The Last Kids on Earth

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

1. How does friendship help people survive? Explain your reasoning.

Teaching Suggestion: This prompt provides students with the opportunity to examine the science behind friendship and its effects. Students might start with prior knowledge or predictions. Then, after reading the resources here and annotating or taking notes, the class might reflect on new ideas they discovered through discussion or journaling. Extending this question to predict how important friends might be in a monster apocalypse can connect this exploration to the novel more directly and highlight the theme of Genuine Friendship as a Form of Survival.

• “When Teens Need Their Friends More Than Their Parents” from Greater Good Magazine focuses on the importance of friendship in adolescence.
• “Why Friendship Makes Us Healthier” from the BBC includes links to different research in its exploration of the scientific benefits of friendship.

Differentiation Suggestion: Students who struggle with social anxiety may not be comfortable answering this prompt. You might ask instead, “What does survival mean to you? How do people help each other survive in the world today?”

Short Activity

Research two or more young inventors, and then choose one and prepare a poster. What problem did this person want to solve? What did they invent, and how does it help the world? Include the answers to these questions in your design as well as two questions you would ask them about their work.

Teaching Suggestion: The characters in the novel must be innovative to survive the monsters. This Short Activity highlights the power young people possess and may help students to consider the ways people approach problem-solving, connecting to the theme of The Resourceful Innovation of Adolescent Imagination. It might be helpful to partner people for the activity. Allowing students to discuss their research in small groups may encourage connections and deeper questions. The posters can be displayed in the class to emphasize this theme throughout the novel.

• This resource from CNN includes descriptions of 20 world-changing inventions created by inventors under the age of 20.
• “7 Young Inventors Who See a Better Way” from Time focuses on powerful inventions from people under 20 and includes brief biographies of the inventors.

Differentiation Suggestion: Students with auditory or visual learning styles may benefit from the creation of a short video in place of a poster, while students with interpersonal and kinesthetic learning styles might develop skits or tableaus. Students struggling with reading might pair read for the research.

Personal Connection Prompt

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

What is the difference between an upstander and a bystander? What do you believe in that you would stand up for even if it was difficult? Why?

Teaching Suggestion: This prompt directly explores the theme of Standing Up for Who—and What—You Believe In. Students might reflect on times when they did stand up for a belief. They could also list people and issues in which they believe strongly and explain why they would defend them. One way to approach this Personal Connection Prompt would be to post topics or beliefs around the classroom and ask students to stand by the one they would most protect. Then, they could discuss their reasons with those near them and with the full class. To better understand the role of an upstander, students might independently explore the Facing History site, with choice in what stories they examine.

• This 11-minute video from PBS Kids features kids’ voices in conversations with adults in their lives about standing up for other people and important ideas.
• This resource from Facing History & Ourselves includes a definition of “upstander,” a brief video, and links to additional stories on the impact of upstanders.