony all rely on intertextuality or knowledge of an existing text.

criticAl thinking And huMour in the clAssrooM


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hu m o u r i n t h E cla ss r o o mUsing humour in the classroom can: make students less anxious and stressed and make teachers less anxious and stressed. It can contribute to classroom unity, increase receptiveness to learning, assist in teacher-student rapport, improve school enjoyment, alleviate monotony and enhance memory and self-esteem. Thinking criticallty about humorous texts will facilitate learning outcomes.

man ag i n g h u m o u r Suggestions for managing humour:

V Know your purpose for using humorous texts. Keep a collection of funny stories, anecdotes, songs, comics and jokes on hand.

V Don’t force things or try to be a stand-up comedian. All you need is a sense of humour.

V Accept that laughter is not anarchic. V Try a variety of genres and styles to incorporate humour.V Avoid private humour that may exclude some class

members.V Do not use humour as a form of student put-down. V Be aware of factors that impact on humour such as

religion, ethnicity and culture, age, gender and social groupings.

V Do not overuse humour or it will lose its value.V Incorporate humour as a natural and integral part

of classroom behaviour that is relevant to learning outcomes.

V Discuss how humour such as sarcasm can be used as a weapon.

V Encourage students from a variety of cultures to share their style of humour.

V Save humour for the last half hour of the day when the spill-over effect will be minimal.

V Create a balance between what is enjoyable and what is conducive to learning.

V Tell humorous stories in episodes to keep students wanting more.

Wo r k i n g i n g r o u psThe active exchange of ideas within small groups not only increases interest among the participants but also promotes critical thinking. The shared learning gives students an opportunity to engage in discussion, take responsibility for their own learning, and thus become critical thinkers.

Whilst exploring critical thinking and humour the teacher must refrain from making judgements. Otherwise, students may play a game called ‘Please the teacher’ instead of liberating their thinking. It is essential that:

V all contributions are accepted without judgement V the goal is a large number of ideas or questions V building on other people’s ideas is encouraged V obscure and unusual ideas are encouraged.

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14All You Need to Teach: Critical Thinking, Humour and Text Ages 10+ © Jeni Mawter/Macmillan Education Australia

ISBN 978 1 4202 0485 8

BLM 1 Assessment Rubrics

E. Early ✓ D. Developing ✓ C. Practising ✓ B. Advanced ✓ A. Superior ✓

V actively contributes as a group member to achieve the goals of the groupV acknowledges the ideas and feelings of othersV displays some empathy towards others in group activities

V actively shares responsibility for the group’s efforts and achievementsV displays awareness of and sensitivity to the needs and feelings of other group members

V shows understanding of the intrinsic value of achieving the group’s goal V is an active contributor and facilitator within the groupV actively supports and encourages other members of the group to participate

V evaluates group goals and initiates changes in goalsV takes on varying roles in a groupat own instigationV makes consistently positive contributions to the group V displays respect for the ideas, skills, beliefs and learning needs of others in the group

V values group goals ahead of personal goals when appropriateV shows depth of understanding of the social benefits to group cooperationV actively ensures the group reaches its goalsV works to bring out the best in others V is able to discuss group dynamics and develop strategies to enhance participation of all group members

Comment

Social Thinking Name: Date:


V demonstrates understanding of several ways to create parody in their own written or oral text formsV able to recognise and discuss aspects of parody evident in published texts such as nursery rhymes, fairytales and films such as

Shrek

V describes some elements of humour evident in forms of parody such as nursery rhymes, poems and films, and the reasons these are considered funnyV creates parodies of familiar written, spoken and visual texts

V discusses why parody is considered funny in text forms such as spoofs and caricatureV writes poems, stories or playscripts which parody familiar or famous texts, situations or people

V recognises and analyses parody in text forms such as caricature, parody prose, parody poems, movie clichés and spoofsV creates humorous texts which parody well known or familiar texts using elements of humour such as incongruity and

inversion

V recognises, discusses and evaluates the humorous elements of incongruity, exaggeration, inversion, satire and imitation in parodyV creates original texts which make use of parody through elements

such as satire

Comment

Parodical Thinking Name: Date:


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Assessment Rubrics BLM 2


V describes or creates visual images that show humour and imagination for everyday phrases V creates a comic character that uses elements of humour such as exaggeration or character flaws

V uses imaginative thinking to create images which will enhance meaning and appreciation of texts such as everyday sayings and riddles

V creates poems which prompt a reader or listener to create humorous visual imagesV shows understanding of the way onomatopoeia can be used in written texts to inspire visual images

V creates a humorous comic strip that shows understanding of character, setting, sound effects, and use of visual images to convey humourV describes the ways comics and cartoons use visual images, sound effects, symbols to represent meaning

V discusses and evaluates aspects of physical comedy that make it funny such as physical actions, facial expressions and slapstickV creates and performs physical comedy which shows understanding of the elements which make it humorousV is able to evaluate visual images created by others (e.g. comics, cartoons) and describe why the images are considered humorous

Comment

Imaginative Thinking Name: Date:


V writes poems or stories that include invented words which make use of alliteration, onomatopoeia, assonance or rhymeV shows original thinking when brainstorming creative solutions to humorous problems or scenarios posed by the teacher or peers

V brainstorms multiple original or ridiculous ideas for turning everyday events into humorous scenariosV creates captions for comics or cartoons that show originalityV evaluates the use of made-up words in published texts

V creates narratives based on familiar fairytales or myths which subvert, or use exaggeration, nonsense words, or stereotyping to create humourV shows appreciation for and understanding of the ways that clichéd characters and events in stories can be rewritten in humorous ways

V can discuss with understanding the ways humour works in puns, banter, double meanings and understatementV generates original ideas when creating texts based on well known tales and narrativesV discusses, with some understanding, idiom and cliché

V uses original thinking to generate multiple ideas when creating nonsense narrativesV discusses and evaluates the humorous effects of insult and banter in published written texts or filmV shows understanding of clichés and how to surprise a reader when creating original written texts

Comment

Creative Thinking Name: Date:


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Assessment RubricsBLM 3


V discusses some taboos in humour and explains why these subjects might be considered tabooV recognises topics that might be embarrassing for some while others might be able to laugh at the topic and/or at themselves

V identifies use of black humour in novels, television or filmV is able to write a cautionary tale that makes use of gruesome or disgusting images or morally or socially taboo topics

V demonstrates understanding, through discussion, of the relevance of political correctness and the expectation that humour will remain within socially accepted boundariesV discusses the different perceptions people have of humour, showing understanding that not all people think the same things are funny

V shows understanding about when and why black comedy might be acceptableV evaluates topics that might be considered taboo for satire or other forms of humour and justifies when and why these topics might be acceptable

V describes and evaluates satire, euphemism, taboos and white lies and their use in humourV discusses and describes why humour is sometimes used in ways that are morally and socially unacceptable to challenge people’s thinking about issues

Comment

Judgemental Thinking Name: Date:


V is able to describe similarities and differences between things in more abstract termsV recognises ambiguity created through use of homophones and other aspects of English language

V provides insightful comparisons between things which reflect ability to think in abstract termsV evaluates the language used in signs and slogans and how language choices create humour

V discusses the effect of pun and word play in texts such as newspaper headlinesV creates texts such as tongue twisters and spoonerisms which show an understanding of comparative word play

V makes use of word play which shows an understanding of comparative thinking, in own written textsV evaluates the use of word play that deals with similarities and differences in abstract terms

V identifies and explains oxymoronsV identifies and evaluates the effectiveness of metaphor and simile in poems and novels V creates poems which make use of metaphor

Comment

Comparative Thinking Name: Date:


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V describes the ways that a text might have layers of meaning or convey different meanings in words and imagesV uses speech and facial expression to convey contradictory meanings

V actively creates a fable that has a moral which can be inferred from the eventsV recognises and discusses multiple meanings in texts such as picture books

V recognises proverbs and explains the connection between what is stated and what is impliedV recognises and discusses the meaning implied in euphemism

V creates texts which include euphemism to hide unpleasant or disturbing ideasV identifies and explains irony in a published text

V recognises and discusses sarcasm showing understanding of the effect sarcasm has on the victimV recognises innuendo as implied rather than stated meaningV consistently demonstrates the ability to read between the lines of what is stated and what is meant in oral, visual and written texts

Comment

Inferential Thinking Name: Date:


V recognises ambiguities, incompatibilities and underlying assumptions in texts by thinking above and beyond what is considered rational

V discusses ambiguities, absurdities and contradictions in texts such as cartoons, riddles, jokes and myths

V identifies literal and figurative meanings in textsV describes connections between contradictory ideas

V creates playscripts or narratives which are tragicomedies, blending tragedy and comedy to demonstrate paradoxical thinking

V recognises and evaluates elements of humour relevant to paradoxical thinking such as contradiction, cliché, denouement and juxtaposition

Comment

Paradoxical Thinking Name: Date:


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Assessment RubricsBLM 5


V recognises words and images in texts that provide information about space and time V describes perspective in cartoons and comics in their own words e.g. ‘near things are bigger and things that are far away look smaller’

V discusses examples which demonstrate the passage of time from a number of written sources including picture books and comic stripsV collects images which show perspective from sources such as comic strips

V describes the ways that time and space are conveyed in written and visual texts and filmV uses varied ways to portray space and time in own original texts

V discusses and evaluates symbols used in texts to portray the passage of time and spatial perspective V uses varied and interesting ways to describe the passage of time in own original texts

V uses original ways to portray the passage of time in own textsV evaluatesthe ways that space is represented in published textsV appropriately represents spatial perspective in own written and visual texts

Comment

Conceptualising Time and Space Name: Date:


V writes prologues and epilogues for narratives(what happened before and what happens after the events dealt with in the narrative)V recognises and describes stereotypes in a variety of texts encountered

V recognises and describes the effects of unexpected changes to stereotypesof charactersV suggests ways to use stereotypes humorously in texts to create surprise or incongruity

V describes the expectations of a reader or listener to tall tales, yarns or shaggy dog stories and the effect of unexpected twists to plot or character V creates a yarn or tall story that involves unpredictable elements

V demonstrates understanding that an element of surprise at the unexpected increases the humour in a joke or yarnV creates trickster tales that show understanding of the elements of humour required for the text formV demonstrates deep reflection and understanding of texts when making predictions

V discusses and evaluates the use of metafictive devises in familiar textsV recognises and describes the reason flashback, flash forward and foreshadowing are used in narrativeV bases predictions about texts on a variety of information including different parts of the text, personal experience and prior knowledge of texts

Comment

Retrospective and Speculative Thinking Name: Date:


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V demonstrates basic understanding of the way to create a storyboard for a narrativeV shows some understanding of the features of comics and cartoons such as symbols used, the way action and emotion can be drawn, the use of speech balloons, and the manipulation of lettering

V creates basic storyboards for simple narratives showing characters, backgrounds and facial expression in an action sequenceV discusses meaning created in cartoons and comics through the use of symbols to represent meaning

V creates effective storyboards showing narrative structure and a variety of shot types(zooming in and out), and conveying the emotions of the charactersV creates comics strips with attention to lettering, symbols, dialogue, action sequences, and other features used to convey meaning

V demonstrates understanding of the techniques used in storyboard, comics and cartoonsV experiments with vocal sounds andvisual symbols to create meaning

V explores and experiments with ways to create meaning using both well known and original symbols V shows understanding, through discussion, of the humour in spoonerisms and malapropismsV creates original storyboards and evaluates them for effectiveness in communicating meaning

Comment

Exploratory Thinking Name: Date:


V demonstrates ability to think on the spot when engaged in improvisation and change direction as the improvisation proceeds

V brainstorms lists of ideas, even when given little time for preparationV engages confidently in improvisation

V able to spontaneously generate lists of ideas when brainstorming V makes multiple suggestions to solve problemsV shows appreciation of rhyming slang, rhyme, and pun as humour

V shows understanding of the skills involved in stand-up comedyV shows originality when engaged in improvisation and other activities which require problem solvingV understands that problems can often have more than one solution

V generates a flow of ideas in improvisation and other activities that require problem solving and spontaneityV rehearses and performs a stand-up comedy routine showing ability to adapt to audience response and ad-lib if required

Comment

Flexible Thinking Name: Date:


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absurdity— false, foolish or ridiculous comment

alliteration— repetition of the same sound or letter at the beginning of words

allusion— reference to someone or something outside the text

ambiguity— words, phrases and sentences that can be interpreted as having more than one meaning

analogy— referring to a partial similarity between two things

anthropomorphism— the attribution of human motivation, characteristics, or behavior to inanimate objects, animals, or natural phenomena

aside— a brief speech in which a character turns from the person being addressed to speak directly to the audience

banter— friendly joking or teasing

black humour— a type of humour that expresses an underlying pessimism or bitterness, or one that deals with something tragic or gruesome

blooper— a clumsy mistake, especially one made in public

caricature— a drawing or a description of someone that exaggerates a striking feature

cliché— a phrase or an idea that has been used so often that it is no longer effective

comedy— a light and humorous drama

comic relief— the use of humour to lighten the mood of a serious or tragic story, especially in plays. It can also be used to build tension

contradiction— when two or more statements, ideas, or actions are seen as incompatible

conundrum— a paradoxical, insoluble, or difficult problem; a dilemma

euphemism— the substitution of a mild or less negative word or phrase for a harsh or blunt one

expectation— a strong belief or hope that something will happen

farce— a type of comedy emphasising improbable situations, violent conflicts, physical action, and coarse wit over characterisation or articulated plot

frame— an individual drawing in animation

homophone— words pronounced the same but with different spellings and meanings depending on context

hyperbole— an exaggeration used to evoke strong emotion or opinion

incongruity— something that seems strange because it does not fit in a proper place or situation

inference— the act of drawing a conclusion based on known facts

innuendo— a disguised reference, usually to something taboo

irony— a form of humour where you say or do the opposite of what you mean

juxtaposition— when things or ideas are put side by side to emphasise the difference between them

laugh track— pre-recorded laughter added to the soundtrack of a radio or television show

glossArY of huMour


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malapropism— humorous misuse of a word, especially by confusion with one of similar sound

metafiction— a text in which the writer consciously points out his/ her role in creating that text

metaphor— an imaginative way of describing something by saying it has similar qualities to something else

mime— the use of movements, gestures and facial expressions to express something or tell a story

onomatopoeia— a word that sounds like the thing it is describing

oxymoron— a phrase that juxtaposes two contradictory ideas

paradox— a statement that contradicts itself

parody— the imitation of an author or work for comic effect

point of view— the perspective of the person who is telling the story

proverb— a popular saying containing advice on how to act and live

quip— an amusing or clever remark

rule of three— a humorous device whereby two serious items set a pattern then the third unexpectedly switches the pattern, provoking laughter

running gag— a gag that repeats itself or plays off a gag that occurred earlier

sarcasm— saying or doing the opposite of what you really mean in order to mock or insult someone

satire— humour that sets out to show what’s wrong with the world. It has a moral point of view and can be quite malicious

sitcom— a comedy based on situations that might happen in everyday life

sketch comedy— a series of short comedy scenes, or ‘sketches’, commonly between one and ten minutes long

skit— a short piece of humorous or satirical drama

slapstick— physical humour involving pratfalls and stunts

spoonerism— a mistake made when speaking in which the initial sounds of two words are swapped, producing an unintended meaning

straight man— the person within a comedy team who feeds lines to another comedian, who then makes witty replies

subversive humour— humour intended to overthrow or undermine established authority figures and to oppose seriousness

taboo language— offensive and negatively-valued words and expressions considered vulgar, obscene, or blasphemous

timing— the act of judging the right moment to do something for maximum comic effect

tragedy— a work that presents serious or sad events

tragicomedy— a literary work that contains elements of both comedy and tragedy

twist— an unexpected development or event

understatement— a statement that minimises the drama of an event

word play— the making of jokes by the clever use of words

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BLM 7

Old Mother Hubbard Old Mother Hubbard

went to the cupboard

to get her poor dog a bone.

