Can You Survive the Island?
This Island Survival lesson plan is an excerpt from Eric Frangenheim’s best-selling teacher resource, Reflections on Classroom Thinking Strategies.
This fun and engaging lesson plan was designed to demonstrate the use of specific cognitive thinking skills (task verbs such as ‘decide’, design, ‘compose’, ‘assess’ and more) and thinking tools (graphic or-ganisers such as Tournament Prioritiser; Y Chart; SWOT Analysis; Pros, Cons, Improve; and the Decision Making Matrix. The lesson plan also encourages the use of co-operative thinking tools such as the Silent
Round Robin, Think: Pair:Share, and 14PCR.
When teachers use these skills and tools successfully, they are delighted to find that they are teaching less while their students are learning more. Students also become more engaged as they enjoy ‘owning the learning’. Teachers, as you explore this lesson plan, why not reflect upon how you might use it as a model or template for teaching your other curriculum materials?
This is the plan for an all-day lesson (in fact, it takes longer than that!), which I designed for the final two years of primary school to
demonstrate the use of a variety of the thinking tools referred to in this book for both students and a large group
Outcomes
•Imagination and creative writing
•Teamwork and problem solving
•Use of specific cognitive and cooperative thinking tools
•Chronicling of ideas and progress
•Self and peer-assessment and refinement
Organisation
•Eight (8) tables of four (4) students. (Groups to be organised by teacher)
•Each team will produce a ‘Survival Journal’ of all deliberations, plans, decision making and creative writing.
Activity 1:
Setting the Scene for the Island Survival
HOW?
Ask the students (in pairs) to locate Venezuela, Cuba and Florida on a map or atlas.
Create a sense of urgency.
Activity 2:
Survival Gear – Setting more of the scene
HOW?
Refugee ship of 13-year-olds being sent to Florida during WW2. A German torpedo attacks their ship. The captain, who is dying, tells children to abandon ship and enter lifeboats! They will have five minutes to collect anything that will help with survival. The Captain explains
that there are many islands in the area and that there is a good chance of arriving on an island within one to two days of being in a life boat.
“List everything you can collect from the ship and put in the life boat.” You may not say ‘food’ or ‘medicines’ as this is too general. Be specific. You must be able to carry these items into the lifeboats which are waiting in the water next to the sinking ship. Water may not be on your list either.
HOW?
a. Silent Round Robin on A4 sheets within each group. Complete four or five rotations. List all the items.
b. Now choose only 16 items to take on your life boat. Negotiate in your teams for the final 16 items.
c. Now decide on your most valuable, survival resource and plan how you will protect it.
HOW?
In pairs, use the Tournament Prioritiser. Report back to the whole class while the teacher records results on white board.
Extra Consideration.
There are four lifeboats with basic equipment. Use this information when
planning other activities once on the island. Some teams may forget about
these resources.
Bonus: Once on your life boat, each team discovers that they have other
resources which can help them on their quest for survival. Teacher hands a card to each team showing their resources. Other teams do not know what others have. Note that there are two groups of four students for each life boat.
Activity 3:
Creative Writing – The Journey
Compose a half page account of:
a. what happened from the time of abandoning ship,
b. the 36-hour journey in the life boat, and
c. your arrival on the island.
HOW?
Y Chart
Teacher to lead students through a visualisation process starting with ‘Abandon Ship,’ ‘Journey in the Life Boats’ and ‘The Landing.’ Each group is to have 3 x A3 Y Charts, one for each phase of ‘The Journey.’ Teacher starts each phase with comments from the whole class, then allows 3–4 minutes for students to develop their Y Charts, before moving on to the
next phase. At end of the three Y Charts, give students 5–8 minutes to describe their voyage. Encourage use of powerful adverbs and adjectives to encourage dramatic writing. Play music whilst students are writing. After this, ask students to swap their stories and encourage students to read out whenever they see an example of powerful writing, even if it is only a phrase or a sentence. This is genuine praise and affirmation.
Year 6 Student Sample
Short Story from Y Chart – Abandon Ship!!!
It’s been four days now, the blaring sun beating down on us, the powerful rough seas slamming against the side. Unable to do anything but sit there in the small forsaken wreck I now call home. The sea salt in the air has cracked my lips so severely, I can’t talk. I am that weak. The sound is of heavy breathing. If we are on the life boats for more than two more days, I think the 24 of us are gone. I lifted my head desperately to look around but saw nothing, just a vast desert of ocean in all directions. Every night all I see in my dreams is the Captain’s severed arm sliding down the cold wooden deck.
Is there any hope? So thirsty, so hungry, but too weak? Please, someone help!
Jeremy
Activity 4:
Taking Stock on the Island
Teacher sets the scene. Lush tropical island, well wooded with streams. Coral reef full of fish, BUT, there is smoke coming from the hills, there are sounds of growling and soon, the survivors find foot-marks nearby. After some exhausted sleep, the 24 survivors look around and then decide to take stock of their situation.
HOW?
SWOT Analysis (A3 sheets)
Activity 5:
Develop the Map
Each team is given an A3 sized map of the island (map at end of lesson plan). Teacher to explain the features. Each team is to decide where
to establish their camp/fort in the most strategic position from a defensive point of view. Each team can add four features to the island, such as a fresh water lake. These four features must be added to the map and labelled. Ask each team to report back, explaining why they have
positioned their camp/fort in a particular position.
Activity 6:
Design Your Community with Fortification
Students must show all details, including position, size in metres, height, and clear area in front of fort, housing, water collection and storage.
HOW?
Also, design some defensive apparatus from local and personal resources. All features must be labelled. Use Mind Maps as well as all the materials brought from the ship, the materials in the life boats and the natural resources of the island. Each team is supplied with A3 paper or larger and pens. Label the plan.
Self-assess each team’s plan by use of Pros:Cons:Improve.
Activity 7:
Peer Assessment
Each team swaps their plans with another team, also supplying one team member to act as an explainer. The job of each team is to assess the work of the other team and offer feedback.
HOW?
Pros: Cons: Improve
Return assessment and materials to home teams. Home teams decide whether or not to revise and improve their plans.
Each team then reports back to whole group
Activity 8:
Designing a Set of Community Rules
Each team is to design a set of community rules for daily living and peaceful co-existence with the aim of avoiding turmoil.
HOW?
Students are asked to list all the problems associated with society today in their community and elsewhere. They use a Noisy Round Robin
between the four groups. They then categorise and classify the ideas. Categories are listed on the whiteboard for all to see. Students, in their
teams, discuss the various problems and develop a set of 10 rules for community living on the island.
HOW?
1:4:P:C:R
Activity 9:
Assessing the Sets of Rules for Community Living
Note that the teacher needs to select two or three sets of rules (it would be tedious to assess all eight sets of rules).
HOW?
Decision-Making Matrix (DMM)
Teacher explains the DMM and starts to assess the four sets of rules using the DMM at the whiteboard. Each group then completes the DMM
and reports back.
Note that the four sets need to be photocopied so that each team has a full set of the rules.
Activity 10:
Creating a Story About Survival on the Island
HOW?
Word Association and Launch Pad
Teacher models this first at the board and each individual student (or pairs of students) completes their own Word Association and uses this
as well as all other materials produced to write their story of survival on the island.
Note that the teacher can add other complications such as planes fl ying past, human skeleton being found, man traps being discovered, etc., to offer students greater opportunities for creative story telling.