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Alpha Stage
Algeria
April 11, 2007





The New York Times is running an article entitled, "Islamists Bring Fight
to Capital of Algeria."

The article begins, " Two bombings in Algeria, one targeting the prime
minister’s office in the country’s capital, killed at least 23 people today
and injured 160, marking a sharp escalation in the Qaeda-linked violence
that has been spreading across North Africa in recent months."

The article adds, "Together with a resurgence of violence in Morocco
and Tunisia, governments on both sides of the Mediterranean fear that
the re-branded group is coalescing into a regional terror movement."

Read the article!!


Discussion-Starters for Younger Children

  • Do your students know what the word "coward" means? Do your
    students think that somebody can be a coward, or afraid of other
    people, and still bully people? Encourage them to explain!!
  • Consider asking your students to write a story about
    somebody who find a new reason to feel good about
    him/herself. Perhaps the person discovers that they have a
    new skill that they did not know about. The entire class
    could collaboratively develop this story.

  • What do your students think is the most important single job in a
    school or camp (pick an institution with which your children are
    familiar)? Why do they think this?
  • Consider asking your students to draw a picture of the
    principal. What does he/she do?

  • Have your students ever made up with somebody with whom
    they were in a fight? Why did they make up? Was it easy to make
    up? Why/why not? Did your students ever fight/argue with these
    people again? About what?
  • Ask your students if they think that people need a "cool
    down period" after being in a fight with somebody. Why
    do they need a cool down period? What should they think
    about during this time?

  • Are your students afraid of anything? What? What do they do that
    allows them to deal with this fear (e.g., children who are afraid of
    the dark might use a night light)?
  • Students could develop skits explaining how they have
    overcome a particular fear.

Discussion-Starters for Older Students

  • Vocabulary terms to discuss: Escalation; Islamist; "Cowardly
    Act"; and, Offshoot.

  • Do your students think that the suicide bombers thought that they
    were doing something wrong when they blew themselves up?
    Why/why not? Do your students think that they did do something
    wrong? Why/why not? How is what is right and wrong decided?
  • Consider asking your students to imagine that they are the
    thoughts inside of the suicide bombers minds just before
    they blew themselves up. What were they thinking? What
    were the people who were injured thinking just after the
    explosions went off?

  • What kinds of problems might arise when a group that preaches
    the importance of basing its legal system in its interpretation of a
    centuries old religious text seeks to live in the same geographical
    area as a community of people espousing the importance of
    democratic government? Why do these problems arise? Ask your
    students how they think these problems could be resolved? Is it
    possible for these problems to be resolved? Why/why not?
  • Tell your students to imagine that they are part of an
    international symposium designed to promote world peace.
    Their symposium is seeking to resolve these questions.
    Every member of the symposium should write a brief
    memo to enable them to intelligently participate in the
    proceedings.

  • Most people agree that violence is wrong. If violence has to
    occur, do your students think that it's best for a lot of violence to
    occur in a small geographical area or less violence to occur in any
    one place but spread across a larger geographical area. Assume
    that the total amount of violence is the same. Encourage your
    students to explain their answers. Why might different people
    answer this question differently.
  • This set of questions might promote an interesting class
    discussion. Why would it be important for policymakers to
    consider these questions?
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(C) 2007, Andrew Pass Educational Services, LLC.