Mrs. Adrien Alsobrook
Junior Muaz Khan describes his group's chart comparing topics in chapter four of Outliers to visiting groups. Mrs. Alsobrook's AP Lang classes have been studying the book for the past few weeks and determining their own definitions of success.
Last Thursday, Mrs. Alsobrook’s AP Language and Composition classes held gallery walks to discuss some content in their current book, Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell.
Specifically, students discussed chapter four of the book, titled “The Trouble With Geniuses, Part 2.” The section discusses well-known geniuses, Chris Langan and Robert Oppenheimer, to further explain Gladwell’s notion of success: opportunity plays much larger a role in success than we think it does.
On Wednesday, students were required to get into groups and create a chart comparing and contrasting topics in the chapter and come up with what they thought Gladwell’s motives were for including those topics. Students had a variety of topics to choose from, ranging from the two geniuses who serve as the focal point of the chapter, to socio-economic advantages and disadvantages when it comes to opportunity.
The following day, students were required to hang their charts up in different spots in the class and discuss differences in their classmates’ responses.
As a follow-up, students completed an Applied Practice, a standardized assessment, on Outliers the next day.