April Fool’s Day in the Classroom: 8 Resources for Teachers
April Fool’s Day was one of my favorite holidays as a fourth-grader, and I still remember it today. The class was given a reading comprehension worksheet, and we were all taken aback within minutes of receiving it. The story and questions were written in total nonsense, and no one could understand them. Our teacher, on the other hand, played along with the joke. Our time limit was 30 minutes, and the task was going to be worth a significant number of points if we completed it.
I don’t recall how long the joke went on, but I do recall that we were all staring at each other with our mouths agape, wondering whether the assignment was serious. “April Fool’s!” exclaimed our teacher after we’d all flung our hands in the air in response to the joke.
A light-hearted prank on your friends, family, and coworkers is the perfect way to celebrate April Fool’s Day. If you’re a teacher, pulling an unexpected quick one on your pupils may be both fun and memorable for everybody involved. If you’re looking for ideas for April Fool’s Day pranks or want to include a humorous lesson in your classroom, here are some of our favorite resources and teaching ideas for the holiday. In addition, we’ve included some more general resources for using comedy to reach children in the future. First and foremost, take a look at this great prank that was executed last year:
Do you have any more suggestions for pranks in the classroom? What resources do you plan on using to include April Fool’s Day into your curriculum?
- Foolproof Classroom Laughter on April Fool’s Day: Here’s What You Need to Know: A recent piece on the Scholastic Teacher website by author and educator Allie Magnuson examines the significance and benefits of using laughter in the classroom. It’s a terrific read for educators who have been hesitant to utilize comedy in their classrooms, and it provides some basic strategies for getting children laughing while also teaching them something valuable.
- Primary Sources from the Library of Congress on April Fool’s Day: Library of Congress (LOC) primary sources can be used in classes, and this April Fool’s Day-themed page includes a variety of interesting historical documents to get you in the mood for the holiday. Take a look at the LOC’s April 1: On This Day in History and
- April Fools’ Day interactive timelines, which are also available online.
The Museum of Hoaxes is a collection of hoaxes that have been collected over time. This is a fantastic resource to share with students because it is so entertaining. (And many thanks to Julie Winterbottom for making this information available to us.) The Museum of Hoaxes contains some interactive and intriguing April Fool’s Day timelines, as well as a gallery of hoaxes and other entertaining materials for students. “The Top 100 April Fool’s Day Hoaxes of All Time” is a compendium that can be particularly interesting for students to peruse over.
This is a quick look at some of the intriguing knowledge associated with April Fool’s Day from CNN, which is excellent for sharing with kids in a classroom setting. Plus, if you’re curious about the history of April Fools’ Day, check out Time magazine’s article “No Joke: We Have No Idea How April Fools’ Day Started.” - A MiddleWeb Resource Roundup on Using Humor in the Classroom: Using comedy in middle school classrooms can be challenging, but this MiddleWeb site provides a plethora of ideas and suggestions. There are also links to pertinent papers, such as “Comedy as an Instruction Defibrillator,” which provides excellent insights into the forms of humor that can be used in the classroom and are included. In addition, there are links to publications and other resources that will teach you how to use humor in a variety of situations and situations.
- Pinterest has a plethora of resources for April Fool’s Day teachers: There are so many Pinterest boards for teachers dedicated to April Fool’s Day that it would be hard to post them all here. However, there are a few favorites for teachers, including the activities list from WeAreTeachers, Rachel Friedrich’s board, PediaStaff’s handy pins, and Deb Chitwood’s excellent compendium of resources.
- The Top 20 April Fool’s Day Jokes for Teachers include The Squarehead Teachers blog compiled this list of amusing, light-hearted April Fools’ Day pranks for teachers, which you may read here. The majority of these pranks need little preparation and will help you catch your students off guard. For some last-minute ideas, be sure to check out their piece, “(No Prep) April Fool’s Day Pranks,” which contains some great suggestions.
Foolproof April Fool’s Day Lesson Activities that are both entertaining and educational: This post from BusyTeacher.com contains some excellent ideas for celebrating April Fool’s Day in the ESL classroom. Read on for more. Even though these ideas are geared for ESL students, they apply to any classroom.
TIPS, STRATEGIES, AND RESOURCES FOR USING HUMOR TO ENGAGE STUDENTS
The data is unequivocal when it comes to the use of comedy in the classroom: humor is a highly engaging strategy. However, for educators, infusing a little levity into lessons can be a difficult endeavor. What is the best place to start? What sorts of humor are the most effective in a business setting? And what is the most effective way to bring humor into lessons? Here are a few articles that offer suggestions, methods, and strategies for involving students in humorous activities.
- The Association of Applied and Therapeutic Humor (AATH) provides the following resources on humor in education: The AATH’s library of humor materials has a wealth of useful information and will inspire you to incorporate comedy into a variety of various issues and situations. They have a section devoted to “Comedy and
- Education,” where you can discover articles that cover a wide range of themes relating to humor in the classroom, as well as a big list of books on the subject.
Using Humor in the Classroom: Some Pointers: Check out this wonderful post from the National Education - Association, which highlights some of the most effective techniques for incorporating comedy into your courses and lessons plans. In addition to a few classroom examples, there is a brief video Q&A with comedy experts and a teacher who also happens to be a stand-up comic.
- Using Comedy in the Classroom: A Lesson Plan This resource, created by The Learning Network of the New York Times, is intended for teachers who want to inject a sense of levity into their class plans. There are some fantastic ideas for teaching the history of humor, making and presenting spoof newscasts in the style of The Daily Show, and examining political cartoons, among other things. This collection contains resources that are relevant to instructors at every grade level.