Below you can find FOUR different topics to discuss. You may discuss one, two, three or all of them. You only need to discuss one for full credit. Extra credit will be awarded for those who discuss more than one.

Read them all before you decide which one you want to discuss.

THEN, go to your classes area for the discussion. Links to your period’s discussion area can be found at the left sidebar of this page.

Tell us.

For Regular Credit you must:

  1. Which discussion topic are you dealing with: 1, 2, 3, or 4?
  2. What do you have to say about that?

For EXTRA CREDIT you can:

  1. Answer extra topic question(s)
  2. Get into a discussion with other student(s)
#1

The setting for this portion of the novel is the city of New Orleans. Since the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, there has been much discussion on the future of this important American city.

How do you feel about rebuilding the city of New Orleans? Do you think that the federal government should spend billions of dollars to rebuild the city of New Orleans and protect it from future hurricanes, or should the citizens of New Orleans be asked to pick up and move somewhere else and the city not be rebuilt, or can you think of some other idea?

#2

Sophie and Creighton are given a great deal of responsibility in Ben Franklin’s print shop as teenagers. In colonial America many teenagers around the age of 14 or 15 are doing work and taking responsibility for things that today are often associated with adults.

Do you think that in American society today we wait too long to treat teenagers as adults? What would be some pros and cons of allowing teenagers in America to have the full rights and responsibilities of adults at the age of 15?

#3

The code used by Ben Franklin was possible because it used a book that almost everyone in the colonies was able to access.

If you were to write a similar code today, which book would you choose (remember that it should be a book almost everyone has access to or could access). Would you use a certain book if you were only trying to include a certain group of people? In your comment please list the book you would use and why you chose that book.

#4

In this portion of the book you have been introduced to Ben Franklin. Ben Franklin was truly one of the most important men in colonial America. The amount of inventions and ideas directly associated with this man is incredible.

Here’s what I want you to do:

Step #1 – Check out more about Ben Franklin using the links below.
Step #2 – Pick one of his ideas/inventions that directly impacted you somehow. Tell us the idea you are focused on – describe it briefly – then explain how your life has been directly impacted by it.

Here are the links:

Go to your class’ discussion area:

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