Fernando M. Reimers et a1.

Avenue” with no money and no cell phone, and you are carrying a large
box—one that is too big for you to carry all the way home alone. What do
you do?”

The students should brainstorm ideas, like visiting a friend who lives in the
neighborhood, asking for help from a safe adult, or asking a cabdriver to
take him or her home and to wait for payment from another adult. Once the
students have generated a few plans, the teacher asks the class the following
questions:

How did you come up with the plans?

How do you know they would work?

Who would you rely on to execute the plans?
How do you know that they would help?

.V‘r‘RSNN?‘

How likely is it that you’ll be in this situation?

After the class discusses these questions, the teacher explains to the students
that all of the answers have to do with social capital. The teacher explains
that “capital” means “wealth” (like money), and “social” means “having to
do with people.” As such, having social capital means having resources of
people and know—how concerning interacting with people. The teacher re—
fers the students to the main character in 7796 Lig/at in t/ae Forest and explains
that he has a lot of know—how when he’s among the Lenni—Lenape but that
he has to build new social capital when he rejoins his original community.
To deepen their understanding of social capital, the students write a short es—
say describing the social capital that they would miss if they suddenly found
themselves whisked off to an alien community. They may describe the lack
of the language skills, the lack of an understanding of the culture, and the
lack of friends and family as problems.

13 Use any intersection or address that is likely to be familiar to the students.

200