The Testing

Use this activity to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

“Cia’s Memory Box”

In this activity, students will develop a piece of writing from Cia’s perspective and represent a key memory for Cia with at least one artifact.

In The Testing, memories are key. They offer insights. They direct actions. Then, they are stolen. Cia is not allowed to have a journal with her to preserve her memories, so you will choose a key moment in Cia’s experience and preserve that memory for her.

• Write a journal or letter home in Cia’s voice about what happened in the experience you have chosen. Be sure to include her feelings and thoughts about what happened around her.
• Include at least one additional artifact not included in the text that connects to Cia’s memory: an item, a song, a visual, etc. Compose a journal entry that explains the connection and significance of this artifact and choose a way to represent this artifact physically.

Prepare your comments and present them to your fellow readers. Discuss in small groups: How do the various student-created memories compare? What different “voices” for Cia did this project generate? Of the memories preserved, which ones are perhaps the most important?

Present your addition to Cia’s Memory Box. After all the presentations, take turns shouting out a peer and stating something they taught you.

Teaching Suggestion: Cia is not allowed to write a journal, and she has to travel so far that it is not feasible to carry much. Still, she does carry bracelets from other candidates. Discussing this at the beginning of the assignment might be a way to start a conversation about what makes an artifact precious to someone. One way to set up the presentation part of this activity would be a gallery walk. Students could walk around the room to look at the artifacts their peers created. To build upon the shout-outs, students could leave them as they walk around the room and leave multiple comments of praise. Another option would be for students to present to each other in small groups rather than the whole class, giving more opportunities for extended discussion.