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Survival of the Fittest: Lord of the Flies x Trainwreck Poop Cruise

🎙️ Episode 1 - Survival of the Fittest: Lord of the Flies x Trainwreck Poop Cruise

Welcome to the very first episode of The Fresh Queens of ELA IRL! 👑📚

We’re Hannah Hazelbach and Ana Perez: best friends, revolutionary ELA teachers, and your new classroom besties.

ELA is alive and everywhereee, and when we can connect the texts we're reading in class to trending culture, messy human behavior, and what's popping off in everyone's FYP pages, students become ALL IN.

In this episode, we dive into Lord of the Flies and pair it with Netflix’s documentary, Trainwreck: The Poop Cruise. Together, we unpack what “survival of the fittest” really looks like when humanity starts to crumble during chaotic times.

✨ What you’ll hear inside:

  • A quick intro on how The Fresh Queens of ELA IRL came to be
  • Our “Would You Survive?” game (the perfect way to kick off these conversations with your students) - 60-second recaps of Lord of the Flies AND the documentary (so you don’t have to rewatch/read before teaching)
  • Essential questions that connect literature to IRL survival scenarios, FYP debates, and your students’ world today (also listed below)
  • Rapid fire recs (also listed below)

Essential/Discussion Questions:

  • When does the instinct to survive conflict with morality?
  • In times of crisis, what values are sacrificed, and which are preserved
  • Is "survival of the fittest" a law of nature or a human-made justification for certain behaviors?
  • What are people willing to sacrifice to stay alive?
  • How does the will to survive reveal the true nature of a person or society?
  • Why/how does tragedy bring people together?
  • Have you ever been in a group where there was no clear leader? How did decisions get made?
  • What is the longest you’ve been away from adult supervision? How did it feel?
  • Do you think people are naturally more cooperative or competitive? Why?
  • Is it more important for a group to have one strong leader or shared power? Explain.
  • Imagine you’re stranded on an island with THIS CLASS or your small group team. What three rules would you set first?
  • How would the boys act differently if they were placed on a cruise vs. an island?
  • What do you infer happens to the boys in the years following the survival?

Rapid Fire Recs: 

  • "The Most Dangerous Game" - short story by Richard Connell
  • Trainwreck: Astroworld and Woodstock ‘99 - similar documentaries available on Netflix or Hulu
  • Squid Games - award-winning Netflix original series from South Korea
  • The Hunger Games - book by Suzanne Collins / multiple film adaptations
  • Yellowjackets - TV series available on Amazon Prime
  • Survivor - reality TV series as aired on CBS
  • Cast Away - film starring Tom Hanks available on most digital platforms
  • Hatchet - novel by Gary Paulsen / film adaptation available
  • The Call of the Wild - novel by Jack London / multiple film adaptations.
  • Into the Wild - novel by Jon Krakauer / film adaptation available
  • 127 Hours - true-story-based film directed by Danny Boyle (also based on a memoir by Aron Ralston)
  • The Wilder Girls - novel by Rory Power
  • Society of the Snow - true-story film available on Netflix (tells the story of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 crash in the Andes in 1972)
  • A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier - memoir by Ishmael Beah

🚨Bonus: ⁠Click here⁠ for a FREEBIE - survival-themed stations you can use with a variety of texts!If you loved this episode and hanging out with us, make sure to subscribe, rate, and leave a review. This helps more teachers find us and join the conversation and the revolution.

👉 Stay connected with us:

  • Ana's socials: @simply.ana.p
  • Hannah's socials: @teachengagingela

You can also visit our websites for extra resources + PDs:

💌 Got an idea, question, or a text you want us to tackle? Slide into our DMs or send us a message because we might just feature it in an upcoming episode!