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Use this activity to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

“Debate: Time Travel Quandary”

In this activity, students will learn to create criteria for decision-making and then debate whether Jonah, Katherine, and Chip should travel to the future or the past.

Imagine that when trapped in the cave, Jonah, Katherine, and Chip can get their cell phones working long enough to call you for advice about whether they should go to the future or the past.

As a class, develop the 3-5 most important criteria for the two debate teams to analyze in their argument, using the bullet points below as a guide:

• Problem: What decision must be made?
• Alternatives: What are the choices? What are the pros and cons of each choice?
• Criteria: What are the most important things to consider when making this decision?

Then, split into two debate groups: Team Future and Team Past. Each group will be responsible for creating a recommendation for Jonah, Katherine, and Chip that includes the following:

• Analysis: Provide an analysis of the criteria from your side of the argument. For example, if “safety” is a criterion, Team Future will analyze safety from the position that they should go to the future.
• Decision: Propose your team’s solution to the problem based on your analysis of the criteria. Why is it the best option?
• Implementation: Describe the key steps that should be taken to implement your solution.

Each team will present their solutions and then debate which of them Jonah, Katherine, and Chip should choose.

Teaching Suggestion: This activity uses Harvard University’s PACARDI framework for analyzing and making decisions. Rereading key scenes together could help the discussion stay grounded in the text. Some students might need examples of how to list facts that fit a specific criterion. This activity can be a springboard for an essay or a creative writing assignment. Students might rewrite the end of the novel, incorporating their ideas.

Differentiation Suggestion: For students who would benefit from an additional challenge, this can be an opportunity to focus on argument strategies while debating. Students could study ethos, pathos, logos, repetition, rhetorical questions, and other persuasive techniques and include them in their presentations/discussions. An additional reflection could involve asking students to explain techniques they noticed their peers using and how effective they were.