But when she got there

the cupboard was bare

so they both starved to death.

Little Miss Muffet Little Miss Muffet

sat on her tuffet

eating three Mars Bars a day.

Along came a spider

and sat down beside her

and between them the tuffet gave way.

Little Jack HornerLittle Jack Horner sat in a corner

watching Samantha go by.

He thought her a beauty

and said, “Come here, cutie.”

And that’s how he got his black eye.

Hickory Dickory Dock Hickory dickory dock.

Two mice ran up the clock.

The clock struck one,

and the other received minor injuries.

Text form: Poem Skill: Parodical thinking Lesson bank: pages 42–43


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BLM 8

Cinquainsby Jeni Mawter

Bellanaughty puppy

devours dirty undiesdelights in backyard burial

mud-dog.

Spinachhealthy vegie

haunting dinner tablecausing major stomach churning

pig-food.

Text form: Poem Skill: Imaginative thinking Lesson bank: pages 44–45


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BLM 9

Three BlindOptically Challenged Mice by Jeni Mawter

Three optically challenged mice. Three optically challenged mice. See how they are movement gifted See how they are movement gifted. They all run after the land engineer’s unpaid slave, who surgically removed their rear appendages with a sharp instrument, You’ve never been so visually abled about such a thing in your Soul Resource Centre, as three optically challenged mice.

Text form: Poem Skill: Judgemental thinking Lesson bank: pages 48–49


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BLM 10

by Jeni Mawter

We’re sitting in the playground when Gemma starts.

Scritch, scritch, scritch she goes with these sharp fingernails, sending wisps of hair in all directions.

“What’s up?” I ask as she does it again.

“Itchy,” she says.

I zoom in for a closer look, then zoom out again. Gemma’s hair’s flickering like static.

My own head starts to itch. It starts off small, like my scalp’s contracting, then builds to a major seismic ripple.

“Oh, no,” cries Gemma, her face contorting with horror. She’s scratching hard enough to excavate her scalp.

“I’m itchy, too,” says Jed. He sticks his head in my face and asks, “See anything?”

I already know what I’m gonna find. I answer with a poem, (with apologies to Banjo):

There was movement in the playground, for the word had passed around

That the place was infested with lice ‘n’ nits,

And none were all that fussy – hair clean or dirty took their fancy,

So all the kids must gather to the fray.

I stop and grin. “Know what? If we handle this right, we may be able to close the school for the day.”

Text form: Narrative – school story Skill: Parodical thinking Lesson bank: pages 42–43


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BLM 11

Coochie Coochie and the Kib Kon Prit by Jeni Mawter

Once upon a sen there was a mellahgul mesh called Coochie Coochie. She always wore a Fen Frippitty Frap that her snarbunkle had made for her. One mook Coochie Coochie’s snarbunkle was feeling very, very floose so the mellahgul mesh and her bunkle decided to snugg some beels to help make her snarbunkle feel snilly-snally again. Next mook Coochie Coochie set off for her Snarbunkle’s tarn.

“Stay on the trum,” called her bunkle. “And don’t yoon to tallywigs.”“I won’t,” said Coochie Coochie as she cret on her Fen Frippitty Frap and started off down the trum. The trum

went through a besh, bam hossawoo and Coochie Coochie felt a mellarghul bit scared. Suddenly, a kib kon prit came out of the besh bam hossawoo.

“Hello, Coochie Coochie,” said the prit. “Don’t you look ree in your Fen Frippitty Frap.”“Sorry, Mr Prit,” said Coochie Coochie. “My bunkle said not to yoon to tallywigs.”“I’m no tallywig. I’m a prit,” said the prit. “Where are you going on this foll foggit?”“I’m going to my snarbunkle’s tarn,” said Coochie Coochie. “She’s floose so my bunkle and I snugged some beels

and I’m honing them to her to make her feel snilly-snally again.”“Where is your snarbunkle’s tarn?” asked the prit. Coochie coochie pointed down the trum.The kib kon prit had a neshun wid to boggle up Coochie Coochie and her snarbunkle. He looked around the

hossawoo and spied some idgie heddles. “Why don’t you pick some idgie heddles for your snarbunkle?” said the prit. “They will snark her up.”

So Coochie Coochie stepped off the trum and picked a kib bunch of idgie heddles for her snarbunkle. Meanwhile, the prit hurried to the tarn.

Coochie Coochie’s snarbunkle heard a mak-a-kak-kak on the gorf. “Who is it?” she cried.“It’s Coochie Coochie,” said the prit in a mellargul mesh voice. “I’ve come to snark you up.”“Come in,” called the snarbunkle. “I’m upstairs in my merp. I’m too floose to come down.”Quickly the prit went upstairs and boggled up Coochie Coochie’s snarbunkle. Then he cret on her pleekay and

sham and climbed into merp. Looking out the stowpat he could see Coochie Coochie wearing her Fen Frippitty Frap, carrying a kib bunch of idgie heddles and coming down the trum.

“Good foggit, snarbunkle,” called Coochie Coochie.“I’m in merp,” said the kib kon prit in a mellargul voice. “Come up.” Coochie Coochie went upstairs. “Oh, snarbunkle,” cried Coochie

Coochie. “What kib hoons you’ve got.”“All the tosher to oon you with, my dear,” said the prit.“And snarbunkle. What kib gows you have,” said Coochie Coochie.“All the tosher to rith you with, my dear,” said the prit.“And what kib squarfs you’ve got,” said Coochie Coochie as she moved towards the merp.“All the tosher to boggle you with, my dear.” And with that the kib kon prit sprang out of merp and heddupped

Coochie Coochie all up - even her Fen Frippitty Frap.The prit was so garrosed that he lay on the merp and fell into a beesh ress. Soon he was carteeming so loudly

that a maxin passing through the hossawoo heard him. Now Coochie Coochie’s snarbunkle was his dairn and he decided to go into her tarn to see if all was snilly-

snally. The maxin found the neshun prit ressing on the merp. Immediately he morked the prit, then slit it’s henger open. Out kessed Coochie Coochie and her snarbunkle.

“Thank you,” they cried.From that mook onwards whenever Coochie Coochie visited her snarbunkle she never left the trum and she

never yooned to tallywigs.

Text form: Narrative Skill: Creative thinking Lesson bank: pages 46-47


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BLM 12

OOsterblame? (Part 1)

by Jeni Mawter

At 11:58 on the Sunday night of March 1, 2010, a shadow passed across the rear window of 205 Kingston Drive, Vastleigh. It has nothing to do with this story. It was only the cat from next door out on its nocturnals.

At 6:11 on the morning of Monday March 2, 2010, Mrs Chattersleigh-Snipe alerted the neighbourhood to the ill-will that had befallen her home. Every single piece of jewellery, and that included her tiara (fondly known as Cee Jay – that’s short for ‘Crown Jewels’) as well as the authentic replica of Queen Anne’s godson’s christening cup, was missing.

On hearing the twelfth, ‘Help! Help! Police!’ Mr Robert Grumble could stand it no longer and dialled 000. The police good naturedly abandoned the crossword puzzle in their weekly newsletter, ‘Badge and Truncheon,’ (they were stuck on 6 across: 9 letters, second letter ‘p,’ begins with ‘a,’ means... v.t. to take into custody; arrest), and arrived at the scene precisely eight minutes later, to find a rather plain woman (frumpy, if you ask me) in what looked like an act of self-strangulation on the expansive front lawn. She was, in fact, so pathetically grateful that she had worn her twenty-four carat gold chain to bed (an exact copy of a copy taken of the Queen) that she kept clasping (no pun intended) at her throat, intent on maintaining possession of her last remaining heirloom.

“I’ve been robbed,” shrieked Mrs Chattersleigh-Snipe, although why she’d bother I don’t know because it was perfectly obvious to all and sundry that something was amiss (no pun intended).

“Madam,” said this police officer who was so thin that she appeared to be impersonating a shadow, “Come inside and tell us all about it.”

Text form: Narrative – whodunnit Skill: Retrospective and speculative thinking Lesson bank: pages 58-59


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BLM 13

OOsterblame? (Part 2)

The police officer, her partner and Mr Grumble (partly out of neighbourly concern and partly because he reckoned he was ‘owed sum’at’ for sounding the alarm and wanted to have his curiosity sated), escorted Mrs Chattersleigh-Snipe through the imitation Louis XVth doors and into the parlour (it was really just a lounge room), effectively sending all gawpers on their way.

It seems that there was no sign of forced entry (I know my technical terms) and the police were puzzled, in part, over the crime, portions of their attention still being consumed by 6 across. The arrival of a second police car sent the residents of Kingston Drive back behind their curtains, from where it was duly noted that Constable Oosterblame had been summonsed to fingerprint the joint – er – I mean, the residence. Some time later, (I can’t tell you exactly), the three police officers and Mrs Chattersleigh-Snipe parted company to attend to very important matters - she to her weeping, and they to 6 across.

Fingerprint Report

Two identifiable sets of fingerprints were found at the scene:

1. one, belonging to Mrs Chattersleigh-Snipe’s, on the imitation replica Louis XIVth bedside table, and

2. one on the bedroom’s exterior window ledge - feline in origin.

Some time later...

The old biddy is still going on about the ‘villains of this world’. And me?

I’ve moved into ‘smaller premises’ and receive visitors every second Sunday, regular as clockwork. The food’s not too bad, and although pets are not allowed, the neighbours seem very friendly.

R.G.

Text form: Narrative – whodunnit Skill: Retrospective and speculative thinking Lesson bank: pages 58-59


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BLM 14

Variations on Murphy’s Law

Text form: Statement Skill: Social thinking Lesson bank: pages 40–41

If there is a worse

time for something

to go wrong, it

will happen then.

If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something.

Every solution breeds new problems. You never run out of things that can go

wrong.

If your

advance is going well,

you are walking into

an ambush.

Logic is a systematic method of coming to the wrong conclusion with confidence.

If you throw

anything away,

you will need it

the next day.

All’s well that ends.

Nature always sides with the hidden flaw.V V

Smile...

tomorrow will be worse.

r

Whenever you set out to do something, something else must be done first.

Left to themselves, things tend to go from bad to worse.


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Movie Clichés

x Pedestrians in Hollywood have the world’s best reactions and always manage to get out of the way of a speeding car.

x All bombs have different coloured wires, so the hero can easily tell which one to cut.

x Movie people can get taxis instantly, unless in danger, when no taxi can be found.

x Film cars never start the first time when you’re running away from the baddie.

x Whenever anyone takes someone else’s clothes they are always a flawless fit.

x A hacker can get into the most sensitive computer in the world before intermission and guess the secret password in two tries.

x A dying person’s last words will always be coherent and significant.

x If the hero or villain takes an elevator, the villain or hero can beat it by taking the stairs, even if the destination is 20 floors up.

x Everything is blue at night-time.

x The hero always misses the villain leaving the scene by seconds.

x People who hear something weird outside will go outside to look, even if they know there’s a homicidal maniac on the loose.

x When the hero is knocked out, he or she won’t get a concussion or brain damage. People hit on the head will not throw up.

x Eight to ten-year-old kids are the best computer hackers on earth and can break into any system.

x Any lock can be picked with a credit card or a paper clip.

x Medieval peasants always have filthy faces, tangled hair, ragged clothing and perfect white teeth.

x Time will stand still when the hero is in the presence of a company logo.

BLM 15

Text form: Statement Skill: Parodical thinking Lesson bank: pages 42-43


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Shakespearean Insults

[Thou art] a dull and muddy-mettled rascal... (Hamlet)

...your bum is the greatest thing about you, so that, in the beastliest sense, you are Pompey the Great. (Measure for Measure)

Thy sin’s not accidental, but a trade. (Measure for Measure)

Thou subtle, perjur’d, false, disloyal man! (The Two Gentlemen of Verona)

[Thine] breath stinks with eating toasted cheese. (Henry VI)

There’s no more faith in thee than in a stewed prune. (Henry IV)

[Thou] poisonous bunch-back’d toad! (Richard III)

BLM 16

Text form: Statement Skill: Creative thinking Lesson bank: pages 46–47

I J

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BLM 17

headline Puns

Food Puns

Text form: Statement Skill: Comparative thinking Lesson bank: pages 50–51

J

“I love lollies,” said Leanne sweetly.

