Environmental Impact

Explain to students that the story they will read today may be unique to them. Paraphrase this explanation of interactive fiction:

Interactive fiction isn't the same as other kinds of stories. All stories are interactive to some extent, as you get involved with the characters and imagine what is happening for them. But in typical, traditional stories, there's one path through a story with a beginning, middle, and end.

Interactive fiction, in contrast, usually offers one beginning, then readers have two or more choices for what to do next, and two or more choices every once in a while along the way. So instead of one narrative line, you might have a lot of branches. You could end up with dozens of different endings, or sometimes the stories converge on just one or two outcomes no matter what paths you took to get to the end. A lot of the adventure is the way you got there.

It's a little bit like real life! We are faced with tough choices all the time.

This static image is a map that shows the complexity of the intertwined storylines and pages in the Dustville story. You would not want to show this image to your students. However, here are some notes for your reference.

• The numbers correspond to the faint number just to the left of the black "Start Over" button in the top right corner of each page of the interactive story.
• The yellow boxes are the pages when the Mayor received the proposal from Rubbleco.
• The purple boxes are the pages when the Mayor has three choices.
• The pink boxes are the "Fast Forward Five Years" pages which give a glimpse into the future and outcomes of the decisions the Mayor makes.
• The green boxes indicate the introductory pages: 0–3 are read by all. Page 9 is the first major decision point.

In this piece of interactive fiction, students take on the role of a new mayor in a small southwestern town. While there are many choices along the way, there is no morality lesson in the end. Any choice can be a good choice or a bad choice as long as it is made with evidence—and, perhaps, confidence.

Start the first few pages of the choose-your-own-adventure out loud as a class. Follow the thread where you take the pictures and loop around to the beginning to start again.

Encourage your students to keep track of the choices they make along the way in their notebooks. Model this note-taking with the first few pages that you read together. Students can use a modified Cornell Notes format for their note-taking to keep track of who you (and they) talk to along the way and decisions you (and they) made.

Once you get to the page with the foxlet eating insects (pictured, right, and faintly marked "009" in the top right corner), stop and tell your students to finish the adventure outside of class time. You can send the link to the page to your students.

Note-taking is key. Reiterate that what is important in this reading is what happens to the town, the foxlets, and the environment. Students should continue their reading and note-taking to prepare for the next part of the lesson.

Students can also jot down unfamiliar words they encounter, such as "dissipate," "parasols," "commotion," or "cordoning." They can later look these words up and write down a few definitions for better understanding.

Students should be prepared to come in and compare their different outcomes in the next class session.

If you decide not to assign the reading as homework, but instead spend class time reading the story, have students read the story individually. If you don't have enough devices for them all to do this, break the class into groups of no more than three.

While the "Start Over" button is available on every page, there is no "Back" button that students can use to change their minds about the most recent decision. Warn the students:

Time marches forward in this story. If you were a mayor, you couldn't change your mind about a decision. So make each choice carefully!

That is, there are no do-overs – a big lesson for students to learn, especially in this time and age!

Warning: Some students may turn the reading into a competition. They may test out all of the possibilities by starting over again and again. Remind students there are no right or wrong decisions – decisions are tough and there is no turning back – that's why there is NO back button! Tell the students to read carefully, and not worry about which is the “best” decision.

Note that students may skim the reading in order to jump to the choices. Encourage them to read the narrative and get involved in the story, imagining that they really are the Mayor of Dustville.

The outcomes of all the "Fast Forward Five Years" as well as a summary chart are linked in the file below.

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The story contains multiple endings that result from the different paths the students take through the story.

Ask students:

• Where did you end up as Mayor?
• Is this other mayor in a similar situation to yours?
• What choices did you each make along the way that got you there?
• What kinds of choices did you avoid?
• Who else ended up with that outcome? Did you make similar choices as Mayor?

After the students consider where they ended up as mayors, show the slide or distribute the Mayoral Survey. Students should respond based on the outcome they found at the end of reading Dustville.

Now each students should find another student and compare that student's survey answers to their own.

Repeat with four other students.

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Mayoral Survey

In your mailbox, you find a survey from the Organization for Mayoral Growth (OMG), which has contacted all current and former mayors. The survey asks you to describe five aspects of life in your hometown of Dustville, and rate each on a scale of 1–5 (5 being best). You should rate and describe these aspects of life in your hometown of Dustville at the end of the story (that is, how things are in Dustville after the "Fast Forward Five Years").

Example ratings:

1. 5 = great booming business in Dustville
   3 = okay, businesses are surviving
   1 = terrible businesses closingThe economy and employment
   How's business?
   Are people working?
2. 5 = great, very low unemployment
   3 = still struggling
   1 = many people cannot find workIndustry in your town compared to other local towns
   Is Rubbleco operating at Arch Rock or elsewhere?
3. 5 = great, foxlet population thriving
   3 = foxlet population stable
   1 = foxlets died offThe environment
   Describe what's happening with the foxlet population. Why are they in this condition?
4. 5 = re-elected in a landslide
   3 = still in office
   1 = resigned in scandalYour career as a politician
   Are you still mayor? How popular are you with voters?
5. 5 = citizens are happy
   3 = citizens are fine
   1 = citizens are angryAnything bothering the citizens of your town
   Think of the people of Dustville.

Ask students to find another student whose outcome differed from their own among the five with whom they shared their surveys.

Together the students should look at the notes they took while reading the interactive story Dustville Dilemmas and retrace their path to find a key decision. Paraphrase:

Use your insight from your notes to complete these two sentence starters.

Then write a cause-and-effect statement on a sticky note. As you finish your sticky note, place it on a wall.

Students may write more than one cause-and-effect statement to put on the wall. Many students don’t think making a decision is final. They often assume it can always be undone. But in reality, it cannot.

In the end...

This was happening in Dustville:

That happened because I decided:

Write on a sticky note:

Because I decided _______ , Dustville experienced _______.