Nation

Activities by Subject for students reading //Nation// together.


 * 1) Creating diagrams in science
 * Students will create diagrams based on the novel //Nation// by Terry Pratchett. These diagrams shall include an understanding of the island Nation as described in the book.
 * Based on student's levels, they will focus on either the water cycle of islands, the geography is volcanic created islands, or the ecosystem of a small island.
 * Students will discuss how characters in the book use the scientific method to test their theories of the world and long held native beliefs.
 * Students will also incorporate into their discussions how this scientific line of questioning has changed or reinforced each characters' sense of self, sense of place in the world, and how their new understanding of each belief changes the character and their interactions in the world
 * 1) Character development in language arts
 * //Nation// has a rich text that lends itself easily to any language arts class, from author's literary devices, to rich character development, and realistic events portrayed in an unlikely setting. One or two activities can easily be fit into any language arts course using //Nation//.
 * Students will begin by creating character maps of each character's main viewpoints and cultural constraints of the two main characters. They will then write essays comparing and contrasting one of the main character's character development from the beginning of the book to the end, following how the character's main beliefs and concepts about the world. Examples of these would be savages vs. trouser people, Christian attitudes vs. the Nation's gods, gender roles in upper English society vs. the Nation's, etc.
 * 1) Social studies activities by grade level
 * General disbursement of resources discussion (6th or 7th grades) – Students will analyze how Mau and the Nation assigns value to the resources in their environment. How do they talk about valuable resources? How do they relate to the differences in their tools and resources and those of the English ship and the trouser people? How do they make sense out of a culture that would create so many tools, and treat them poorly (in Mau's opinion)? Describe how the people of Nation feel when compared to the trouser people. Students should do some concept mapping, then create ways of presenting the data in a finished format.
 * Religion (7th grade) – Students will design their own island religion. They must take into consideration how the people will “see” the god or gods on their island and in their world, what kinds of rituals the gods will demand, and how will the people relate to their gods. Students will need to do some research on different island or nature based religions, and show how their research affected their choices for their created island. Students will also create some kind of diagram representing the island and where the gods are represented there. Students should be able to explain why they believe their people will chose these beliefs as described by the students … what events lead the people to make their spiritual decisions in their closed environment of the island? Other pieces that will need to be included are where the people live on the island, why they are settled there, are they separated in gender and/or age-based groups, and a rite of passage for each gender (refer to the health subject activity of rites of passage for more ideas), including how their spiritual decisions have influenced their settlements, or vice-versa. Students will present their island to the class, and be able to defend their spiritual decisions for their island from questions by their classmates. Ending activity should be a discussion of how geography and human settlement can change beliefs, and how beliefs can evolve over time (i.e. how do the people of the Nation interpret the tsunami?)
 * 1) Rites of Passage (Health and gender discussions)
 * Students will discuss different rites of passage for a variety of cultures, including types of rites of passage for people in the US. Does your family have a view on how to become an adult? How do you define adulthood? How do you define roles in adulthood? Discuss gender roles as you see them in your daily life, and how you either relate or don't relate to those roles. Compare and contrast the rites of passages discussed in //Nation// for both men and women on the island and those discussed for English society. Compare and contrast the gender roles represented in each society. How are they different or the same to today's standards? Students will write a reflective paper on their own experiences with rites of passages and gender roles in their own life, how they feel about them, and what they want to see in their adult lives and how they relate to their own experiences.
 * 1) The Incredibles