“I love apples,” said Vince tartly.

“I love hotdogs,” said Michael frankly.

“I love roast lamb,” said Sally sheepishly.

“I love bacon,” squealed Robert.

“I love onions,” cried Bart.

“I love eggs,” chirped Christine.

“I love frog’s legs,” croaked Marissa.

Man struck by lightning faces battery charge

Astronaut takes blame for gas in spacecraft

Kids make nutritious snacks

Chef throws his heart into helping feed needy

Arson suspect is held in fire

Local high school dropouts cut in half

Deaf school opens

doors to hearing

Drive-in bank window blocked by board

Some pieces of Don Bradman sold at auction

Include your children when baking cookies


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Quotes on Laughter

BLM 18

Text form: Statement Skill: Inferential thinking Lesson bank: pages 52–53

Laughter is yummy. Jeni Mawter

Dogs laugh, but they laugh with their tails. What puts man in a higher state of evolution is that he has got his laugh on the right end. Max Eastman

The best blush to use is laughter. It puts

roses in your cheeks and in your soul.

Linda Knight

Laughter is the sense of feeling good all over and showing it in one place.

Josh Billings

I am thankful for laughter

, except

when milk comes out of my nose.

Woody Allen

For me a hearty belly laugh is one of the most beautiful sounds in the world. Bennett Cerf

Earth laughs in flowers. Ralph Waldo Emerson


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?BLM 19

Paradoxical QuestionsWhy is it that when someone tells you that there are billions of stars in the universe, you believe them. But if they tell you there’s wet paint somewhere you have to touch it?

When cheese gets its picture taken, what does it say?

Why isn’t the number 11 pronounced onety-one?

If it’s true that we are here to help others, then what exactly are the others here for?

Ever wonder what the speed of lightning would be if it didn’t zigzag?

If people evolved from monkeys and apes, why do we still have monkeys and apes?

How do they get the kangaroos to cross at that yellow road sign?

What was the best thing before sliced bread?

Why is there a ‘Use by’ date on sour cream?

If you try to fail, and succeed, which have you done?

Text form: Question Skill: Paradoxical thinking Lesson bank: pages 54–55


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First set up line Peter Possum thought he could fly.

Second set up line Peter Possum leapt off the tallest tree.

Punchline Peter Possum R.I.P.

First set up line Barney Grubsworth didn’t like baths.

Second set up line Barney Grubsworth didn’t like showers.

Punchline Barney Grubsworth had no friends.

First set up line Botonga is a country famous for its elephants and apples.

Second set up line Botongan elephants hide from hunters by painting their toenails red and climbing into apple trees.

Punchline The people of Botonga are usually killed picking apples.

First set up line My sister put worms in our brother’s socks.

Second set up line My sister put cockroaches in our brother’s shoes.

Punchline My sister is good at climbing trees.

Text form: Joke Skill: Conceptualising time and space Lesson bank: pages 56–57

Three-part jokes


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Text form: Malapropism Skill: Exploratory thinking Lesson bank: pages 60–61

Mrs MAlAprop’s MAlApropisMs

1. He is the very pineapple of politeness!

2. ...promise to forget this fellow – to illiterate him, I say, quite from your memory.

shAkespeAre’s MAlApropisMs

Sergeant Dogberry in Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing:

3. Comparisons are odorous. [III. V. (18)]

4. Our watch, sir, hath indeed comprehended two auspicious persons. [III. V. (49)]

conteMporArY MAlApropisMs

5. Bach was the most famous composter in the world.

6. The earthquake damage was so bad they had to evaporate the town.

7. Please join me in singing Advance Australia Square.

BLM 211. pineapple = pinnacle; 2. illiterate = obliterate; 3. odorous = odious; 4. comprehended = apprehended, auspicious = suspicious; 5. composter = composer; 6. evaporate = evacuate; 7. square = fair


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Film Snakes and Ladders Ladders1. Agent sees a novel and buys the screen rights from the author.

2. Agent secures finance and commissions a screen play.

3. Agent assembles the actors and director.

4. The vice-president of marketing likes the script.

5. Sets are designed and look magnificent.

6. Executive producer secures film budget.

7. A team of writers come up with the perfect film script.

8. Literary department love film script and give it the nod.

9. Filming runs ahead of schedule.

10. Film runs to budget.

Snakes1. A star falls ill for a month and filming must stop.

2. Stunt double has accident and filming is delayed.

3. Special effects computer breaks down.

4. The star has a bad back and must rest between takes.

5. Wardrobe loses the star’s costume.

6. Production designer falls in hole while scouting for a location.

7. Continuity spots a mistake in wardrobe and scene has to be re-shot.

8. Director dislikes location and demands a new one.

9. Post-production director decides to re-shoot a scene.

10. In the screen test the audience does not like the ending.

Final Square: The film is a hit!

BLM 22

Text form: Game Skill: Flexible thinking Lesson bank: pages 62–63


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40

Lesson Bank

Mini-lessons

Background

As humans evolved and began to form small groups and communities, social thinking was a necessity for survival. Learning to perform tasks together provided reliable food, safety and shelter for less effort and more enjoyment, thus ensuring the continuity of the species. Social thinking is the sort of thinking required in collaborative activities where there are participants and observers. Social thinking requires some sort of collaboration with our peers. We must take turns, we must know when to join in, we must know when to stop.

resources

V BLM 14 Text model: StatementV BLM 23

other useful resources

V www.clubpenguin.com

Social Thinkingtext forMs

V statementV gameV social networkingV photo

eleMents of huMour

V absurdityV witV cynicismV ironyV Murphy’s law

MurphY’s lAW

‘Murphy’s law’ has become a generic term for any statement that is witty and cynical. It works as a social warning system. Murphy’s laws symbolise the error-prone nature of people and processes. Sometimes life presents ironical situations that defy explanation. Murphy’s laws attempt to explain these crazy situations. Ask students if they ever wondered why so many things go wrong all the time?

Give students this example of Murphy’s law:

‘If something can go wrong it will go wrong.’

Ask students to write about one time when they have experienced Murphy’s law. Hand out and read BLM 14. Ask students who would cite Murphy’s laws – a pessimist or an optimist?

Perhaps the best story to illustrate this principle is the legend of the death of King Richard III of England (see BLM 23). To add humour to this scene, ask students to make a list of all the other things that could have possibly gone wrong to make this even more disastrous. For example, when the horse trips

the horseshoe could have bounced up and hit the king in the head, the horse could have landed on the king and squashed him, or instead of being killed in battle the king could have been tried and sentenced to be hung, drawn and quartered.


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Social Thinking

funnY photo scAvenger hunt

A team scavenger hunt can be a wonderful collaborative activity for exploring social thinking. Present students with a list of photos to be taken, or brainstorm the list as a group. For example, students could be asked to take photos of the following:

V an Australian flagV someone standing on their headV a lamingtonV a dirty pair of shoesV someone eating a meat pie with sauceV your teacher having a coffeeV the school mottoV the tallest building in the schoolV a pink calculator

Tell students they must work together to meet the challenge. Have them decide on a list of judging criteria – these could include imagination, originality, humour, and photographic quality. They should also decide on the judging system and how the photos will be ranked, with the team with the highest ranking being the winner.

sociAl netWorking

A social network website is one that provides a virtual community for interested people to ‘hang out’ and communicate together. Members communicate by voice, chat, instant message, picture-sharing, videoconference, wikis and blogs. Usually the service encourages members to invite friends to share the site. In educational circles, the genre of software games created to inspire children to learn via a learning-based private universe is known as a multi-user virtual environment, or MUVE. MUVEs are structured environments with rules for behaviour, yet no set formula for action. Designed to provide problems to solve that

don’t involve slaying monsters, MUVEs require participants to have time to socialise and to solve issues to succeed in that environment.

If possible, direct students to a social networking site such as www.clubpenguin.com. Club Penguin is a social site that provides an appropriate medium for students to share, play, and be online in a collaborative area. Each player chooses a penguin, gives it an identity and explores Club Penguin, interacting with other penguins by chatting, playing games, sending greeting cards, or using emotes (emotion icons) and actions (sit, walk, etc). By helping other participants and playing games, players earn virtual coins that allow them to buy clothing and accessories for their penguin or furniture for their igloo. Students will find humour from the following social activities – being able to dance, wave and throw snowballs at each other.

Ask students to draw themselves as a penguin snowperson and decorate with clothing and accessories. Instruct students to design an ice sculpture that they would like to see at Club Penguin. Go into the playground and have a penguin waddling race! Students must waddle with their heels joined together and their arms by their sides.


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Lesson Bank

Mini-lessons

Background

Parody is a form of satire that imitates another work, usually serious, in order to poke fun at it. Parody exists in literature, music, and film. In ancient Greek literature, a parody was a poem which attempted to satirise another poem. The humour came from imitating the style of the poem in a funny way. Later, songs and musical compositions were imitated in a humorous manner. Parody music emerged, for example, when tunes from one song were mixed with the lyrics of another. A parody film attempts to satirise another

serious film by using its characters, sets, themes, etc. in a humorous manner. Mockumentaries are a modern example. Often, the world is portrayed very seriously and the audience internalises the seriousness. The parody composer or author shows us there are many hues in a situation and allows us to see through the absurdity of our seriousness. Through parody we ‘lighten up’!

resources

V BLM 7 Text model: PoemV BLM 10 Text model: NarrativeV BLM 15 Text model: StatementV BLM 24V BLM 25


V samples of caricatures

text forMs

V caricatureV narrativeV poemV statementV spoof

eleMents of huMour

V incongruity V exaggeration V inversionV satireV imitation V cliché

Parodical Thinking

cAricAtures And cArtoons

Often a cartoonist will create characters with a blend of truth and fiction to form a caricature. One must know the real person in order to savour the wit of the variation. Caricatures, like cartoons, tap into parodical thinking by ridiculing or criticising through exaggeration and inversion. In a cartoon, exaggeration might be shown as a thief stealing the Opera House. Inversion would be a pig with an obsessively clean pen. Distribute BLM 24 which asks students to identify whether the cartoons use exaggeration or inversion for their humour.

In caricatures, the viewer must suspend logic and deal with incongruity to accept the distorted image. When a politician or celebrity is drawn as a caricature the illustration is potentially offensive but frequently funny.

If possible, show students samples of caricatures or ask them to bring examples to class. Ask how we know if a portrait is a caricature or a character study?

Lead students to understand that the key features of caricature are:

V exaggeration (this can be of physical characteristics, movements, or personality)

V simplification of shapes in the drawing V variety in proportions (often the head is

disproportionately larger than the body) V contrasts.

Discuss the controversy that blew up over Australia’s famous portrait competition, The Archibald Prize. If possible, study William Dobell’s 1943 portrait of Joshua Smith. Explain that many argued that the portrait so distorted Smith’s features that it could not be called a portrait, it was a caricature. What do the student’s think? Ask students to identify exaggerations and inversions in the Dobell portrait, or in other examples.


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pArodY prose And poeMs

Parodical thinking uses exaggeration and inversion. To understand parody you need to hold two contradictory ideas in your mind simultaneously, the original and the twisted version of the original. Read the students the short extract below.

Voice on the phone: Is this the principal, please?

Principal: Yes

Voice on the phone: I’m phoning to tell you that Richard Smith is too sick to come to school today.

Principal: ‘And to whom am I speaking?’

Voice on the phone: ‘This is my father.’

Ask students what the author is making fun of (the silliness of the pupil). This is a snippet of an everyday phone-call received by any school. How do students think the twist at the end made the proper improper? Students may point out that Richard’s father is the expected caller. Lead students to identify the two contradictory ideas that they must hold in their mind simultaneously - that the parent would say, ‘This is his father’ yet we hear ‘This is my father.’

Ask students to read the text model on BLM 10. Ask if anyone knows the ‘Banjo’ to whom the narrator is referring in the narrative’s aside? Ask students if they recognise the original that is being parodied in those lines? Explain that the lines are a parody of a famous Australian poem. Then read students the following opening stanza to the poem The Man from Snowy River by A. B. Patterson:

There was movement at the station, for the word had passed around

That the colt from old Regret had got away,

And had joined the wild bush horses - he was worth a thousand pound,

So all the cracks had gathered to the fray.

Ask students if the story is funnier now that they know the original that is being parodied. Explain that parody only works successfully when the original song or rhyme is known. Parodies use the familiar for unfamiliar purposes, making the proper improper, or the solemn ridiculous. In effect, students are holding two contradictory ideas in their mind simultaneously. They will have the original rhyme as well as the contradiction of replacing horses with nits. Tell students to write a parody poem based on the first stanza of the original version of Banjo Paterson’s ‘Waltzing Matilda’. When completed, have students perform their parodies to the class.

Nursery rhymes are fun to parody, and students will have the advantage of being familiar with the original. Distribute BLM 7 and have students recite the parody rhymes and then compare them to their originals. Ask each student to choose their favourite nursery rhyme (or their most hated) and write a parody of it.

Poets can even make a parody about writing poetry. Distribute BLM 25, which contains a parody of instructions on how to write good poetry. Students will use the ‘recipe’ to identify why the poem on the BLM has itself become a parody.

spoofs

A spoof is a comedy that is specifically designed to both mimic and make fun of a story from another genre. The movie Chicken Run (2000), for example, opens with an amusing spoof on The Great Escape (1963) with the heroine Ginger (voice of Julia Sawalha) repeatedly trying to literally fly the coop. Each time she gets caught by Mr. Tweedy, the proprietor, and thrown into a coal bin, the box from The Great Escape. In the box, Ginger then bounces a ball against the wall, imitating Steve McQueen’s ‘Cooler King’ antics. Even the tunnelling is the same.

BLM 15 shows examples of movie clichés that spoofs mimic and make fun of.

Provide students with this typical movie cliché: All movie mothers will prepare a breakfast, usually consisting of scrambled eggs, bacon, etc. Dad and the kids will invariably arrive at the table 30 seconds before they have to leave for work and school. Each will have time only for a sip of coffee/juice and/or one bite of toast.

