Notes for teachers These resources were developed by computer scientists at the University of Aberdeen,

as part of a public engagement grant provided by the EPSRC.

The resources are available for use without charge for educational purposes.

They are designed for use with children aged 9-13, to assist in understanding language (especially homonyms and homophones) and ICT.

Slides 2-27 are intended to be delivered by an adult as a presentation to children.

Slides 28 – 33 should be printed off as worksheets for the children. Print them off double-sided, so that the hints are on the back of each work sheet.

If you have any questions or comments about these materials, do get in touch! Our email address is jokingcomputer@abdn.ac.uk

The Joking Computer

What is it?

It is a computer that makes up jokes.

It uses:

Dictionary1. A very large dictionary

2. Some recipes for making jokes

Joke Recipes

What sort of jokes?

Riddles : question and answer

What do you call a puppy that is wet?

A soggy doggy!

Why create a Joking Computer?

Some children have trouble with speaking- e.g. if they have a disability such as cerebral palsy

The Joking Computer helps children like this to explore language…

…and to make up jokes of their own.

Why create a Joking Computer?

Computers don’t normally understand jokes.

We are trying to teach the Joking Computer what is funny, so that it can behave a bit like a real person.

This is called Artificial Intelligence.

????

Can you think like a computer?

You can use our recipes to make funny jokes too !

Here’s an example….

Joke recipe 1

What do

you call a

?

A !

means roughly

the same as

Copy

Choose 2 words that sound the same

An adjective (describing word)

A noun (naming word)

means roughly

the same as

Copy

Joke recipe 1

What do

you call a

?

A !

means roughly

the same as

Copy

Choose 2 words that sound the same

An adjective (describing word)

A noun (naming word)

means roughly

the same as

Copy

Joke recipe 1

What do

you call a

?

A !

means roughly

the same as

Copy

Choose 2 words that sound the same

An adjective (describing word)

A noun (naming word)

means roughly

the same as

Copy

bearbare

Joke recipe 1

What do

you call a

?

A !

means roughly

the same as

Copy

Choose 2 words that sound the same

An adjective (describing word)

A noun (naming word)

means roughly

the same as

Copy

bare bear

Joke recipe 1

What do

you call a

?

A !

means roughly

the same as

Copy

Choose 2 words that sound the same

An adjective (describing word)

A noun (naming word)

means roughly

the same as

Copy

bare bear

Joke recipe 1

What do

you call a

?

A !

means roughly

the same as

Copy

Choose 2 words that sound the same

An adjective (describing word)

A noun (naming word)

means roughly

the same as

Copy

bare bear

naked

Joke recipe 1

What do

you call a

?

A !

means roughly

the same as

Copy

Choose 2 words that sound the same

An adjective (describing word)

A noun (naming word)

means roughly

the same as

Copy

bare bear

naked

Joke recipe 1

What do

you call a

?

A !

means roughly

the same as

Copy

Choose 2 words that sound the same

An adjective (describing word)

A noun (naming word)

means roughly

the same as

Copy

bare bear

naked

teddy

Joke recipe 1

What do

you call a

?

A !

means roughly

the same as

Copy

Choose 2 words that sound the same

An adjective (describing word)

A noun (naming word)

means roughly

the same as

Copy

bare bear

naked

teddyThis is my joke question

Joke recipe 1

What do

you call a

?

A !

means roughly

the same as

Copy

Choose 2 words that sound the same

An adjective (describing word)

A noun (naming word)

means roughly

the same as

Copy

bare bear

naked

teddy

Joke recipe 1

What do

you call a

?

A !

means roughly

the same as

Copy

Choose 2 words that sound the same

An adjective (describing word)

A noun (naming word)

means roughly

the same as

Copy

bare bear

naked

teddy

bare

Joke recipe 1

What do

you call a

?

A !

means roughly

the same as

Copy

Choose 2 words that sound the same

An adjective (describing word)

A noun (naming word)

means roughly

the same as

Copy

bare bear

naked

teddy

bare

Joke recipe 1

What do

you call a

?

A !

means roughly

the same as

Copy

Choose 2 words that sound the same

An adjective (describing word)

A noun (naming word)

means roughly

the same as

Copy

bare bear

naked

teddy

bear

bare

bare

Joke recipe 1

What do

you call a

?

A !

means roughly

the same as

Copy

Choose 2 words that sound the same

An adjective (describing word)

A noun (naming word)

means roughly

the same as

Copy

bare bear

naked

teddy

bearbareThis is my joke answer

Joke recipe 1

So here’s my great gag….

What do you call a naked teddy?

A bare bear!

Now make your own jokes

Fill in a Joke Recipe worksheet step-by-step•Work with a friend or by yourself

There are 3 different recipes to try

Make up as many jokes as you like!

If you get stuck…

There is an example on the left of each Joke Recipe worksheet.

There are examples of words to use on the back of each joke recipe.

Try using a Thesaurus to find words that mean the same as each other.

Want to find out more?

Website http://www.abdn.ac.uk/jokingcomputer/

Contact us by emailjokingcomputer@abdn.ac.uk

WHAT DO YOU CALL A DINOSAUR THAT KNOWS

LOTS OF WORDS?

A THESAURUS!

And finally…

Joke Recipe 1

An adjective (describing word)

A noun (naming word)

What do

you call awitty rabbit ?

A funny bunny !

means roughly

the same as

What do

you call a?

A !

means roughly

the same as

Choose 2 words that sound the same

My jokeYour joke

An adjective (describing word)

A noun (naming word)

Copy Copy

means roughly

the same as

means roughly

the same as

Copy Copy

Choose 2 words that sound the same

funny bunny

Your name

Joke Recipe 1: Some words you can use

yummy / mummy

mad / dad

round / hound

drunk / skunk

lather / father

loose / moose

airy / fairy

runny / honey

limp / shrimp

smelly / telly

The authors give permission for these worksheets to be reproduced for educational purposes.

End of Word2

Joke Recipe 2

A hair oplane !

means roughly

the same as

My jokeYour joke

means roughly

the same as

Copy Word1 Copy end of Word2

Choose 2 words. Word1 should sound like the start of Word2.

What do you get

when you

cross afur jet ?with

a

Start of Word2

aer oplane

Word1

hair

End of Word2

A !

means roughly

the same as

means roughly

the same as

Copy Word1 Copy end of Word2

Choose 2 words. Word1 should sound like the start of Word2.

What do you get when you cross a

?with a

Start of Word2Word1

-

-

Your name

Joke Recipe 2: Some words you can use

smelly / elephant

juice / goosebump

trick / ticket

ham / handbag

moose / museum

van / vampire

fang / fantastic

eye / ice-cream

sock / chocolate

mum / marmalade

harm / homework

The authors give permission for these worksheets to be reproduced for educational purposes.

End of Word2

Joke Recipe 3

A !

is a kind of

My jokeYour joke

Copy Word1 Copy end of Word2

Choose 2 words. Word1 should sound like the start of Word2.

What do you call an

animal

noise

?that is a

Start of Word2

ba nana

Word1

baa

fruit

is a kind of

baa - nana

End of Word2

is a kind of

Choose 2 words. Word1 should sound like the start of Word2.

What do you

call a ?that is a

Start of Word2Word1

is a kind of

A !

Copy Word1 Copy end of Word2

-Your name

Joke Recipe 3: Some words you can use

jelly / elephant

wine / dinosaur

bat / catapult

horse / hospital

moo / movie

sock / chocolate

mum / marmalade

boy / toilet

jelly / helicopter

The authors give permission for these worksheets to be reproduced for educational purposes.