Introducing The Hunger Games

Grade Level and Subject: Ninth Grade English/Language Arts

Rationale:

This lesson is important because it connects students emotionally and prepares them to approach the book The Hunger Games in a thoughtful manner.  It will help students to identify with commonalities in the characters and the situation, and themselves, and build curiosity about how the story will unravel.   Students will use their previous knowledge of *prediction skills, their ability to identify textual themes, and *pre-reading skills.  Students will use this introduction to The Hunger Games to fuel their future reading.  They will also use the *skill set to explore other books and form personal opinions and *beliefs.

Materials/Set-up/Preparation Needed (Include copies of all worksheets/handouts):

·        Copies of The Hunger Games book for each student

·        Internet video of The Hunger Games movie trailer

·        Copies of Julius Caesar (cropped to just the parts that match theme/character)

·        Arrange/be able to *arrange students’ desks in a way that is conducive for *discussion

Instructional Technology (What instructional technologies will be used in this lesson?):

·         A Smartboard would be helpful in diagraming similarities in a *comparative organizer

·         A projector hooked up to computer with internet for showing the movie trailer

Accommodations:

Because this lesson is taught fairly collectively, it would be easy for students to peer-teach their classmates who struggle.  Also, by including different levels of text and visual media (ex: Shakespeare, movie trailers), more students are likely to be able to connect at whatever level they’re comfortable with and each student will receive the same message, whether they’re at a level where they can unpack the complexity of Shakespeare or understand the pictorial and auditory message of the movie trailer.  No matter the student’s learning level, s/he can create opinions, and be challenged to stand firmly in that belief with rational.  *The variety in method (reading, watching, discussion, action etc.) will appeal to multiple learning styles.   

Motivation:

Students will be relating the content directly to themselves and that can be motivational because it becomes *relevant to the students.  The *appropriateness of the difficulty level and *variety of content will also be helpful in keeping students motivated.  Also the class will be well *organized into a productive pace which keeps student’s attention. 

Behavioral Expectations (What are your expectations for student behavior? How will you make students aware of these expectations?) Students will be expected to show that *the classroom is a safe environment to share opinions.  In order to do this, students will perform short skits *on the first day of class to put themselves in the position that a targeted student might be in in order to *connect with feelings.  As a *whole class, we will make a cumulative list of things we should avoid saying and doing while we discuss and I will *post a written list in the classroom all year to refer to whenever any student is sharing information.

Introduction/Anticipatory Set/Advance Organizer: I will ask how many students have ever read or seen The Hunger Games, or read Julius Caesar.  Then I will summarize part of the plot and some of the themes of The Hunger Games to get students interested and catch up students who haven’t connected with it yet.  I’ll tell students that it’s time that we read a whole class novel, and I think that we will use this book, but I want to hear what they think about it first.  Then I’ll tell them that we will first gather some information and evidence, and then use that information to build an opinion, and then we will have a class debate to decide if we should read the book. 

Procedure:   

I will be using *cognitive discovery and *lecture and then *discussion in a *debate format.

[5 minutes] I will show students the *Introduction/Anticipatory Set to catch their attention and prepare them for what is going to happen.

[1 minute] (Transition) For those students who haven’t experienced The Hunger Games, I will invite all the students to do a quick *summary along with me. 

[15 minutes] First, I will supply a brief plot overview of the story (not giving away the good parts) while asking students who have read/seen it to *add in as we go.  I will also discuss themes. 

[2 minutes] (Transition) I will introduce the movie, give a little background information on when it came out, how it did in theaters, etc.

[10 minutes] I will show movie trailer.

[3 minutes] (Transition) I will ask for a *show of hands of how many students said in the Introduction/Anticipatory Set that they had read Julius Caesar.  Then I will ask students to raise their hands also if they know the general story. 

[20 minutes] Then, I will pass out a cropped copy of Julius Caesar to students and ask them to read silently to themselves.   

[3 minutes] (Transition) I will gather class back together and shift their attention to the board where I will have a *graphic organizer (vendiagram).  I will ask if they found any similarities between Julius Caesar and The Hunger Games.

[10 minutes] We will use the *graphic organizer to sort and display students ideas of similarities and differences.  I will use *scaffolding to lead students to the conclusion about theme and character I’m looking for.

[1 minute] (Transition) I will open up another *graphic organizer (a T chart) and summarize that students now have a fairly good idea of what The Hunger Games is about, what themes it has, how it can connect to other literature, and also connect to ourselves.

[20 minutes] One side of the T chart will be negative aspects of reading this book specifically, and the other will be reason to read the book.  I will ask students to list academic reasons as well as *emotional feelings about the book’s plot, and *personal connections to the characters and themes.  I will encourage students to debate about the *morality of the book as well as its application to the *big picture. 

Closure:  

I will summarize individuals thoughts as a whole by looking at the *T chart with the students and we will come to a communal understanding of the qualities of the book, and that it is important for the students to read it with the *respect and *compassion required of reading about a traumatic event such as the games. 

Student Assignment: 

Assign students the first three chapters of the book.

Assessment of Learning: 

Students will read with a packet including *content questions, *thematic questions and questions which *connect the event to the reader directly.  This packet will be checked in class daily for progression, but will be due to be *graded at the end of the book.

As the unit continues, I will give daily reading quizzes on content.

It will also be easy to view student’s activity and attentiveness through their public responses in the classroom *discussions and *graphic organizers.

Reflection/Self-Assessment: I will base my reflection mainly off of how clearly students are connecting to the book.  Whether they connect positively or negatively, I want them to make strong relationships with the themes and characters.  Their connection will also be evident in the amount they participate actively, and the sincerity with which they experience beliefs.  These actions which will be important to me and the lesson and the way I want the students to be experiencing the book at the unit unfolds.