Now ask students to describe what happens in their own homes!

Tell students they will now create their own spoof print ad. Lead them through the following steps to help them create the ad:

1. Decide on your objective or purpose for your ad, that is, what you want to make fun of.2. Decide who your target audience is and modify the language accordingly.3. Decide on your format: poster, magazine, newspaper, radio, television. 4. Develop your concept: the visual image you want, an emotive headline and the copy of the text. The copy is where you make your case with compelling arguments. Be clear, be precise, be honest and above all, be funny!


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Lesson Bank

Mini-lessons

Background

Imaginative thinking involves exploring future possibilities using existing ideas. In imaginative thinking we create pictures or images in our minds to think of something new. For example, cartoonists create a visual image in their minds of what someone will look like, move like, feel like, and what the background looks like, before they start to draw. We create visual images all the time. For example, we might picture what a radio announcer or a pen pal looks like.

resources

V BLM 8 Text model: PoemV BLM 26


V Selection of humorous comics and cartoonsV Mr Bean (television series)

Imaginative Thinkingtext forMs

V comic V cartoon V poem

eleMents of huMour

V onomatopoeiaV sound effects V comic perspective V exaggeration V surprise

cinquAins

Poems are an example of a text that demands we create visual images or pictures in our minds. Hand out BLM 8 and have students read the humorous cinquains. Have students note the shape of the poems. Cinquains are a syllabic verse form. These short, unrhymed poems consist of twenty-two syllables distributed as 2, 4, 6, 8, 2, in five lines. Lead students to understand the rules for writing a cinquain, using the following table as a reference:

Ask students to write a humorous cinquain. Titles might include: Hunger, Teacher, Dodgems, Measles, or Chicken.

onoMAtopoeiA

Onomatopoeia describes words that imitate sounds. Examples are ‘hiss’, ‘buzz’ and ‘thud’. We hear onomatopoeia and create a visual image in our mind.

How many different ways can students write the sound for laughter? Here are some examples. What visual image do they create?

ha, ha, ha

hah

haw

tee hee

he, he, he

heh

ho, ho, ho

nyuk, nyuk, nyuk

Line 1 Title 2 syllables 1 word

Line 2Description of

the title4 syllables 2 words

Line 3Some action

about the title6 syllables 3 words

Line 4Feeling about the

title8 syllables 4 words

Line 5Synonym (similar

word) for title2 syllables 1 word


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Imaginative ThinkingHave students list six different ways of writing the sound for:

V a snort V a sneeze V snoring

Tell students that in doing that exercise they were using onomatopoeia in a tongue-in-cheek way. What do we mean by tongue-in-cheek? This term means that something is said not seriously. The phrase may have come about from people poking their tongue in one cheek in an attempt to suppress a smile.

What other behaviours can we look at in a tongue-in-cheek way using onomatopoeia? Yawning is one, or hiccuping. What onomatopoeic words can students think of to describe these? Using one pupil to act as narrator ask students to fill in the sound effects (SFX) for the following. The narrator must pause to allow time for the sound effects.

It was nearly lunch time and Min had a rumbly tummy (SFX). It was hot and beside her Arjay was snoring (SFX). Suddenly, Min sneezed (SFX), and the sneeze was so loud it turned into a hiccup (SFX). Arjay woke up with a snort (SFX). Min started to laugh (SFX).

coMics

Imaginative thinking is when you create pictures or images in your mind. Hand out a selection of comics and cartoons for students to study. Explain that a lot of meaning can be shown through images. For example, anger can be shown through facial expressions, thick black lines, lots of shading, body postures and movement. Point out that if there are many frames on one page it may represent lots of action or that the scene is ongoing.

Ask students to study a humorous cartoon. Prompt students to consider the following elements:

V scenes and setting V propsV target audienceV purpose of the textV narrative plan (introduction, rising action, climax,

falling action, resolution)V charactersV actions V funny events V verbal language

V sound effectsV symbols V captions

Have students use BLM 26 to help them plan the images they will use to create a comic. A three-panel comic is a good starting point for students. When planning their cartoon students must decide:

V characters, setting and props.V what is the comic’s purpose? V who is their target audience, i.e. who will enjoy

the comic?

phYsicAl coMedY

One type of performance comedy is known as physical comedy. The body is used to create a visual image that conveys humour by physical actions and facial expression only, for example, falling over, pulling faces or walking into walls. If possible, show students a DVD of Mr Bean, who was played by the rubber-faced Rowan Atkinson. Emotions/attitudes are conveyed through physical actions.

Here is an example of a Mr Bean moment:

1. Mr Bean has just crawled out of bed.

2. He reaches for his toothbrush and toothpaste.

3. Mr Bean accidentally grabs the superglue instead of toothpaste.

4. Mr Bean has his mouth glued shut when there’s a knock on the door. It’s a police officer.

Ask students to act out the scene.

Have students construct a Mr Bean moment of their own. They must:

1. Set up the scene

2. Introduce a complication to make it funny

3. Raise the stakes

4. Raise the stakes again.

Tell students not to worry about resolving or ending the scene. Encourage the braver performers to act out their scenes.


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Lesson Bank

Background

Creative thinking is when you have original and bright ideas to create something new. It involves

playing with ideas in your mind in an innovative and ingeneous way. Students are required to use their imaginations and to be flexible in their thinking so that if something doesn’t work, alternatives can be sought. Creative thinking involves risk-taking and courage as students step into unchartered territories. When students think creatively there is not the security of a ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ answer. This challenges those who like the security of a definitive answer.

resources

BLM 11 Text model: Narrative

BLM 16 Text model: Statement

BLM 27

BLM 28

BLM 29

Creative Thinkingtext forMs

V statementV narrative

eleMents of huMour

V nonsense V silliness V subversion V exaggerationV situations V characters V speechV inversionV cliché

nonsense

Nonsense narrative plays with the reader’s understanding of ‘sense’, then subverts it. Readers must understand the ‘real’ meanings before they ‘get’ the joke. Distribute BLM 11 and read it to students or have them read it aloud. Encourage students to form small groups and discuss this narrative. The narrative combines familiar elements such as the narrative of the Little Red Riding Hood tale with the unfamiliar nonsense word substitutions. How did students react to the narrative? Did they smile when the unfamiliar became recognisable again? By the end of the story were the students comfortable with this new language? Have students write a short narrative using nonsense words of their own creation. Suggest they use a familiar framework such as a fairytale, myth or legend. If necessary, brainstorm ideas as a class before students begin writing.

insults

Ask students what an insult is, for example, a way of being rude to or about someone. Ask students if they think insults can be creative. Tell them that William Shakespeare was a master at fashioning new and cutting insults for his characters to use, even if they didn’t always make sense! Often, they can be viewed as humorous. Read the first insult on BLM 16, and ask students for a modern translation.

Write each of the following insults on small cards. Ask for volunteer students to select one from the ‘pack’. They are to rehearse quietly then hurl their insult at the rest of the class:

‘Thou odiferous ill-nurtured pigeon-egg!’ ‘Thou craven fly-bitten malt-worm!’ ‘Thou impertinent fen-sucked flap-dragon!’ ‘Thou beslubbering brazen-faced skainsmate!’ ‘Thou pribbling hasty-witted bum-bailey!’

Ask students why we laugh, especially as insults often stimulate negative emotions such as anger or embarrassment. This might be because these insults are so over-the-top (there’s at least 3 insults in each short phrase). Also, at least one word looks like complete and utter nonsense to students of today.

Distribute BLM 27 and explain to students that they are now going to play with Shakespearian language and invent imaginative new ways of insulting people.

Mini-Lessons


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clichés

‘Cliché’ applies to almost any situation, subject, character, or object that is familiar or commonplace. ‘Once upon a time’, a fox that is always sly and cunning, or a fruit and vegetable cart that is knocked over in a movie chase scene are all clichés. In BLM 28 students will look at clichéd hero and villain stories. To help students create their own ending, remind them that a cliché can be a character, a situation, dialogue, or a symbol.

Present the example, ‘The dog ate my homework’. Explain that even this cliché can be played with. Thinking creatively we could ask ourselves: Does ‘dog’ refer to an animal or a human? Is homework the same as schoolwork? If the dog didn’t eat the homework, what else could it have done with it? Ask students to compile a list of excuses for not doing their homework.

creAting funnY situAtions

Ask students to write 5–10 unpleasant things that have happened to them. Tell them to circle the ones they can laugh at. Often, students will not be able to find any of them funny. Explain how a humorist can take a surprisingly serious subject and show us the funny side through exaggeration and inversion, for example, a student who ‘freezes’ during exams could be carried out as an icicle. Using exaggeration and inversion, how can we see the funny side of failing an exam, missing the bus or hearing your parents argue?

Tell student that nearly every situation is potentially funny. Have them list five negative and yet funny things that could happen in the following scenarios:

V catching public transportV waiting in a doctor’s surgeryV opening their school report

Divide the class into three groups and allocate one scenario to each group. Allow ten minutes for discussion, and then ask each group to act out their scene.

creAting A quirkY chArActer

It is the characters who create much of the humour in a story. Funny characters may be unusual, strange, obnoxious and extreme. A truly funny character is often a caricature, with exaggerated or oversimplified characteristics that may include: appearance, gait, dreams, failures, family, speech, facial expressions, taste in clothing, hobbies, or favourite sport (e.g., a wrestler who is a butterfly collector).

Have students draw a caricature of themselves. Suggest that they begin by identifying one of their own visual traits (a widow’s peak in their hair, for example). Next, have students select one specific personality trait. Have students think about how these traits can be shown by speech, gestures, and gait. In pairs, have students ‘act out’ the other’s chosen personality traits.

Funny characters are often in conflict. They suffer humiliation, confusion, or worry. Why do we laugh at another’s misfortune? Is it a case of, ‘There but for the grace of God go I?’ Often the funniest characters are those trying not to be funny (a character in a foreign country who mixes up the language), or when someone acts out-of-character (an older woman who starts break-dancing). What other examples can students come up with? Ask them to role play them for the rest of the class.

Tell your students that they are going to create some funny characters with something quirky about them. Have them choose one of the following characters and write a word portrait of them, giving them a ‘quirky’ characteristic or a humorous flaw, (for example, a tightrope walker who is afraid of heights):

V doctor V hypnotist V sailor V judge V farmerV dentist V singer V herpetologist V claustrophobe

Have students share the details of their funny characters. Ask what a play or film would be like if all the characters were like this. Possible answers are: very funny, chaotic, too many funny characters might make each one less funny. As an extension, have students act out their characters in a short play. Then have one student act as their normal self in the midst of the funny characters. What happens?

speAking funnY

Banter between characters often reflects the friendly relationship between them. Banter tends not to be insulting or hurtful. The two people know each other so well they can up the other without missing a beat or disturbing the rhythm. Instruct students to ‘eavesdrop’ into lunchtime or dinnertime conversations. What do people banter about? Do adults banter more than kids or is it the reverse? Is there a difference between the sexes?

BLM 29 looks at many different ways of speaking funny and includes some of the punning students will have heard in banter. The answers to the questions are, 1: euphemism; 2. pun; 3. anecdote; 4. plain talk; 5. double meaning; 6. understatement; 7. aside; 8. joke; 9. substitution; 10. made-up word; 11. taboo language; 12. internal dialogue.


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Lesson Bank

Mini-lessons

Background

Explain to the students that taboo means something that is banned from social custom. In terms of humour there is a fine line between funny and offensive. In order to grasp that a topic is taboo students must engage in judgemental thinking. Students must make decisions about what is socially acceptable and what is considered taboo and make value judgements about when and where to draw the line.

resources

V BLM 9 Text model: PoemV BLM 30


V selection of newspapers, comics and cartoons

Judgemental Thinkingtext forMs

V comicV cartoon V graphic novel V playground chantV poem

eleMents of huMour

V satire V euphemism V taboo V assonanceV white lieV politically correct

language

politicAllY correct lAnguAge

Political correctness is a term used to describe language or behaviour that is meant to provide a minimum of offense, particularly to racial, cultural, or other identity groups. One example is gender-neutral job titles such as chairperson instead of chairman or police officer rather than policeman. The objective was to make people aware of the unconscious biases in language and to choose language that does not discriminate against certain groups. Some people believe you can take political correctness too far. What do we do with woman, person, or human? Comedians and satirists poke fun at political correctness by playing with euphemisms.

Distribute BLM 9, the politically correct version of ‘The Three Blind Mice’, to students. Using judgemental thinking ask them to decide if this is political correctness taken too far? Ask students to read some newspaper articles to identify politically correct terms. Some examples are asylum seekers/refugees, hearing impaired and of the signing community/ deaf and mute, or ethnic cleansing/genocide. BLM 30 also requires students to make

judgements about what are correct or acceptable responses. Introduce the BLM to students by asking how they feel about babies. One judgement often made about babies are that they are ‘good babies’ or ‘bad babies’. What does a baby do to make it good? What does a baby do to make it bad? Have students write a narrative on the topic: ‘Babies who sleep through the night without waking their parents are good babies.’ What texts can students think of which are about a bad baby? (They can be human or animal babies).


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Judgemental ThinkingcoMics, cArtoons And grAphic novels

Different social groups laugh at different things, for example, a joke about homework may make a student crack up but barely raise a smile from a senior citizen. Some people laugh at another’s humiliation, while others cringe. Ask students to form small groups to answer the following. What topics might five year olds find funny? What topics might eight year olds find funny? What topics might adults find funny?

Ask students to make a list of topics that they personally find funny. Ask students if any of the topics on their list are taboo?

In the past comics, cartoons and graphic novels were judged to have little literary merit. How do we decide what is ‘good’ or ‘bad’ literature? Ask students to study some comics, cartoons and graphic novels with a critical eye to reading and understanding, and thus valuing the creative process. By becoming active, critical and engaged readers students are forming a value judgement of their own. Arrange a debate. The topic will be: Comics, cartoons and graphic novels have no literary merit.

plAYground chAnts

Many childish playground chants assume a great degree of maturity and knowledge. The appeal of such taboo language for children is the delicious feeling that they can get away with anything whilst feigning ignorance. Ask students if this old playground chant below is judged to be rude or offensive today? Point out that judgemental thinking is subjective and students will disagree with each other.

