Funny Literacy: The Certified Laughter Reader Literacy Program
Using Humor to Help Kids Enjoy Reading
“Almost all children love funny books, it's what helps hook them into the reading habit.”
~ Michael Rosen, U.K. Children’s Laureate
Learning, Humor, Laughter, and Health
• Human emotions, such as anxiety, depression, fear, joy, and laughter, profoundly impact psychological
and physiological processes. These emotions form a set of basic, evolved functions that are shared by
all humans.
• Health care providers and educators may take advantage of powerful emotions to improve health and
enhance learning.
• In the classroom, laughter promotes genuine learning, discovering, and creativity by motivating students
to engage with new and puzzling events.
• Humor also develops a more constructive relationship with students and encourages positive feelings about
teaching and learning.
• Humor can initiate social interchanges and conversations with difficult students and inspire them to respond
in a positive way both socially and academically.
• By creating a positive emotional and social connection, humor may lower defenses and establish rapport,
and students may be better able to focus and attend to the information being presented.
(B.M. Savage et al, Advances in Physiology Education. 2017 Sep 1;41(3):341-347. doi: 10.1152/advan.00030.2017.)
CERTIFIED LAUGHTER READER ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Don Baird
Psychology & Humor Literature
Paul McGhee, PhD
Psychologist, Researcher & Author
Mary Kay Morrison
Humor & Education
Mary Mullen
Beth Park, PA, Library
Dr. Joel Schwartz
Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
Wendy Shepherd
Children’s Literacy Expert,
Strategic Advisor
Everything that has to do with children, including this project, must have room to grow. The purpose of this project is to encourage children to read by introducing them to the naturally attractive phenomena of humor and laughter. Children can grow in significant ways through opportunities to explore their own humor, laughter, and mirth. These topics bring variety and freshness to the classroom and the school culture, promoting eager interest, emotional resilience and self-confidence. The FUNNY LITERACY project capitalizes on the observation that effective teaching techniques must be balanced with humanity and spirit in the form of “a radical performance indicator, namely, laughter.”
Goals:
To provide incentives for kids to love reading by having them complete activities based on reading humorous
books; to encourage kids to embrace their own sense of humor and laughter; to promote positive expressions
of humor.
To promote laughter and humor as a feel-good factor when reading, by encouraging reading together and to
discover the pleasure of funny books in families, schools and libraries. This in turn will reinforce the message
that reading together promotes family well-being, and that embracing one’s sense of humor promotes
personal well-being.
To draw attention to funny books as readable and enjoyable books. We hope that the FUNNY LITERACY
project will enable these books to gain a profile that makes them more credible and accessible to children
and young people. The FUNNY LITERACY Project will work to achieve this through a range of activities
supported by libraries, teachers and parents.
Kids who complete a prescribed reading activity, e.g., 1 hour per week of funny books, in fifteen minute intervals, during April, plus a follow-up-activity, e.g., tell a joke, write a poem, or draw a picture, will receive the designation of Certified Laughter Reader. Qualification requirements will be decided locally.
Studies by neuroscientists and psychologists have shown that laughter increases the release of endorphins — those awesome chemicals in the brain that make us feel good. But laughter isn't just about feeling good because we find something to be funny. Laughter actually boosts the immune system, lowers blood pressure, reduces tension and can improve cognition.
Reading funny books together is always a great way to spend productive time together, but who would have guessed how many benefits laughter can really bring to our lives? No time like the present to get started.
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Learning, Humor, Laughter, and Health
• Human emotions, such as anxiety, depression, fear, joy, and
laughter, profoundly impact psychological and physiological
processes. These emotions form a set of basic, evolved
functions that are shared by all humans.
• Health care providers and educators may take advantage of
powerful emotions to improve health and enhance learning.
• In the classroom, laughter promotes genuine learning,
discovering, and creativity by motivating students to engage
with new and puzzling events.
• Humor also develops a more constructive relationship with
students and encourages positive feelings about teaching
and learning.
• Humor can initiate social interchanges and conversations with
difficult students and inspire them to respond in a positive way
both socially and academically.
• By creating a positive emotional and social connection, humor
may lower defenses and establish rapport, and students may
be better able to focus and attend to the information being
presented.
(B.M. Savage et al, Advances in Physiology Education.
2017 Sep 1;41(3):341-347. doi: 10.1152/advan.00030.2017.)
Learning, Humor, Laughter, and Health
• Human emotions, such as anxiety, depression, fear, joy, and laughter, profoundly impact psychological and physiological processes. These emotions form a set of basic, evolved functions that are shared by all humans.
• Health care providers and educators may take advantage of powerful emotions to improve health and enhance learning.
• In the classroom, laughter promotes genuine learning, discovering, and creativity by motivating students to engage with new and puzzling events.
• Humor also develops a more constructive relationship with students and encourages positive feelings about teaching and learning.
• Humor can initiate social interchanges and conversations with difficult students and inspire them to respond in a positive way both socially and academically.
• By creating a positive emotional and social connection, humor may lower defenses and establish rapport, and students may be better able to focus and attend to the information being presented.
(B.M. Savage et al, Advances in Physiology Education. 2017 Sep 1;41(3):341-347. doi: 10.1152/advan.00030.2017.)
Goals:
To provide incentives for kids to love
reading by having them complete
activities based on reading humorous
books; to encourage kids to embrace
their own sense of humor and laughter;
to promote positive expressions of humor.
To promote laughter and humor as a
feel-good factor when reading, by
encouraging reading together and to
discover the pleasure of funny books in
families, schools and libraries. This in
turn will reinforce the message that
reading together promotes family well-
being, and that embracing one’s sense of
humor promotes personal well-being.
To draw attention to funny books as
readable and enjoyable books. We hope
that the FUNNY LITERACY project will
enable these books to gain a profile that
makes them more credible and accessible
to children and young people. The FUNNY
LITERACY Project will work to achieve this
through a range of activities supported by
libraries, teachers and parents.