Alabama Moon

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

What do you know about forms of technology used in the 1980s? How do the technologies from the 80s compare to technology today? How might someone isolated from society react to a more modern lifestyle? What unconventional skills might those who live “off-grid” possess?

Teaching Suggestion: The protagonist, Moon, is a 10-year-old boy in 1980. He lives off-grid with his father in the Alabama wilderness without electricity, hot showers, health care, and other modern resources. Consider discussing the contrasting lifestyles of those living in the modern 80s and those without modern amenities.

• This 12-minute video describes the lifestyles of those living in the 1980s.
• This 10-minute video depicts the life of a family of 7 who lives off-grid in a rural location; they avoid many of the components of modern society, like public school, running water, and television.

Short Activity

Read the following questions with a partner, adding “Would you rather…” to the beginning as a paired discussion. Each person has 60 seconds of uninterrupted response time before answering the next question.

• Sleep outside or inside?
• Live with or without technology?
• Survive in the woods or a home?
• Use traditional medicine or find medicine in the woods?
• Live alone or with friends?
• Go to Alabama or Alaska?
• Attend school or learn from nature?

Teaching Suggestion: Consider asking the questions using a prereading strategy called speed chatting. In speed chatting, students line up in two lines facing each other. The first person in each pair reads the question aloud to their partner, adding “Would you rather” to the beginning. The partnering student has 60 seconds to respond aloud, aiming to fill the minute with opinions and rationale before rotating to the next student and asking the next question. Each question arises in the novel as Moon adapts to modern life in Alabama. You may want to consider revisiting the questions as the class progresses through the novel.

Personal Connection Prompt

This prompt can be used for in-class discussion, exploratory free-writing, or reflection homework before reading the novel.

Consider a time when you realized you or someone you know viewed the world differently than others. What was the viewpoint, and where did it come from? What personal experiences influence your view of the world? How does your worldview adapt and change as you grow? How do your community, media, friends, and family impact your perspective?

Teaching Suggestion: Moon strongly mistrusts the government and society because of his father’s particular sense of reality and strong feelings following the Vietnam war. Moon believes that he must live his life independently to prepare himself for the “war” that Pap, his father, believes will occur on American soil. Consider discussing viewpoints and how each person has a different sense of reality based on their community, peers, and familial ties.

Differentiation Suggestion: For students who require an additional challenge, consider permitting them to research the impact of national, familial, and community interactions on personal belief systems. Students might compile their research in bulleted notes or a visual aid or infographic for display. Students who might benefit from practicing presentation skills might also share their findings aloud.