Cinderella, dressed in yella

Went upstairs to see her fella,

How many kisses did she get? one...two...

Ask students what poetic device can be heard that adds to the humour in this playground chant (e.g. rhyme, assonance).

Ask students to recite chants they use in the playground. Ask others to identify those that may be judged to be offensive. Select one chant and ask students to re-write it so that it is not offensive. For example, the Cinderella chant could be reworded as follows: ‘How many stairs did she climb? one ... two ...’

White lies or WhAt You cAn’t sAY

Throughout history people have been getting into trouble for saying things that were judged to be wrong. It was taboo for Galileo to say that the Earth moves, for Charles Darwin to talk about natural selection or for scholars to say that the Earth wasn’t flat. Yet now these opinions are no longer considered taboo. In the ‘olden days’ it was considered to be very poor manners if you didn’t formally address someone as Mr, Mrs or Miss. Nowadays, we use titles such as Ms or even no title at all, preferring to use Christian names. Ask your parents and grandparents what would have happened to them if as a child they’d called an adult by their first name? Are there things your students are allowed to say now that they weren’t allowed to say when they were younger? Or are there things they could say when they were younger but they are not allowed to say now?

Ask students to pretend they live in the year 3000 and have travelled back in time to today. What are some things we believe, say or do today that someone from the future might think ridiculous? Please note that as this is a task in judgemental thinking, any answer is right (even if you believe it can’t possibly be so!).

Ask students if any of them ever lie. There will be a smattering of hands. Now ask students who tells white lies? The hand count may change. White lies are open to judgemental thinking. What are some examples of a white lie? (‘I feel fine.’ ‘Your cake was delicious.’ ‘She is a talented singer.’) Ask students for a show of hands as you pose these questions: Are white lies unimportant lies designed to not hurt someone’s feelings? Or are white lies a blatant deviation from the truth? As this involves judgemental thinking, opinions will differ. Ask students to give examples of white lies they have told.

Ask students to pretend they are members of an intelligence agency. In order to gain inside information, they have asked the head of a school to take a ‘lie detector’ test. How would he/she answer the following tongue-in-cheek questions:

‘Is this a crummy school?’

‘How old are you?’

‘If the school was given one million dollars, how should the money be spent?’

Ask students to make a judgement about whether the head was telling the truth, a lie or a white lie.


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Lesson Bank

Background

In comparative thinking we identify similarities and differences amongst two or more things. For example, a plane and a car are different because one flies through the air and one drives on a road. What is similar is that they are both forms of transport. Often the differences are easy to see but the similarity is more obscure. For example, while

an omelette and a tadpole don’t seem to have much in common, the similarity is that that they both started out as eggs.

resources

V BLM 17 Text model: StatementV BLM 31


V Carroll, L., Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Puffin Books, 1994

V Fox, M., Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge, Omnibus Books, 1991

Comparative Thinkingtext forMs

V headline V tongue twisterV statement V picture book V reality TV

eleMents of huMour

V pun V word play V ambiguity V alliteration V oxymoronV contradiction V metaphor

puns

Headlines In word plays or puns we compare same-sounding words but recognise that meanings may differ. Headlines play with comparative thinking, challenging the reader to make connections between similarities and differences. Ask students to identify the two comparisons and work out the two meanings for the following headline:

‘Obesity Study Looks for Larger Test Groups’ (more subjects or bigger subjects).

Ask students to look at the first headline on BLM 17. What are the two meanings? Why would newspapers deliberately pun? Discuss the other headlines with students and have them identify the pun. Have students study a newspaper every day for one week and keep a diary of ambiguous or ‘punning’ headlines.

Food puns In the food pun below, students must identify similarities and differences between word meaning.

‘I love goat’s cheese,’ said Mandy gruffly.

In this example the pun plays with the notion of the Billy Goats Gruff and links it with the idea of food.

Students can find more examples of food puns on the bottom half of BLM 17.

Challenge students to combine the idea of headlines and food puns by coming up with some headlines that involve food puns. For example, a headline saying ‘Avoid the Fruit Punch’ has two connotations.

Punny names Because names are so personal people love to pun with them. Ask students who has seen the animated sitcom The Simpsons. Have students discuss the running joke involving puns. Bart often makes a prank call to Moe’s Tavern, asking for someone with a name such as ‘Amanda Huggankiss,’ or ‘Heywood U. Cuddleme.’ Write the following names on the board. Ask various students to read them out without pausing between the first and surname.

Adam Zapple Phil McAvity

Baxter D. Wall Miss Terri Novel

Constance Noring Lucy Lastik

Eileen Dover Justin Thyme

Flo Tinaway Ivana Veekoff

Have students make up some punny names of their own.

Mini-Lessons


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tongue tWisters

Explain that a tongue twister is a phrase in any language that is designed to be difficult to articulate properly. Tongue twisters rely on similar but distinct phonemes (e.g. s and sh). To understand the humour in tongue twisters students must identify similarities and differences between two things. For example, the phrase ‘she sells’ becomes ‘sea shells’ in the well-known tongue twister ‘She sells sea shells by the seashore.’

Alliteration is the use of words beginning with the same consonant to achieve a poetic effect or for emphasis. It occurs in everyday speech in such phrases as ‘tittle-tattle’, ‘through thick and thin’ and in sayings like ‘look before you leap.’ Poets use it for a particular effect, for example, Coleridge’s ‘Five miles meandering in a mazy motion’ in the poem Kubla Khan where the repetition of the ‘m’ gives a lulling effect. In the tongue twister ‘Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers’ the ‘p’ is repeated in the above tongue twister to give the impression of spluttering or spitting out the supposedly spicy peppers.

Encourage students to recite any tongue twisters they know as fast as they can. What discrepancies do they say in comparison to the target? For example, when repeating ‘red lorry, yellow lorry’, they may end up saying, ‘red lolly, yellow lolly’.

Tongue twisters are a form of word play that relies on making comparisons. What other forms of comparative word play can students think of? (ambiguous words, pun names, rhetorical questions, spoonerisms, oddly formed sentences and puns.) Ask students to use a dictionary and identify which of these two words is another word for ‘pun’:

V osteomalacia V paronomasia

oxYMorons

Tell the students that oxymoron is a Greek term which can be translated literally as ‘sharp-witted absurdity’. Explain that an oxymoron is a figure of speech or phrase that appears contradictory, for example, cruel kindness, sweet sorrow, or deafening silence. Students must identify features of one word then compare how the meaning changes in an oxymoron. For example, silence means there is no noise, but in some contexts, this absence of noise can be so obvious it is deafening. Brainstorm some situations where silence may be deafening.

Have students research the well-known oxymoron speech that begins, ‘Ladies and jellyspoons...’. Discuss what makes this speech so funny. It is probably the comparison between what we expect to hear and what we do hear (which is nonsense). Brainstorm other examples of topsy-turvy language. Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is a wonderful text to find examples of topsy-turvy language. Ask students to write a script of their own version of a Mad Hatter’s tea party. An Australian tendency is to give nicknames that are topsy-turvy. A very large man with the name ‘Tiny’ or a red-haired person called ‘Bluey’. Ask students to think of a nickname for someone who is very small, very young or has white hair. Ask students to share their own nicknames with the class and have students decide whether the nicknames are based on topsy-turvy language.

Reality TV is an oxymoron, the contradiction being that what happens on TV is being filmed and therefore is not real life. Ask students what reality TV shows they watch. Ask them for examples of times where what is happening would never happen if it were not being filmed. Hand out BLM 31 and explain that it requires them to think like a reality TV director. The director will be trying to think of a human interest story with a new angle, something that’s never been shown on TV before. Ask students to list examples in their own lives that would make good reality TV, for example, soccer tryouts.

MetAphor in picture Books

Metaphor is the comparison of one thing to another without using the words ‘like’ or ‘as’, e.g. The road was a ribbon of moonlight. Ask students how a metaphor differs to a simile? A simile is a figure of speech which has two unlike things being compared. A simile does use the words ‘like’ or ‘as’, e.g. My feet feel like blocks of ice.

In the picture book Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge, Mem Fox uses metaphors for memories. A young boy, Wilfrid, is used to interpret other people’s metaphors to help Miss Nancy’s memory return. Students can read Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge and identify the skilfully created metaphors.

Encourage students to create meaningful metaphors of their own. Remind them that the metaphor gives the reader important information that goes beyond the obvious or predictable.


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Lesson Bank

Background

In inferential thinking students will need to make connections between what is stated and what is implied. The discrepancy between the two is a great source of humour. When you say, ‘This has been the most wonderful experience of my life,’

the statement sounds like the experience was positive and pleasurable but if it’s said while pulling a face or even with a deadpan face, the implication is that the experience has been quite horrific. We need to infer or imagine something that is not stated in the words.

resources

V BLM 18 Text model: Statement V BLM 32


V examples of optical illusionsV examples of tessellations by artist M.C. Escher

Inferential Thinkingtext forMs

V quotationV optical illusionV statement

eleMents of huMour

V irony V sarcasm V innuendo V implication V contradiction

fAMous quotes

People are said to have a ‘sense of humour’. The word ‘sense’ implies not just common sense, it also implies the senses that we use. In fact, a quote from an unknown author states: ‘Our five senses are incomplete without the sixth – a sense of humour’. Read out or have students read the quotes about laughter on BLM 18 that make inferences about the senses. Ask students to imagine which of the senses each quote is referring to: sight, taste, touch, smell or hearing. For example, when Victor Hugo said, ‘Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the face’ he was referring to something we can see, a smile or a twinkle in the eye rather than a frown. Jeni Mawter’s quote ‘Laughter is yummy’ refers to the sense of taste. Ask students to describe laughter using one of the other senses.

visuAl perception

Visual perception is the process of becoming aware through the sense of sight. The information about what we perceive is sent to the brain and interpreted based on past experience. Using prior knowledge helps us deal with the overwhelming quantity of information that we face each day. One of the problems with ‘seeing’ is that the brain changes incoming information to fit what you think you already know or believe. If possible, show students examples of optical illusions. Ask students if they can shift their perception to see two separate images? What do they see?

Tessellations are a great way for students to produce their own optical illusions by incorporating geometric designs to form an illusion. Ask students to research the tessellation art of M.C. Escher, a Dutch artist, and then create a tessellation of their own. Note that the illusion can come from the placement of the geometric shape or from the careful positioning of colour.

ironY or sArcAsM

Irony is a form of humour where you say the opposite of what you mean, or the opposite can happen to what is expected, for example, ‘Nice weather!’ when it is raining. Irony involves a contrast or incongruity between what is stated and what is really meant; or between what is expected

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Inferential Thinkingto happen and what actually does happen. Discuss the following example with the students.

You stay up all night studying for a test. When you go to class, you discover the test has been cancelled.

Ask students to think about why someone might stay up all night to study. Possible answers include nervousness about the test, and failure to study at the proper time. Point out that part of the irony is that the test forced the student into doing some study.

What are some examples of irony that students have experienced?

Sarcasm is irony designed to make fun of a person to hurt their feelings. It expresses disapproval in the guise of praise. Model some examples of sarcasm for students, for example, ‘How kind you are!’ said the girl, as her brother gave her the smallest piece of cake. Have each student write a short prose narrative where a character makes sarcastic remarks. They can use one of the following situations or make up their own.

V getting a poor mark in a testV bumping into your teacher when

you’re running down a corridor

‘Ironic’ by Alanis Morisette

Irony is characterised by often poignant difference or incongruity between what is expected and what actually is.

If appropriate to your students, show them the lyrics to Alanis Morisette’s song ‘Ironic’ from her album Jagged Little Pill. Most of the examples in the song are not ironic. For example, when the old man of 98 wins the lottery but dies the next day this is not ironic. By 98 years of age we expect an old man to die. Remember, irony is based on expectations.

Ask students to explain why the following examples from the song are not ironic:

Rain on your wedding day

A traffic jam when you’re late for work

Ask students to identify which of the following situations is more ironic and give reasons why:

V a man afraid of flying is killed on his first plane trip, or

V a man afraid of flying is killed when a plane crashes into his car.

The second example is unexpected, so more ironic.

teAcher speAk

Many groups and professions have their own specialist vocabulary where what is stated is different to what is implied. Teaching has its own clichés and linguistic conventions. Discuss with the class the following examples of possible teacher-speak, and ask what is really going on in each example. Ask students for examples of their own teacher speak to add to the list.

Names used for class control First names are used for praise, e.g. ‘Well done, Susan’. When something more serious is said, the surname is added, e.g., ‘Susan Blake, stop that at once’.

Rhetorical questions ‘Did you hear what I just said?’ ‘Are you listening?’

Meaningless platitudes ‘Enjoys socialising with other students’ (talks too much), ‘Accepts redirection well’ (won’t stay on task).

What other verbal language forms contain hidden meanings? Some examples include ‘politician speak’ or ‘parent speak’. Have students choose a topic and write speeches from different points of view, using different kinds of ‘speak’. Below are some ideas for topics and speakers. With students, brainstorm other ideas that they might choose from.

V a politician making a speech about ‘Our wayward youth’

V a speech by a teacher on ‘Acceptable playground behaviour’

V a speech by a parent on ‘Pocket money is the root of all evil’.

Ask the class what, if any, hidden messages were in the speeches.

Sporting people have to be gracious in defeat. They cannot use words like ‘hopeless’ or ‘no good’ after a loss so they develop ‘sports speak’. Inferential thinking allows us to understand that they have said one thing but mean another. Distribute BLM 32, which is about ‘sports speak’. Have students complete the BLM. Then ask students to think of examples of the way other groups of people speak. For example, ‘doctor speak’ is another beauty. Have students work in pairs or small groups to write a scene from a play using ‘doctor speak’.


