Stranded Without a Teacher

Title: Stranded Without a Teacher

Type: Post reading activity

Materials: A notebook and pen, recording device if possible, chalk/white board, cover for directions, and the students will need their texts.

Grades: 9-12 (in this example I will use 10)

Timeframe- Two classes, one for the activity, one for the debriefing.

The following activity is a modified version of something all English 10 Honors classes tried at my high school, York Community HS, after finishing reading Lord of the Flies. I have made the modifications.

Rational: This is a fun way to engage with a text that gives students the power in the classroom. It also, by design, forces them to investigate their strengths and weaknesses as a group, and engage in decision making and problem solving strategies as a collective. Also, it is a risk as an activity, which makes it exciting for students who are normally not engaged with English literature/ underachieving students. This activity also pushes the students deeper into the reading, in the follow up discussion to the initial activity, by asking them to examine why characters make the decisions they did in the novel.

Procedure: Before the students arrive in class, write on the board:

"After receiving a giant grant from the Department of Education, Ms. Witham was able to pay for our class to take a field trip to the island described in Lord of the Flies. Unfortunately, the plane had no landing gear and the plan crashed into the ocean. All the adults, including your beloved Ms. Witham, perished. Only you, Ms. Witham's English 10, class survived. Take the next 45 minutes to meet as a class and figure out how you will structure yourselves to survive. Perhaps this involves electing a leader, assigning jobs, assigning crews to devise ways to escape, resolving conflicts, figuring out how to survive together, etc. Perhaps someone rebels because they are unhappy with leadership. Determine what structure is most conducive to your success as an individual, and as a group. Everyone should have a job. Use L of the Flies as a tool to help you determine what will be advantageous, or disastrous. You may not ask me for help, as I am dead... although I will be taking notes, recording the conversation, and inexplicably grading you on your participation from beyond the grave."

Before the students enter, the teacher should cover the scenario instructions with a poster or over head screen. As the students enter class, the teacher should try not to say to say anything and wait for the bell. Once the bell rings, the teacher should close the door, unveil the instructions, and sit back in her seat. After the students have read the instructions and gotten the initial excitement about running class out of their system, there will probably be a period of time where there is a tentativeness to begin. Be patient. Once the students realize you are serious, they will begin to speak up. Begin taking notes and recording the discussion on some device if possible. Only interrupt if the student get completely off task or out of hand. If this is a major concern with this class, perhaps this is not an appropriate activity for them, or maybe the teacher could assign someone (in secret) in advance who will keep the conversation on track. It has been my experience that students actually get really into this activity. Five minutes before the bell to end class rings, the teacher will stand up from the desk and end the activity with something like, "Rescue planes have just spotted you on the island and have come to take you back home." For the last five minutes of class, have a brief journal session for them to write down elements of the activity that frustrated them and elements they thought went well.

The next class session should be dedicated to discussing the activity. The teacher should pull moments from the notes or recording that are particularly interesting. Perhaps the essential questions for this class period could be, "How did the class do as a unit in comparison to the characters in Lord of the Flies? What made it different for us? What if this had been real? Would that change the game?"

Golding, William. (1954) Lord of the Flies. New York, NY: Perigee
Publishing.