A paradox (not two surgeons!) is a contradictory statement. Listen for examples of word paradoxes and write them down. Share them with friends via email, and maybe they’ll return the favor by sending some to you. Here’s a couple more to get you started: Jumbo Shrimp and Civil War. Get it? Oxymorons are paradoxical statements as well. While you’re hunting these down, can you see why English may not be the easiest language for foreign people to learn?
I happen to love Tom Swifties and Sarah Swifties, mostly because the pun comes at the very end of the joke, so the unsuspecting tester of your joke is left with an odd look on his or her face (until he/she gets it). Swifties are sentences in which adverbs (most often) relate to a word or phrase both properly and in a pun, as in the following:
For more fun with Swifties, see chapter 4 of WordPlay Café. Enjoy!
Of the original 12 Amendments to the Constitution proposed by Congress, only 10 were ratified. One of them later became the 27th Amendment. It says that if Congress votes itself a raise, the raise cannot take effect until after the next election. This gives the people a chance to show if they approve of the raise or not. (From Kids Discover Constitution)
How fast is a glacier? It depends on a lot of things… the temperature at the time, the thickness, the slope, or if the glacier is late for dinner. Oh, wait… Click the image for a larger version. (From Kids Discover Glaciers.)
Spring is here, for most parts of the country anyway, and if you’ve not yet seen an abundance of butterflies, you soon will. These magnificent creatures are on the hunt for food to sustain them through their long flight, but the reason they dodge and swerve and loopdy-loo so much may surprise you. It’s actually a defense mechanism to guard against being eaten by birds. So if you spot a dizzy Robin some sunny afternoon, you may want to look around for a (live) Monarch.
With the surplus on cable television of severe weather and its chasers, tornadoes have assumed an almost celebrity-like status. It would not surprise me to learn that they will soon be given names, though the large numbers of tornadoes would deem that effort problematic. In 2011 there were 1,897 funnels reported in the U.S., with 550 fatalities. Tornadoes are dangerous and unpredictable, and though we joke incessantly (here in Kansas) that sirens sound in time for us to grab our cameras and run outside, these storms are not to be taken lightly. April and May are prime months for these monsters, so be on your toes and take shelter sooner than later.
So, how curious are your students? If you pose a question to them, can they (will they) try to one-up you? If so, don’t take offense. Rather see it as a teaching/learning opportunity. Send that student on a lone assignment and ask him or her to report their findings to the rest of the class, which you will find creates a bit of competition in the process. Teach. Learn. Enjoy!
I found this and co-opted it, but it still makes perfect sense.
In 2011 I was asked by Music Theatre of Wichita to once again design and prepare a small run Kidsbill for their production of Disney’s The Little Mermaid. MTWichita arranges one performance each year for disadvantaged kids in the Wichita and Sedgwick County area, and offers the printed piece as a guide to the show as well as an activity builder. If you’d like to see the booklet in it’s entirety, a downloadable PDF version can be found here. Enjoy!
A few years ago, I assembled several visual puns which were converted into e-greeting cards for amazon.com. This one wasn’t actually #14. I just liked the sound of it. Enjoy!