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Lesson Bank

Mini-Lessons

Background

In paradoxical thinking students must hold in their mind at the same time two or more contradictory ideas. Contradictory means that the two ideas go against each other. Students must ignore logic and common sense to make connections and draw links between two opposing ideas.

resources

V BLM 19 Text model: QuestionV BLM 33


V Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, Harper Collins Children’s Books, 2001

V Mawter, J.A., So Stinky! Harper Collins Children’s Books, 2005

Paradoxical Thinkingtext forMs

V tragicomedy V cartoon V joke

eleMents of huMour

V paradox V contradictionV cliché V set up V dénouement V juxtapositionV homophone

trAgicoMedY

Tragicomedy requires us to hold in our minds two contradictory ideas. The term ‘tragicomedy’ refers to fictional works that blend aspects of both tragedy and comedy. A tragedy is usually a tale that ends on a note of sadness or despair, whereas a comedy relies on the use of humour. The plot of a tragicomedy tends to be serious, leading to a terrible catastrophe, until an unexpected turn in events leads to a reversal of circumstance, and the story ends happily.

Ask students to find the dictionary meaning of the following:

V seriocomedy V black comedyV dark comedy

A modern tragicomedy in literature is A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket, a series about three orphans who go through many tragic and unfortunate experiences. If any students have read a book from that series, encourage them to discuss why the book might be called a

‘tragicomedy’. If possible, have students to read the short story ‘It Smells to Heaven’ from the book So Stinky! by J.A. Mawter. Ask students to identify where the humour comes from (the story is a parody of a tragedy).

Comedy and tragedy masks are sometimes referred to as theatre masks or drama masks. They have been adopted as the universal symbol for theatre, having originated in ancient Greece, when actors always wore masks on stage. Show students a visual of a comedy and tragedy mask. Have students draw their own comedy and tragedy masks on separate pieces of paper. They should then form small groups and choose one person to be the ‘director’. Ask each group to improvise a scene, e.g. a child is forced to leave their home and go to live with an unknown relative. When the director holds up the tragedy mask, they must play the scene as a tragedy. When the comedy mask is held up they should switch to comedy.


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pArAdox in cArtoons

Paradox involves holding in your mind two or more contradictory ideas. Distribute BLM 19 to students and have them think about the paradoxical questions. Lead a class discussion in which students share their ideas about the questions.

A drawing by Stan Cross that appeared in Smiths Weekly, in 1933 is one of the best known of all Australian cartoons. It depicts a construction worker hanging desperately from a steel girder on a building site. Attached to his feet is a second worker who, in the process of trying to maintain his grip, has pulled the first worker’s trousers down about his ankles. The caption reads, ‘For gorsake stop laughing: this is serious.’ If possible, have students view this cartoon. Ask students what paradox did Stan Cross capture? The paradox is that even when facing death the workers still have a sense of humour.

Comics deal with adventure in a humorous way. Have students design and draw the cover of an adventure comic ‘The Mutiny of Super Girl and Super Boy’. The humour should come from the fact that super heroes aren’t supposed to mutiny! They are meant to save the world. Before they begin, explain to students that they should include the title, the illustration and a caption on the cover.

Jokes

Students love to tell and listen to jokes and riddles. The fascination with jokes comes from our fascination with tricking rituals. Almost every culture boasts a trickster. Ask students to research one of these famous tricksters in mythology: the Native American Coyote, the Polynesian Maui, the Norse Loki, the African Anansi, the African-American Brer Rabbit, or Uzume, the Japanese trickster goddess.

Share the following jokes with students:

Psychiatrist: Mr Green, you seem to be suffering from a split personality.

Mr Green: No, we aren’t.

Q: What do you call a skeleton who won’t get out of bed?

A: Lazybones.

Q: What clothing does a house wear?

A: A dress.

Point out that jokes and riddles do not follow logical sense. It is the complexities of figurative and paradoxical language that make a joke or riddle funny. Distribute BLM 33, and explain the captions

to the cartoons use tricks of language to create unexpected meanings.

Introduce students to the concept of homophones. Homophones are words that are pronounced the same but have different spelling and meaning. Some examples of homonyms are:

humerus (bone)

humorous (funny)

air (stuff that we breathe)

heir (one who will inherit)

ewe (female sheep)

yew (a type of tree)

you (the second person)

Using the list above ask students to use each set of homophones in one sentence. Next, ask students to give definitions for ‘poor’ (x 2), ‘pour’ and ‘paw’. Challenge students to use all four in one sentence!

Note that in some knock-knock jokes there are many different answers that can be given, but with others, answers are predetermined. Give the following example:

Knock, knock

Who’s there?

Little old lady

Little old lady who?

Boy! I didn’t know you could yodel.

Jokes where the punch line is less expected or less obvious are funnier. We don’t expect the yodel at all. Humour relies on the element of surprise so the more unexpected the response the funnier the joke.

Ask students to perform their own knock-knock joke in front of the class. Remind them of the performative criteria for telling a good joke:

V The setup must be adequate. V The successful creation of the paradox so that

alternative interpretations are presented plausibly. V The dénouement where the audience accepts the

juxtaposition of different interpretations.

Ask students to identify which jokes sound funnier than others and explain why.


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Lesson Bank

Background

We can only conceptualise time by comparing it with something else. Time is most easily described by measurement, for example, years for age.

Our ability to perceive change is where our understanding of time begins. The famous comedy routine ‘Who’s On First?’ by Abbot and Costello arises from confusion about conceptualisation of both space and time.

resources

V BLM 20 Text model: Joke V BLM 34 V BLM 35


V selection of comics, cartoons and graphic novels

Conceptualising Time and Space

text forMs

V comicV cartoonV proverbV joke

eleMents of huMour

V confusionV timingV repetitionV punchlineV sequencingV rhetorical question

coMics And cArtoons

Astronomers use parallax to determine the distances to stars. They note a star’s apparent position when the Earth is on one side of the sun, then measure the distance to its apparent position six months later, when the earth is on the other side of the sun. This is called parallax. The more distance between the two points, the closer the star is to Earth. Lead students to experiment with parallax by giving them the following instructions:

1. Have students pick an object that is seven to ten metres in front of them.

2. Have them face this distant object while holding a ruler/pencil/finger pointing up at arms distance in front of them.

3. Instruct students to close their left eye and note where the ruler/pencil/finger stands in front of the distant object.

4. Without moving their body, head, or hand, students should open their right eye and close their left eye.

5. Have students observe how the ruler/pencil/finger has apparently changed positions.

Because comics are laid out in a certain sequence cartoonists are also able to show time and the passing of time as well as movement through space. Distribute various examples of comics, cartoons and graphic novels for students to examine. Ask students to find examples for the different ways the cartoonist has shown time.

These may include:

V the background changing V the size of a panel, e.g. small panels show

time moving quickly, large panels focus on one moment in time.

V sequencing, i.e. not only can time move forward but it can flash back or jump forward

V a clock on the wallV boxed text, e.g. ‘Five Years Later’ ...V a character or prop rapidly moving or the

illustration staying the same from frame to frameV many panels on a page show time passing

quicklyV dialogue, e.g. ‘Give me a minute to catch my

breath.’ or ‘I’m giving you to the count of three. One ... two ... three.’

Ask students for other examples of dialogue that might show time passing.

Next, have students look at how the cartoonist conceptualises space. These may include:

V size of character and background (smaller means something is further away and larger means they are closer)

V placement (low means something is near and high means it is far away; overlapping figures means they are very close)

V perspective (in an aerial perspective a small subject means they are far away and a larger subject means they are closer).

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Hand out BLM 34, which encourages students to conceptualise space. Remind students that they can create and manipulate humorous perspective. Things can appear ridiculously small or large, near or far.

proverBs

Proverbs are used as conceptualisations of time. Discuss the meaning of the following proverb:

Life just gives you time and space; it’s up to you to fill it.

Read the prose narrative below, which represents the proverb, ‘Time will tell.’

This boy was called up to the principal’s office. Someone had flung their sport shoes over the flag pole in the school playground.

‘Did you do that?’ asked the principal.

‘No.’

‘Are you sure?’

‘I didn’t do it. It wasn’t me.’

The principal looked at the afternoon timetable. ‘Time will tell,’ he said.

‘What do you mean?’ asked the boy.

The principal smirked as he said, ‘Sport is after lunch.’

Hand out BLM 35, which asks students to write a funny prose narrative that plays with the concept of time.

punchline deliverY

A crucial part of writing humour lies in timing. Ask students to think about how a verbal joke is presented by a comedian. Firstly, there is the set-up which establishes where the joke is heading. Next, there is a pause that gives the listener time to piece together what’s going on in the set-up. It also clues them that the punchline is coming. After this comes the punchline, followed by a second pause. The second pause allows the listener time to ‘get the joke’ and laugh before the comedian proceeds. Use the following examples to model the process:

Why do ghosts hate rain? (pause) Because it dampens their spirits.

Why did the one-handed man cross the road? (pause) Because he wanted to get to the second-hand shop.

When telling a joke out loud the pause comes naturally. For the writer of prose narratives the challenge is to build in special timing devices to enhance the humour. One simple way of controlling

timing is by using short sentences to build up to the punchline. Short sentences have greater intensity than longer ones. Read the following two pieces out loud to students. Ask students which one builds in tension and which one falls flat?

1. She walked into the room and saw a man in a gorilla suit. His sister had just had a baby and she commented that that made him a monkey’s uncle.

2. This girl walks into a room. She sees a man in a gorilla suit. He says to her, ‘My sister’s just had a baby.’ ‘Really?’ says the girl. ‘That makes you a monkey’s uncle.’

Dialogue can be used to control timing. Dialogue makes something seem more immediate. For example: ‘Hey guys, listen to this!’ is guaranteed to get a reader, listener or viewer’s attention.

Rhetorical questions are another device to draw in the reader/listener/viewer and build tension. Explain that a rhetorical question is one to which you don’t expect an answer. Ask students if they can think of examples of rhetorical questions, e.g. ‘How many times do I have to tell you...’ In longer humorous prose, character’s actions can build the tension. When the writer stops the character from doing something the silence is written in. Even in a serious prose narrative humour is an invaluable tool to break the tension and give the reader some respite.

Share some rules of comedy writing with students. Tell them that repetitions can build suspense, but if repeated more than three times the humour starts to fall flat. Students can experiment with this with a catchphrase or sentence. Have one student use the phrase, and another student call for it to be repeated, by saying ‘Could you repeat that?’ three times. How does the tension build? What happens if the phrase is repeated one more time? Another rule of writing humour is never to have your character laugh at their jokes or react to the comedy you’ve set up. It’s like supplying your own laugh track. Have students watch their favourite sitcom or comedian on television. Do the actors laugh at their own jokes? Do they set up jokes in sets of three? Distribute BLM 20 and have students study the model for a three-part joke. Have students use the jokes as a script and rehearse their delivery, trying to make the jokes as funny as possible. Stage a class ‘joke-off’ to see whose delivery is funniest.


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Lesson Bank

Background

Retrospective thinking means looking back over something that you have previously encountered and re-viewing it in the light of your present knowledge. Speculative thinking means using your present understandings to look ahead and

predict what could occur in the future. This way of thinking is necessary to understand the concepts of metafiction, flashbacks, flash forward, and foreshadowing.

resources

V BLMs 12-13 Text model: Narrative V BLM 36


V Ahlberg, A. and Amstutz, A., Ten in a Bed, Andre. Granada Publishing, 1983

V Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Warner Bros, 2005)–(DVD).

text forMs

V narrativeV metafictionV flashback V flash forward

eleMents of huMour

V foreshadowingV irony V self-reflectionV secret language

MetAfiction

Metafiction can be a form of humorous prose narrative that requires a reader to think retrospectively and speculatively. Metafiction is the kind of fiction which self-consciously addresses the devices of fiction. It is often playful and self-referential, usually involving irony and self-reflection. Metafiction does not let the reader forget they are reading a work of fiction. In a sense, it is poking fun at fiction.

Direct students to read Allan Ahlberg’s Ten in a Bed. This is the story of young Dinah Price who discovers that each night her bed is occupied by a different nursery rhyme or fairytale character. The characters refuse to leave until Dinah tells them a story. In each case, she turns the original story around so the character will not be offended. This story within a story is an excellent introduction to metafiction in children’s books. With this metafiction we need to think retrospectively to recognise that it’s a fairytale. Based on this recognition and knowledge we speculate what the fairytale format of this story will be. The humour comes from the fact that our predictions are wrong.

Ask students to give examples of texts they know that might use the following metafictive devices:

V A novel about a person reading or writing a novel.

V A non-linear novel, which can be read in a different order than just beginning to end.

V Narrative footnotes, which continue the story while commenting on it.

V A novel in which the author is a character. V A story that anticipates the reader’s reaction to

the story. V Characters who express awareness that they are

in a work of fiction.

Hand out BLM 12 and BLM 13 and explain that it is a metafictive piece of writing that ends on a note of irony. Ask students to list the characters whose names draw attention to something about them. Discuss the metafictive device of foreshadowing with students. Foreshadowing is when an author plants clues within the narrative to hint at the possible outcome. Ask students to find as many examples of foreshadowing as they can. Foreshadowing can be found both in the title and the opening paragraph. Thinking retrospectively, we realise it’s a crime story. However, when we think about this format we realise that the author is poking fun at it (by introducing an unnecessary character, the cat).

Ask students to look for any hints that the author is a character, for example identifying that R.G. is Robert Grumble, or noting such comments as ‘frumpy, if you ask me’. It is only retrospective thinking that allows us to make this connection. From this we can speculate what the ‘smaller premises’ refer to (prison).

Have student to look at the fingerprint report. Ask students what information is contained in a

Mini-Lessons

Retrospective and Speculative Thinking


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fingerprint report? Students may speculate that paw prints can’t be in a finger print report. Ask students what is the significance of the crossword? A possible answer is that it draws attention to the fact that this story is a construction of the author and is thus fiction).

storYtelling techniques

The storytelling techniques of flashback, flash forward and foreshadowing rely on retrospective and speculative thinking.

