“Why did you laugh?”

This is Jake’s new favorite phrase. Whenever we watch a show like SpongeBob, or The Simpsons, he asks over and over again, “What are you laughing at, guys?” as if to find out the nature of funny. I think this is a good sign, since he’s trying to gain an understanding of humor. It’s also good for us to be able to explain why certain things are funny, whether it’s sight gags or wordplay. That’s the kind of inferencing skills that kids need these days.

I remember when I used to hold parent-teacher conferences with those students who struggle with comprehension. One of the strategies I’d suggest was to look at the comics in the newspaper, and have their child explain the joke to their parents. If kids can ‘read between the lines’ and see the humor in comics, TV shows, movies, etc. the better they’ll be able to use critical thinking skills in other areas.

Speaking of comics, here’s two really good resources for viewing comic strips:

• Cartoonists Group lets users search by keyword
• Go Comics lets you save your favorite cartoons into custom ‘collections’

Here’s one of my favorites