What should Matt do? Readers of The House of the Scorpion are offered several possible actions Matt could take when he first sees the children outside the house. They rate the options and then meet in groups to discuss the reasons for their choice.

Concepts

consensus, science fiction

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Additional Tags

english language arts

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Instructional Ideas

• Instead of asking groups to come to consensus, have members share their first choice and their reasoning behind their choice

Classroom Considerations

• The fifth in a series of six resources designed for The House of the Scorpion
• The exercise assumes class members have experience listening and arguing rationally and respectfully, and have experienced discussions that require them to reach consensus

Pros

• The exercise encourages readers to think critically about Matt's dilemma 

Cons

• No provisions are made for groups that are unable to reach consensus