Flashback is a scene or sequence that is inserted into a scene occurring in the present that deals with the past. The flashback is the past tense of the text. Flashback techniques include memories, dreams, stories of the past told by characters, or even authorial sovereignty, for example, the author might simply say, ‘Let’s see what happened on that fateful day ...’ Flashback is useful for exposition, to fill in the reader about a character or place, or about the background to a conflict.

In the comedy film Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), directed by Tim Burton, Willy Wonka’s (Johnny Depp) childhood is revealed by flashbacks. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory also plays with metafiction with references to other movies, for example, in the flashback where Wonka opens his factory, Johnny Depp holds out his giant scissors in a posed fashion, very much in the style of his title character in Edward Scissorhands (1990). If possible, have students watch the film, noting down flashback scenes and any references to other texts that they recognise. Ask students what can trigger a flood of memories? Is it the smell of something? The way you are feeling, for example, angry or humiliated? A noise that sounds familiar?

Ask students to select one scene from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, then have them perform or improvise an incident that may have taken place seconds, minutes, days or even years before that dramatic moment. Remind them that the flashback will enable them to explore a character’s background, motivation and the consequences of their actions. They can also perform a flash forward that depicts that character as a much older person.

secret lAnguAges

Secret languages are used to exclude outsiders. Secret codes are used to exclude enemies from

gaining access to information in war times. Ask students if they ever used a secret language?

When engaging in secret language conversations, students engage in retrospective thinking. It is important to realise that these made-up languages are not arbitrary, they are constructed with careful attention to vocabulary, syntax and pronunciation. Use pig latin as an example. Discuss with students the rules of pig latin and compile a list. The list should include the following information:

V For words that begin with a single consonant take the consonant off the front of the word and add it to the end of the word. Then add ‘ay’ after the consonant.

cup = upcay; dog = ogday; simple = implesayV For words that begin with double or multiple

consonants, take the group of consonants off the front of the word and add them to the end, adding ‘ay’ at the very end of the word.

scream = eamscray; thought = oughtthay; flight = ightflayV For words that begin with a vowel, just add yay

at the end.

am = amyay; in = inyay; under = underyay

Ask students to complete BLM 36 using retrospective and speculative thinking. (Answers: The best thing about speaking in pig latin is that adults don’t understand; I love speaking pig latin with my friends at school.) Have students take it in turns to speak in pig latin. Next, have them attempt sing ‘Jingle Bells’ in pig latin.

Arp is another secret language. In Arp language the extra syllable ‘arp’ is inserted before each syllable of a word. For example: ‘Here I come’ would be ‘Harpere arpi carpome’. Ask students to turn the following phrases into Arp.

‘Look out Dad!’

‘Sing a song.’

‘Run to me.’

Other popular secret languages have involved the insertion of ‘alibi’, or ‘nullabat’ or ‘nash’. Ask students to create their own secret language (BLM 36, question 3). Lead them to think back to what they know about creating secret languages, e.g. letters/syllables are added or moved. They should choose a syllable and decide where it will be added, speculate what their name will look like and then write it down. Have students introduce themselves to the class using their coded name.

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Lesson Bank

Mini-lessons

Background

Exploratory thinking involves playing with (and manipulating) ideas within and through texts to come up with new avenues of thought and feeling. By identifying patterns, designs and structures we use experience and predictions to order or shape our world. If we liberate this thinking and explore possibilities to create new meaning, students can delight in new and original thought. When we investigate we are curious to learn based on what others before us have learnt. We accept and trust their opinions. When we explore, however, we want to form our own opinions.

resources

BLM 21 Text model: Malapropism

BLM 37


V Jennings, P., The Cabbage Patch Fib, Puffin, 1996

V Honey, I Blew Up the Kids, (Walt Disney Pictures, 1992)–(VHS)

V The Land before Time series, (Universal Pictures, 1988)–(VHS)

V Dorothy the Dinosaur from The Wiggles DVDs

MAlApropisMs

Understanding the humour in malapropisms requires a student to let go of logic and to see the humour in speech that is incongruous and doesn’t quite make sense. In 1775 Richard Sheridan wrote a comedy, The Rivals, involving a humorous character called Mrs Malaprop. The self-educated Mrs Malaprop was always substituting a similar-sounding word for the word that she actually intended, often with hilarious consequences. Almost two centuries before Sheriden’s comedy, William Shakespeare had played with malapropisms too. Examples of both are seen on BLM 21. Ask students if they can identify the incorrect word and the target word in the malapropisms.

BLM 21 also gives some examples of contemporary malapropisms that may be heard today. The last example comes from author Jeni Mawter, spoken at a school assembly. Ask students to share their own examples when the wrong word/s ‘just slipped out’.

Hand out BLM 37. In question 1, students can explore how one word has been used incorrectly

in place of another. Have students look at each sentence and rewrite using the correct word.

Divide the class into small groups to write a short one-act play for two to three characters. Choose one character to speak with malapropisms. Ask students to write a short play script titled ‘Mix-Up at the Doctor’s’. Remind students that the words that the actors speak are presented as dialogue. Dialogue in play scripts is written with the name of the character speaking on the left-hand side of the page and the words adjacent to the name. They may need to write the play with the correct speech first before substituting their malapropisms. When they have finished, ask each group to perform their play script for the rest of the class.

Exploratory Thinkingtext forMs

V spoonerismV malapropismV storyboard

eleMents of huMour

V substitutionV the unexpected V word play V pun


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spoonerisMs

Spoonerisms are phrases, sentences, or words in language with swapped sounds. To appreciate the humour in spoonerisms the student will have to explore how the moving of sounds can create new meaning. Usually this happens by accident. The funniest examples are the ones in which both the spoonerism and the original phrase make sense.

Spoonerisms are named after the Reverend W. A. Spooner (1844-1930) reprimanded one student for ‘fighting a liar in the quadrangle’ and another who ‘hissed my mystery lecture’ and was told to ‘leave Oxford by the town drain’. Write the phrases a well-oiled bicycle and a well-boiled icicle on the board. Ask students to explain how the spoonerism was created. Sometimes vowel sounds are transposed. Ask students to explain the target sentence for the spoonerism ‘I fool like a feel’. Ask students to explain why spoonerisms are like a word play or pun.

Have students work through the second half of BLM 37, where they must use exploratory thinking. Students should identify the target word or phrase and compare it/them to the spoken word(s) and then appreciate the new meaning. Declare National Spoonerism Day where students must spend their lunch time speaking in spoonerisms!

dinosAur And BABY exercise

One aspect of exploratory thinking is that of manipulating ideas within and through texts to come up with new avenues of thought and feeling. In this simple exercise, students can manipulate ideas to come up with new concepts.

Ask students to divide a piece of paper in half. On the top of one column ask them to write the word ‘Baby’ and then list down the page as many expected ways to describe a baby, for example, cute, drooling, crying, etc. At the top of the second column they are to write the word ‘Dinosaur’ and then list the expected ways to describe a dinosaur, for example, gigantic, long-necked, green, etc. Explain to the students that situational humour comes from the unexpected. Tell them to pair one word from list two with the word ‘baby’, e.g. gigantic baby, green baby, then share them with the class. Have students repeat the exercise, but this time they should pair words from list one with dinosaur; cute dinosaur, gurgling dinosaur, crying dinosaur. Point out that many films, TV shows and

books are based on this simple exercise. Select any two objects in the classroom and ask students to repeat the exercise to explore new ways of combining things.

storYBoArding

When making a television show or movie, the actors and crew rely on a storyboard. A storyboard is a series of sequenced drawings that provide a breakdown of the narrative of the movie, as it will be put together in the final film. The director creates the storyboard to help everyone involved think about how the film is going to look in terms of manipulating images and ideas. Pictures communicate to the camera crew, art department, producers and actors better than words, and enable those involved to explore the possibilities of their role before the camera is turned on.

In a storyboard, arrows are used to show the direction of the movement in each scene. If the baddie is pulling the hero’s hair the picture will show a hand clutching hair, with an arrow running up the arm showing the hair being pulled back. A zoom in is drawn with arrows from each corner of the frame converging on the spot to be zoomed in on.

Have students storyboard a typical ‘cream-pie-in-the-face’ comedy fight scene. Explain that this exercise is not about how detailed or technically perfect their drawings are. The idea is to help the camera crew, actors, etc. visualise what is coming next. Before students begin, have them think about the elements they want to include in the scene. Explain that they should think about the following questions: Which characters do they want to include? Where will the scene take place? Who starts the fight? How does it end? Remind students to use arrows to show movement. One tip to pass on to students is that humour relies on an element of surprise.


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Lesson Bank

Background

Flexible thinking requires you to hold various possibilities in your mind at the same time so that you can look at things from different angles. Flexible thinking is the ability to create a flow of ideas while

changing direction or correcting information. This can occur spontaneously or as an adaptation to changes in a situation. Flexible thinkers envision a range of consequences, create and seek novel approaches, and have a well-developed sense of humour. When we are open to humour, we change our mindset from a serious, rational and objective view of reality to a more playful and creative one. Instead of seeing one view of things we are willing to turn things around and upside-down to see other perspectives. We are able to see that no matter how serious something seems, there is always another way of looking at it.

resources

BLM 22 Text model: Game

BLM 38

Flexible Thinkingtext forMs

V conundrumV silly question and

answerV game

eleMents of huMour

V paradox V ambiguity V rhyme V punV rhyming slang V perspectiveV originality

possiBle explAnAtions

Introduce the topic of flexible thinking by defining this thinking skill. Explain that thinking flexibly means considering different explanations for an event or a chain of events. Present students with the following two scenarios and ask students to think of possible explanations for each of them.

Scenario 1: You live in the middle of the city. While walking one day, you find a red plastic clown nose.Scenario 2: One day the branches of a tree near your home unexpectedly fill with butterflies.

If students are having trouble thinking of creative explanations, encourage them to try imagining two people debating what happened in the scenario. Tell students to picture the conversation in detail. If they can imagine the two points of view, then they’ve just thought of two explanations! Next, have students create their own mysterious scenario, and then trade with a classmate. They’ll be surprised at the explanations their classmate proposes!

verBAl huMour

Verbal humour is involved in resolving ambiguities, flexible thinking and seeing situations from a different point of view. Have students come up with some creative excuses using the following models. Present students with one possible option, but have them create their own versions.

‘I’m sorry, I can’t come to school today because I have (toemonia!)’

‘I couldn’t do my homework because we had a (time freeze.)’

‘Sorry I was late to school. When I got up this morning, my (medulla oblongata) just felt really funny.’

‘I can’t do PE because my (pants are too tight.)’

‘I really wanted to get my homework done, but my mother said (I need to get more rest at night.)’

‘Please excuse Sam from school yesterday as he (misplaced his school shoes.)’

Have students brainstorm other scenarios where a creative excuse might be needed.

We are used to trying to think of clever answers to clever questions but what happens when the questions are just plain silly? Hand out BLM 38 and tell students they will have to be flexible and inventive in their thinking to come up with some clever answers to some silly questions.

Select two teams for a class debate, with the topic: ‘It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation.’ (Herman Melville). Some questions for students to consider are, What do we mean by originality? What is imitation? What does originality have that imitation does not? What does imitation have that originality does not?

Mini-Lessons


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Flexible ThinkingcockneY rhYMing slAng

Tell students that the Cockney rhyming slang that some people use in the UK is one way of playing with words. Read the following passage to students and see if they can work out the meaning. Students will have to think flexibly to come up with their answers.

One night I sat down at the Cain and Abel (table) to eat my Michael Winner (dinner). I grabbed the Duke of York (fork) and had a Captain Cook (look) for the Army and Navy (gravy) to pour over the knobbly knees (peas) but all I could find was the dead horse (sauce). Next, I grabbed an Alexander the Great (plate), some Uncle Fred (bread), Stammer and Stutter (butter) and some stand at ease (cheese).

Australia has its own rhyming slang. Ask students to explain what the following words represent:

V tin lids (kids) V dog’s eye (pie) V Joe Blake (snake) V bag of fruit (suit) V sticky beak (peek).

What other examples can students think of?

conundruMs

A conundrum is a puzzling question. More broadly, it is any problem where the answer is very complex, and possibly unsolvable without deep investigation. A mystery or paradox can often be phrased as a conundrum.

Tell students that they are going to try to solve some situation puzzles. A mysterious situation will be presented to the class. Students must then try to find out what’s going on by asking further questions. Explain that the person who presents the situation can only answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to questions (or occasionally ‘irrelevant’). Pose the following conundrums to your students.

Conundrum 1: A carrot, a pile of pebbles, and a pipe are lying together in the middle of a field. What happened?

Sample student questions: Is it a metal pipe? Is it a large pile of pebbles? Is the field cultivated?

Solution: They are the remains of a melted snowman.

Conundrum 2: A man is alone on an island with no food and no water, yet he does not fear for his life.

Why?

Sample student questions: Is the man alive? Is the man crazy? Is the island a resort?

Solution: The island is a traffic island.

Have students work in pairs or small groups to brainstorm conundrums they know and then present them to the class.

filM proBleM solving

When a big film is produced there are lots of pitfalls, problems and prizes. Sometimes films are winners and make their production company a lot of money. Sometimes the public stays away and the company loses a lot of money. Film producers have to be flexible in their thinking in order to try to keep their budget to a minimum. Ask students what items would be on the producer’s budget list? BLM 22 shows some of the many complexities a producer might face. Prior to handing out BLM 22, teachers can randomly select a scenario from the list and ask students to identify whether each example is a budget win (ladder) or a budget loss (snake).

Have students imagine they are involved in the making of a film with a small budget. They must think flexibly to come up with solutions on how to keep costs down. Students should decide on the movie’s genre, and come up with a title. They should then think about the following areas of expenditure and some possible cheap solutions (some suggestions are listed below):

Sound EffectsV horse’s hooves (coconuts) V amputating a leg (a saw cutting

through a cabbage)V a cricket bat hitting a ball (a pencil

hitting a wooden table)

PropsV gore (shredded apple core) V blood (red food dye, tomato sauce)

AdvertisingV promoting a movie (posters, phone a

radio station and go on air, broadcast announcements in shopping centres)

Students could then design a poster for their movie. Tell them to decide if they are going to star in or produce the movie, and include their by-line accordingly!


