Dictionaries/Sears Catalogs

One of the things to promote thinking outside the box, is to have students brainstorm different ways to use a common item. I think alot when I'm driving, so I picked the topic dictionaries. My question would be, what are all the uses for a dictionary you can think of. (Maybe that will be a blog question). I figured most students will say the usual, to find words, to find definitions, pronunciations, etc. Then I would direct them in a different direction, and ask, well, what about as a doorstop? a step? a chair cushion for a toddler, etc. (How many things can you think of?)

Then I made a connection that made me laugh (I told you I was very entertaining). Remember outhouses and sears catalogs? Other than boys looking at women in bras and panties, what else was the catalog used for? Why? Because it had a lot of pages and I'm not sure that toilet paper was as common as it is now. So you could use the dictionary for the same purpose right? If you had an OED you'd probably never need toilet paper in your life!

The slogan? Read it and wipe!

Violence

What is the purpose of a gun? To me, it serves no purpose other than to kill. The argument I get with that statement is, "what if a man with a gun was threatening your family?"
that is the effect of the cause. maybe if no one had guns (cause), not even the army, all killing (effect) of both humans and animals would have to be done in other ways. There is no other tool on earth, i think, whose only purpose is to kill.

Presents

I've always tried to think of creative ways to celebrate major events in my children's life. Their 10th birthday was their decade birthday, and the cake I bought for them said so. Then, when my son turned 18, we taped together one hundred and eighty one dollar bills, stuffed them into a kleenex box and wrapped it. When he opened it, the bills just kept coming!