Sophia

 

Bruce

 

 The saying was made popular by Robert Ripley, who wrote/drew a comic strip mentioning many weird, almost unbelievable things people did or had. The strip (and Ripley himself) are long gone, but the company lives on. I loved reading the books when I was a little girl, and I still enjoy them today. I have also been to a couple of the "Odditoriums" (museums of freakish things) that the Ripley company shows; the only one in Europe is in Copenhagen which is a far way from Albania. Look at www.ripley.com for more information about the company, books, and attractions.

 

So find bizarre facts; they don �t have to be from Ripley. The Cracked website, www.cracked.com is another good place to look for odd facts, but the language is often very offensive. In fact the Cracked site just today had articles on "20 Mindblowing Then vs. Now Comparisons," carefully compiled and Photoshopped by the readers�but true�and "5 Insane �What If � Scenarios That Almost Changed Everything." The first article is a gold mine for work on the comparative, and all the pictures are safe for school. The second is excellent for the conditionals. The topics are a little USA-heavy and the language needs to be cleaned up for school, but well worth the read with nice historical tie-ins. And that �s just for January 7, 2013! The archives have many other strange facts, and the site is free.  

 

Maybe you know or have some strange things yourself. Make a list of 10 "facts"; 7 are true and 3 are lies; see if your students can tell the difference. Encourage your students to look for strange facts and cite sources properly. There �s really a lot you can do with this. I encourage you not to give up too easily.