Humour is Serious Stuff: Welcome to the World of Randy Glasbergen

Hanna Kryszewska

Hanna Kryszewska is teacher, teacher trainer, trainer of trainers. She is co-author of resource books : Learner Based Teaching, OUP, Towards Teaching, Heinemann, The Syamdby Book, CUP, Language Activities for Teenagers, CUP and a course book series for seccondary schools: ForMat, Macmillan. She is also co-author of a video based teacher training course: Observing English Lessons. She is based in Poland at the University of Gdansk, Poland. Hania is a Pilgrims trainer and editor of HLT Magazine.
E-mail: hania.kryszewska@pilgrims.co.uk

Cartoon: Do I get partial credit for simply having the courage to get out of bed and face the world again today?”

A good cartoon is a good start to a lesson; it can also be a break, a filler or an excellent illustration of a point during a lecture. Humour has much to offer, helps us to see everyday or common situations in new light, teaches us about culture and language and last but not least relaxes.

A good cartoon website is a treasure.
So welcome to the world of Randy Glasbergen.

I was introduced to the website by my to Polish colleagues Marta Rosinska and Greg Spiewak. The website is : www.glasbergen.com. Thank you for the times of fun and laughter you have shared with me.

When you visit the site you see cartoons arranged according to topics. Naturally my favourite is the section called Educational cartoons. But how do you use a website without breaking the copyright?

Let’s use on-line activities in class or as homework in which our students not only improve their English but also their IT skills.

Activity 1

Ask the students to visit the Educational section of the cartoon website.
Find 3 cartoons about :
- types of teachers
- parents and children talk about school
- IT technology at school
Check in class.

Activity 2

Dictate a caption to your students
Ask the students to visit the Educational section, or any other you have chosen the cartoon from.
Ask them to find the whole cartoon.
Check in class.

Activity 3

Choose a cartoon.
Tell the students which section it comes from.
Describe the cartoon to the students.
Ask the students to draw their own version/s in their copybooks.
Ask them to find the cartoon and the caption.
Check in class.

Activity 4

Ask each student to find a cartoon they like.
Ask them to memorize the caption.
In class working in pairs they describe the cartoon and dictate the caption.
Display the results on the board
Compare with the originals on thewebsite.

Activity 5

Dictate a few key words from the caption.
Students try to predict the theme and the illustration.
Students look for the original cartoon on the web.
If you do the activity in class, you can turn it into a race

Cartoon: Aren’t there enough pdoblems in the world already?

Editorial: Randy Glasbergen has given us permission to use two of his cartoons in HLT free of charge.

Please check the Fun, Laughter and Learning course at Pilgrims website.
Please check the Creative Methodology for the Classroom course at Pilgrims website.