Peak

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

Brainstorm a list of potentially dangerous activities that require participants to be above a certain age. Explain why you think the age limits for these activities are enforced. Do you think young adults are more prone to destructive behavior than older adults?

Teaching Suggestion: Students may discuss various topics such as driving, skydiving, or riding roller coasters. Peak, as a 14-year-old boy who plans to climb Mount Everest, is an adolescent more prone to risk-taking behavior due to his earlier stage of brain development. Use the below links to show students how the brain develops and how that development affects decision-making. Other links explore possible reasons why adults would make similarly risky choices, lending scientific and cultural context to the theme Risk and Obsession.

• This 4-minute video demonstrates the development of the brain from a person’s teen years to adulthood.
• This NPR article delves into why some adults may be prone to thrill-seeking behavior.
• This questionnaire is used to assess how likely a person is to be a thrill-seeker.

Short Activity

Working in a small group, use Google Maps to find the following locations: Tibet, the Himalayas, the border of China and Nepal, K2, and Mount Everest. Then, use reputable online resources to answer the following questions:

• The Himalayas stretch across several countries. What are they?
• What is the highest peak in the Himalayas, and why is it unique?
• What rivers are present because of the Himalayan mountains?
• In what year did someone complete the first successful climb to the top of Mount Everest?

Using MyMaps or another map-making site, create a map that incorporates your answers to the questions.

Teaching Suggestion: Allow students to review the resources below. Peak is set in the Himalayan mountains. The geographical features are essential to understanding the plot because Peak seeks to be the youngest climber to scale Mount Everest. You may want to discuss the countries that border one another, as this is relevant to one of the central conflicts in the novel. Students can also make observations using Google Maps to discuss what countries border Mount Everest specifically. They may also want to look at photos posted online of Mount Everest and various climbers to describe their gear and the landscape.

• This link to Google Maps provides a search engine for global locations.
• This PBS website includes short videos and an article on the geographic and ecological landscape of the Himalayas.

Personal Connection Prompt

This prompt can be used for in-class discussion, exploratory free-writing, or reflection homework before reading the novel.

Describe a time when you were forced to overcome a great obstacle. What challenges did you face? What mistakes did you make? Who was there to support you? How has that experience changed the way you think about obstacles?

Teaching Suggestion: Peak struggles with many internal conflicts throughout the novel. Among his struggles are a restless desire to achieve something and conflicting feelings about his relationship with his father. With sensitivities to differences and disabilities in the classroom, you may want to begin by allowing students to watch the below video on people who were met with challenges and beat the odds. Students may describe a time of stress or trouble they have experienced. Possible discussions include avoiding obstacles because of a previous stress response or realizing an obstacle is not always as bad as they once thought. For students who are struggling to think of a topic, you may mention that the insecurity that comes with being a teen can be an obstacle, as well as conflicts with friends or parents and learning new skill sets. The latter obstacle can be tied to Peak’s climb, while the former connects to the theme of Fatherhood and complex relationships.

• This 7-minute video is a compilation of ABC News stories of the challenges of six people who overcame great obstacles.

Differentiation Suggestion: Consider allowing students with special needs to describe one of the stories in the videos, rather than drawing on personal experience. They may describe the challenge of one individual and describe what that individual did to overcome their personal obstacle.