Three guys walk into a bar

The main goals of this ESL lesson plan are to:

• – Acquire comedic writing vocabulary including terms like “archetypes,” “incongruity,” and “punchline” while exploring different types of humor such as self-deprecating and topical comedy in this C2 lesson.
• – Watch instructional videos about making writing funnier, complete comprehension activities, and practice identifying punchlines in various jokes.
• – Create original comedic content by reading tips for developing strong comedic characters, following joke-writing guidelines, and participating in discussions about humor techniques.

In this C2 lesson plan, the student will learn vocabulary related to comedic writing and practice writing jokes.

Warm-up

In the warm-up activity, the student makes a mind map by coming up with words associated with the word cheese.

Video: How to make your writing funnier

Before watching the video, the student learns new vocabulary related to humor through a matching activity (archetypes, incongruity, punchline, etc.). Then, they watch the video How to make your writing funnier that explains the process of writing jokes. They mark the statements based on the video true or false. This is followed by comprehension activities to check the student’s understanding of the video.

Reading: Types of humor

The student reads and learns about types of humor (self-deprecating, topical, highbrow, etc.). Then, they answer reading comprehension questions. 

To check their understanding of punchline, the student reads jokes and underlines the punchline in each of them.

Reading: Tips for creating strong comedic characters

The student reads five tips for creating strong comedic characters. Next, they learn the basics of comedic writing and practice writing a joke of their own by following the guidelines.

The lesson ends with a wrap-up discussion.