Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids made its first debut on September 9, 1972; the first of over ninety episodes. Its popularity and fame continues, despite the fact that it is no longer aired on television. I chose to research the show not just because of its humorous content, but because it is a very useful tool for the classroom. Since I was not able to include a section in my paper about the cartoons general humorous, I will devote this page to that and not its educational purposes. I will include, though, a list of annotated useful books that could help a teacher incorporate humor in the classroom, to enhance the learning experiences for the students.
The show contained a numerous amount of running jab lines with variations, but utilizing the same basic verbal structure. The jokes were insults always directed at whoever seemed to be letting the gang down at that particular time. Here is a list of those running jab lines.
Russell: "Fat Albert, they oughta call you broken clock."Incidentally, these jokes contain a lot of word play. I elaborate on the specific types in my paper.
Berry, Gordon, L. and Kernan, Claudia M. Television and the Socialization of the Minority Child. New York: Academic Press, 1982.
This book does not really offer suggestions on how to use humor in the classroom, but it does contain articles that directly talk about the cartoon and the results obtained from various researches done on the show.
Cornett, Claudia E. Learning Through Laughter: Humor in the Classroom. Bloomington: Phi Delta Kappa Educational Foundation, 1986.
In this thirty page miniature booklet, Cornett gives a thorough analysis of humor as it pertains to the classroom by discussing issues such as why use humor, how to develop a sense of humor, the educational benefits of humor, and actual humorous activities that could be facilitated in the classroom. This book is very useful to the field in general because every grade level could incorporate her philosophies and activities in the classroom.
Hill, Deborah J. School Days, Fun Days: Creative Ways to Teach Humor Skills in the Classroom. Springfield: Charles C. Thomas Publishing, 1993.
Once again, here is a book that could be used for all educational levels. Hill does a fantastic job of defining, illustrating, and providing useful activities/an examples, of the many different facets of humor. She talks about the development of a sense of humor (from birth to adulthood), the psychology and physiology of humor, the anatomy of jokes, computer fun, environmental fun, and much more. Minus the scholarly jargon, Hill does a fine job analyzing humor and spelling it out for all to know and understand. I strongly recommend this book for those educators interested in fostering humor in the classroom.