For an interlude between reading novels , we did a short activity connecting elements of the last novel, A Wrinkle in Time with the next, The Hunger Games. 

A Wrinkle in Time involved space and time travel to four planets, including a 2-dimensional one, that were inhabited by creatures that were similar and dissimilar to those on Earth.  The novel had vivid descriptions of not just the inhabitants, but foods and sounds that were never experienced before. This imagination sparked the idea for this activity. 

Students were assigned to create a planet. One of few guidelines were that they had to include 10 examples of biological life from said planet with 3 or 4 descriptions. Beyond that, they were encouraged to be creative and try to generate creatures that were completely new. 

In anticipation of The Hunger Games, a dystopian novel with a totalitarian government, students were asked to decide the government of that planet. The most popular form was simple democracy. This initiated a conversation as to why they chose it and what having a democracy involves - a theme which will be continued as we read the novel. 

What was supposed to be a brief and casual in-class activity developed into something much more. Students brought in a variety of "planets" with incredible complexity, originality, and insights. 

Below is a selection with a few of the quotes from A Wrinkle in Time we discussed in class.