Mary Bevilacqua  to AP 
 show details  8:26 am (6 hours ago)  

Brenda,
   First, I have students define what makes a good leader; then I give them
two scenarios: choosing the best student to go to the principal and complain
about an unfair new rule; then, choosing  a student who won't leave until
the principal listens.  These are almost always two different students!  I
also learn so much about the makeup of an AP class; many are leaders, as
compared to very few in a "regular" class. Next, I have students discuss the
qualities of the students they picked as a leader, and last, I award the
leader with the conch.

 After this, I share Maslow's "Hierarchy of Human Needs, "  and we examine
how we can achieve self-actualization.  Finally, I present them with another
scenario, one in which I leave the classroom and don't return.  I ask them
how long  they would wait before they began exploring to find where I'd
gone...  then I tell them they would discover that all adults had left
campus and that only students remained with no way to escape and primitive
ways to try to communicate.  We discuss what would ensue, and it always
shocks me to learn that they give the school (3,000 kids) very little time
to become vicious, even deadly!  This, coupled with a re-reading of the
expulsion from the garden, gives them many ways to approach the novel.  Hope
this helped.



                               Mary 
