A Walk on the Moon

Essential questions: What drives humans to explore space? What can bring people around the world together? How does war affect military families?

Do-Now: Theme Anticipation Guide

Project or distribute the Theme Anticipation Guide. Have students complete it and then discuss their responses as a class. 

Watch the video.  (15 minutes)

• Project or distribute the Video Discussion Questions for students to preview.
• Discuss the questions as a class. 
  

Preview Vocabulary. (7 minutes)

• Project or distribute the Vocabulary Words and Definitions. Review the words as a class: capsule, famished, fatigues, ingenuity, module, nuclear, simulated, Soviet Union, turbulent

• Read the “As You Read” box on page 12.
• Assign parts and read the play as a class.
• Break students into groups to discuss the following questions.

Close-Reading Questions

• What is the purpose of the prologue? How is the prologue different from the rest of the play? (text structure) The prologue provides background information about the time period and introduces the key event of the story: the first moon landing. In the prologue, the characters speak directly to the audience and the plot does not advance. 
• In Scene 1, Dad says about the moon: “Funny how something a quarter of a million miles away can make it seem like you’re right next to me.” What does he mean? (inference) Dad means knowing that he and Kathy are looking at the same moon makes him feel connected to her despite the great physical distance that separates them. 
• In Scene 2, Joe says, “Sometimes it feels like there’s an elephant sitting on my chest.” Explain what he means. (figurative language) Joe means that the worry he feels about his dad is a great burden. Perhaps his anxiety creates a physical sensation of weight on his chest that makes it hard to breathe.
• Consider the conversation between Mom and the two men in Scene 4. How does this conversation help build tension and drama in the scene? (text structure, mood) The conversation reveals that two years earlier, there was some sort of accident that killed three astronauts. The conversation makes the audience worry—as the characters do—that a similar tragedy could befall the Apollo 11 astronauts. (This conversation refers to a fire that broke out during a launch simulation test for Apollo 1 on January 27, 1967.)
• What details in the play, the captions, and the letter help you understand that the Apollo 11 mission was a big deal—that it received a lot of attention and was meaningful to many people? (supporting details) Details include: In the prologue, Dad refers to the mission as “something incredible” and Mom calls it the fulfillment of “an impossible dream”; in Scenes 4 and 9, people react to the mission with strong emotion; in Scenes 7 and 9, Dad watches the broadcast of the moon landing from Vietnam and a crowd gathers to watch from Joe’s living room; the caption on page 17 notes that 530 million people around the world watched the broadcast of the landing. In the letter on page 18, Dave C. Maloney expresses the hope that the moon landing will bring peace to the world.

Critical-Thinking Questions

• In Scene 8, Kathy says she wonders if “fighting for peace” is an oxymoron. Explain what she means and whether you think “fighting for peace” is an oxymoron. An oxymoron is a figure of speech in which a word or phrase seems to contradict itself. Kathy is suggesting that you can’t be fighting and working toward peace at the same time. Kathy seems to be expressing a feeling of hopelessness or sadness about the war. Students’ responses to the question of whether “fighting for peace” is an oxymoron will vary; some may say yes, and others may say that although in the immediate sense you cannot achieve peace if you are fighting, fighting can lead to a resolution of a conflict.
• There was debate about whether the Apollo 11 astronauts should plant the American flag, the United Nations flag, or no flag at all on the moon. In the end, they planted the American flag. Do you think this was the right choice? Why? Answers will vary. What, if any, type of event or achievement do you think could capture the world’s attention today in the same way that the moon landing captured the world’s attention in 1969? Explain. Answers will vary. Students might say that discoveries that radically change the way we live or understand the world—the discovery of extraterrestrial life, say—might capture the world’s attention the way the Apollo 11 mission did. Other students might say that in today’s rapidly changing world, it’s less likely that a single event will capture global attention the way the moon landing did almost 50 years ago. 

Break students into small groups to complete the Theme: A Walk on the Moon activity sheet. This activity will prepare students to respond to the writing prompt on page 18. For alternate culminating tasks, see the boxes below.