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Murphy’s LawBLM 23

Skill: Social thinking Lesson Bank: pages 40–41

William Shakespeare’s King Richard III; Act V; Scene 4:

In an epic battle to decide who was going to rule England, King Richard III faced the forces of Henry, Duke of Richmond. King Richard wanted his horse prepared for battle, but the blacksmith ran out of nails for the last horseshoe.

Impatiently, Richard’s guard asked the blacksmith, “Will the shoe hold?” The blacksmith replied, “I can’t be sure. It’s missing one nail.”

“It will have to do,” said the guard.

He left and handed the king the horse.

The two forces soon clashed on the battlefield. King Richard was fighting alongside his men when he noticed some of them were retreating. The king galloped forth to steady them when the missing nail caused havoc.

The horseshoe came off, the horse tripped, and the king fell. The horse fled in fright. As Henry’s men closed in around him, Richard cried out, “A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!”

But it was too late. His army fled, and he was killed.

Is it possible to avert Murphy’s Law? List five ways the King and his men could have guarded against Murphy’s law.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.


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Look at the cartoons. Decide whether the illustrator has used exaggeration or inversion. Write which method has been used and explain how it has been used.

Draw your own cartoon using exaggeration or inversion. Say which one you used and how you used it.

Visual Gags

Skill: Parodical thinking Lesson Bank: pages 42–43

BLM 24


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BLM 25

Recipe for a Really Bad PoemIngredients

hackneyed expressions

abstract words

superfluous abstract adjectives

forced rhyme

Method

1. Do not use original language. Avoid coming up with stark images. Do not write something fresh, innovative, and evocative. Use hackneyed expressions such as ‘pitch black’, ‘buckets of tears’, ‘golden sun’, ‘as cold as ice’, ‘pretty as a picture’ etc.

2. Heavily weight the poem with abstract words such as ‘heart’, ‘love’, ‘sorrow’, ‘despair’ and ‘destiny’. Aim for zero concrete images if you want a particularly bad poem.

3. Describe something by using superfluous abstract adjectives, e.g. ‘The sky is blue’; ‘Sugar is sweet,’ ‘His eyes were beautiful.’ Never use figurative language or descriptive imagery to show the reader a slice of life.

4. Have very forced rhyme. If you have to rearrange the structure of a sentence just to make the rhyme fit, do it! For example: ‘The horse charged down the straight/ to go a-prancing through the gate’

5. Don’t worry about punctuation, grammar, or spelling - these only help the reader to understand what the poem means.

6. Make the objects of the poem plural. Globalise your subject and blur the imagery for lack of impact. ‘Plants are ...’; ‘People laugh ...’ ‘Birds fly ...’

Skill: Parodical thinking Lesson Bank: pages 42–43

Circle the things that make this a really bad poem!

Love is a puppy’s wet nose

and is as pretty as a rose

love makes me feel good

as it should

love makes my heart burst with joy

it ’s better than playing with a toy.

Now follow the recipe to write a really bad poem of your own.

All You Need to Teach: Critical Thinking, Humour and Text Ages 10+ © Jeni Mawter/Macmillan Education AustraliaISBN 978 1 4202 0485 8

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Plan A Three-Frame Comic Strip

Focus on an important scene or scenes for your comic.

Plan your basic story structure on a separate piece of paper. Use the following headings:

Frame 1 Problem

Frame 2 Development/conflict

Frame 3 Resolution

Now draw your three-frame comic strip.

Skill: Imaginative thinking Lesson Bank: pages 44–45

Select from each of the following:

Prop

magic wand, blow-up ball, ladder, frog, one gumboot

Setting

castle, spaceship, mountaintop, underwater,

dentist surgery, airport, locker room, playground, beach,

kitchen, tennis court

Character

surfer, alien, witch, dinosaur, hobo, tomcat, shearer, mad professor, furious person, tourist

Situation

an accident, being told off, confronting someone or something, hiding, learning to ride a bike, a wedding, getting

caught doing something, riding the ferris wheel, finding money, being in a sinking boat

BLM 26


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William Shakespeare Insult Kit beslubbering beef-witted barnacle bootless beetle-headed bladder clouted clay-brained bum-bailey fawning earth-vexing dewberry frothy flirt-gill gleeking flap-mouthed foot-licker goatish fly-bitten fustilarian jarring guts-griping lumpish hasty-witted horn-beast mammering hedge-born hugger-mugger paunchy lout pribbling ill-nurtured maggot-pie puking knotty-pated malt-worm roguish pottle-deep moldwarp loutish pox-marked mumble-news spongy rude-growing surly rump-fed unmuzzled sheep-biting vain spur-galled ratsbane weedy unchin-snouted whey-face

Choose a word from each column to create some Shakespearean insults, for example, ‘You pribbling, flap-mouthed hugger-mugger!’

Write your insults into a short dialogue between two people. Be as creative as you can.

Skill: Creative thinking Lesson Bank: pages 46–47


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Story ClichésRead this introduction to a ‘hero and villain’ story and underline every cliché. Then create the ending to the story using every cliché you can think of.

Jake runs into the room seconds after the villain has left the scene. He sighs. He’s been on the go for 72 hours now without food and drink. Luckily he’s not tired and his head is clear. He looks down at his bare torso, then wipes the trickle of blood from his lip with the back of his hand. Fortunately, the lip isn’t swollen or split.

He thinks of Ben and shakes his head. Forty-two years as a cop and gunned down three days before retirement! A muscle twitches in Jake’s cheek. He’d been with Ben before he took his last breath.

“Tell my wife and kids I love them,” Ben had gasped.

“Who did this to you?” demanded Jake but Ben died before he could say. Jake’s finger tightens on the trigger of his gun as he swears to take revenge. But first he must get to Elena...


BLM 28


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Speaking FunnyChoose a type of humorous speech from the box below and write it next to the appropriate example.

1. The goldfish passed away and went to the great goldfish bowl in the sky.

2. “You look deadly.” (To a corpse)

3. This man was eating a pie when this woman walked past with a small dog. “Can I toss him a bit?” asked the man. “Sure,” said the woman. So he picked up the dog and threw it up in the air.

4. I believe you need some breath freshener.

5. With friends like you, who needs enemies?

6. “I did pretty good in my science test.” “What did you get?” “Ninety-nine percent.”

7. “I love eating roast pork (but only every leap year).”

8. Q: What has a bottom at the top? A: A leg.

9. Last night I cooked the dog and walked the dinner.

10. Chocolate cake is scrum-didd-ly-dum-ump-tious.

11. His pants fell down and he did the bum version of a bellydance.

12. “Hi, Jake.” (You slippery sucker, you.)


pun double meaning made-up word understatement

joke plain talk internal dialogue aside

anecdote taboo language substitution euphemism


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1. Answer the following questions about the poem.

The older brother/sister has assumed all babies are soft and sweet? True/False

Screamy is a real word? True/False

The older brother/sister is implying this baby does not look human? True/False?

2. In our society it is considered taboo to insult someone’s new baby. Should this poem be considered taboo? Why or why not?

3. Write a politically correct poem about a baby. Draft your ideas here. Then write the poem on a separate piece of paper.

Meeting Our Baby

Skill: Judgemental thinking Lesson Bank: pages 48–49

by Jeni Mawter

Little baby, soft and sweet Looking like . . . . . . a pickled beet!Eyes al l scrunchedMouth al l screamyHead so baldNose al l streamyOnly Mum could love that faceYou sure it ’s from the human race?

BLM 30


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Oxymoron TVBLM 31

Skill: Comparative thinking Lesson Bank: pages 50–51

You are a television director with a new Reality TV concept.

Write your concept here. Try to think of something that has not been done before.

Pretend you are at a Film and Television Funding meeting and that you have to pitch your concept to the potential financial backers. Explain in three short sentences why people will like your concept.

Which shows already on TV are your competitors?

What type of people will feature in your Reality TV show?

Who is your target audience?

Create a website name for your show.


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Sports Speak

Skill: Inferential thinking Lesson Bank: pages 52–53

1. Read the following quotes. They are all after sporting defeats. Under each quote, explain the inference. For example:

“The results were a bit surprising.”

Inference: The results were a huge shock.

“We paid the penalty.”

“Maybe it won’t show up in the statistics, but he was the man tonight.”

“We wouldn’t be in the position we’re in tonight if it wasn’t for our captain.”

“A good captain knows it’s a team effort.”

“There’ll be two buses leaving the hotel for the park tomorrow,” announced the sports manager after the game. “The two o’clock bus will be for those who need a little extra work. The empty bus will leave at five o’clock.”

2. Now write a quote of your own.

Inference:

BLM 32


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Cartoon CaptionsBLM 33

My nose is running. I think I’ve got ticks.

Look at the cartoons above. They give new meaning to two everyday phrases.

In the space below, draw a cartoon that shows a more literal meaning for one of the following everyday phrases or clichés. Caption your cartoon with the phrase you chose.

Skill: Paradoxical thinking Lesson Bank: pages 54–55

piggy bank rat race play dirty

play it by ear raining cats and dogs pretty as a picture

roll their eyes rocks in your head read my lips

pay through the nose pull the wool over your eyes right as rain


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Toys in the BedroomIn each frame, draw a picture using a different method to show space. Set each drawing in a bedroom and use either dinosaurs or teddy bears as characters.

Skill: Conceptualising time and space Lesson Bank: pages 56–57

Contrast of size (smaller means further away and larger means closer)

Placement (low means near and high means far)

Overlapping (means very close)

Aerial perspective (small subject means far away and larger subject means closer)

Let’s say that the teddy bears or dinosaurs are anthropomorphic. That means they can assume the characteristics of a person. On one of your pictures, draw thought balloons or speech balloons, then write some words that could show time passing.

BLM 34


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Proverbs1. Read the following proverb and briefly explain what it means.

Don’t say anything unless you can improve the silence.

2. In writing about humour we could use the following saying: Timing is all.

What does this mean?

3. Choose a proverb from the list below and write a brief prose narrative that highlights what it means. Try to use humour in your prose narrative.

Time flies when you’re having fun.There is a place and time for everything.Time is money.Time and tide wait for no man.History repeats itself.This morning knows not this evening’s happenings.What greater crime than loss of time?Time works wonders.Now is now, and then was then.Time is a great healer.

Skill: Conceptualising time and space Lesson Bank: pages 56–57


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Pig Latin

1. Decode these two examples:

Ethay estbay ingthay aboutyay eakingspay inyay igpay atinlay isyay atthay adultsyay on’tday understandyay.

Iyay ovelay eakingspay igpay atinlay ithway ymay iendsfray atyay oolschay.

2. Now, write the following message in pig latin.

Meet you in the playground at lunchtime.

3. Make up a secret language of your own and write a message to your friend. Don’t forget to write the rules for your code.

Skill: Retrospective and speculative thinking Lesson Bank: pages 58–59

BLM 36


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Malapropisms and SpoonerismsBLM 37

Skill: Exploratory thinking Lesson Bank: pages 60–61

1. Rewrite each malapropism using the correct word.

Flying saucers are just an optical conclusion.

Their father was some kind of civil serpent.

A pigment of your imagination.

The largest dinosaur that ever lived was the bronchitis.

Let me ask a point-blunt question.

We’ve got to put on our thinking heads.

2. Swap the sounds around to write spoonerisms.

For example: ‘You’ve wasted two terms’ becomes ‘You’ve tasted two worms.’

Cosy little nook

A crushing blow.

Blow your nose.

Go take a shower.

Pack of lies.

Pouring with rain.

Save the whales.

Bad money.

Jelly beans.

My lips are zipped.


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Clever Answers to Sil ly Questions

Skill: Flexible thinking Lesson Bank: pages 62–63

Write some clever answers to the following questions. The first one has been done for you.

Scene: You meet an old friend at the movies.

Question: “Hey, what are you doing here?”

Answer 1: “Well, it’s so hot, so I thought I’d watch some advertisements in the cool comfort of the theatre.”

Answer 2: “Couldn’t find a taxi.”

Answer 3: “Testing my night vision.”

Scene: Someone is crying in the school playground.

Stupid Question: “Are you all right?”

Answer 1:

Answer 2:

Answer 3:

Scene: You get woken up at midnight on a school night by a phone call.

Stupid Question: “Sorry, were you sleeping?”

Answer 1:

Answer 2:

Answer 3:

Scene: You meet a friend as you come out of the hairdresser’s. Your hair is much shorter.

Stupid Question: “Hey! Have you had a haircut?”

Answer 1:

Answer 2:

Answer 3:

BLM 38


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Critical Thinking humour And TEXT

AGES10+

Jeni Mawter

All the tools a smart teacher needs!

All you need to teach . . . Critical Thinking, Humour and Text contains essential

information, lists, text models, lesson banks and more to support you as you

guide your students to think critically using humorous texts.

Teaching Tips — including information on twelve critical thinking skills,

the elements of humour, and teaching critical thinking, humour and text.

Assessment Rubrics — lists of levelled criteria to help

you assess students’ progress in the twelve critical thinking skills.

Text Models — original texts in different forms, so you

have everything you need to teach critical thinking today.

Lesson Banks — a bank of lesson ideas to dip

into for each of the twelve critical thinking skills.

Worksheets — covering all twelve critical thinking skills.

About the AuthorJeni Mawter is a

best-selling children’s

author. She is also a

popular teacher of

creative writing at

workshops and school

visits—for both adults

and children.

Also available:All you need to teach . . . Critical Thinking, Humour and Text 5-8

All you need to teach . . . Critical Thinking, Humour and Text 8-10

criticalthinkinghumour And TEXT

CR

ITIC

AL

thin

kin

gOther titles in this series:All you need to teach . . . Drama

All you need to teach . . . Problem Solving

All you need to teach . . . Nonfiction Text Types

10+ Cover Think -Reprint.indd 1 21/02/12 3:13 PM

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All You Need to Teach: Critical Thinking Ages 10+

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Transcript of All You Need to Teach: Critical Thinking Ages 10+