New Hunger Games Character Posters Have Your Head Swooning?

 

Oh my goodness. Is your heart swooning over the new Lionsgate® Hunger Games movie posters?  I just love seeing all the actors in character, especially Peeta and Katniss. 

Last night the Hunger Games Fireside Chat had a special broadcast to discuss these new releases. Highlights included discussing Cinna's gold eyeliner (airbrushed or naturally applied?),  Haymitch's long blonde hair (a super-long comb-over, perhaps?) and formal attire, Peeta's sad look, Katniss's flawless skin (but logo placed on the side of her head that looks like Princess Leia as Shylah pointed out via Hunger Games DWTC), Gale's scowl and unnaturally long neck, the beauty and innocence that Rue encompasses, Cato's non-menacing look (and the fact that Cato was included with this bunch) and Effie's pink (or grayish?) hair and outlandish Capitol style. It was an interesting episode and you can catch up by listening here and follow the tweets under the #HGFiresideChat hashtag on Twitter or TweetChat.

Warning: there are some minor spoilers as I discuss my thoughts on the posters.

I have to say that I do love Gale's scowl. I think it is fitting with his character: he is an angry man. The Capitol has taken his father and left him, like Katniss, responsible for his family's survival. He has a lot of angst inside, ready to unleash. 

Rue is perfect. Innocent, sad. Exactly how I pictured her. Can anyone say that Lenny Kravitz is not Cinna now? He is perfect. I was expecting a black t-shirt rather than the bluish button-down (and gold chain), yet it works. Savanna brought up the question about whether he has a pendant at the end of the chain. The way it falls it seems very plausible. And I would love to see what it would be. What do you think Cinna would have hanging on the end? A ring to hold glasses? A simple stone pendant? A token of his own, like some sort of swirly symbol that defines who he is? Perhaps bottled flames? A tape measure or pins? (I love guessing.)

Effie is great: she looks Capitolish with her crazy make-up. I just thought her hair would be brighter. And Haymitch...well, he is not at all how I pictured. I thought balding with darker hair. An observant listener pointed out that Katniss describes his black curly hair in Catching Fire when they watch Haymitch's reaping tape. But, this small matter doesn't upset me. I know Woody will be perfect as Haymitch, so the blond hair is OK with me. I was just surprised at the length of it. And his upturned collar was odd. But it made sense if he was being dressed and cleaned up by Capitol hands, as another panelist pointed out (I have a hard time keeping voices straight while listening, except for Sam's and Adam's, of course). This is most likely how they would, indeed, dress him. Although I pictured the fashion to be more futurish rather than classically-styled.

Cato. Why the inclusion of Cato with this group? Why not Prim? Why not Thresh? Here's my take on this: Cato is the antagonist in the novel for Katniss. All along, he is the real threat, the one standing in her way to victory. Even though we see little of him in Katniss's narrative, I believe he'll play a much bigger role in the movie. He has to. We'll see Peeta interact with him, making a deal with the Careers, and follow their path of hunting Katniss. Cato is the Career leader. This is a bigger role than Prim. Prim's spotlight will come later in Mockingjay, where Katniss spends so much more time with her beloved sister. Thresh and Foxface seem to operate alone, so their parts will be slightly smaller than Cato's. So I was not surprised with Cato's presence amongst the others.  As far as his expression, I'm actually glad we don't see a menacing look. In the end, we do feel for this boy, who is, after all, only human and a product of his environment. Another Capitol pawn who has had no life of his own.Will we see more of this Cato throughout the Games instead of the very end, where he pleads with his eyes for Katniss to end his misery? It could help Katniss realize sooner who the real enemy is. I like the idea of Cato's evil being toned down.

Interesting tidbits: The listeners from Victor's Village (@VictorsVillage) pointed out that Cato, Peeta, and Gale are all missing their Adam's apples. They were surely trimmed and smoothed over in Photoshop, but it is kind of odd once it's pointed out. President Snow (@PresidentSnow) wondered why his poster wasn't released. And others expressed interest in seeing Prim, Caesar Flickerman, Thresh, Foxface, and Clove.

So, what do you think of the new posters? Any thoughts on Katniss's facing to the right and the rest facing to the left? 

Will you buy any of them for your classroom? I think I might have to. I really love how so much emotion is expressed in their single poses. The innocence, the anger, the sadness, the strength. Perfect.

 All photos are courtesy of Lionsgate®, Entertainment Weekly, and the Hunger Games Examiner. 

New Revelations With TheCapitol.PN District Seals and Occupations

Panem District Seals from TheCapitol.PN

TheCapitol.pn revealed new posters for each of the 12 districts of Panem on their Facebook pages. Lionsgate®'s The Hunger Games movie marketing ploy? Perhaps. However, I was excited to see each district display their main industry and the occupations that would be assigned to individual "citizens."

Why is this information so fascinating?
As someone who has been trying to map each district in Panem since 2009, any little shred of information about each place helps pinpoint its location. I am a visual learner. And I love maps. Therefore, if one isn't provided, I will create it myself. Of course, I'm also a stickler for accuracy. The problem is, we aren't provided with all the information about the districts in the series because we are limited to what Katniss knows (and sometimes she just doesn't pay attention to the details, or just doesn't care). As frustrating as this is, it's also one of the "draws" for me into the novels. I was craving more information about each place during Catching Fire and Mockingjay, hoping for more tiny shreds so I could tear apart my old maps and piece together a new one. I analyzed each tribute, looking for clues as to where they may be from, hoping there would be distinct signs pointing me to a location.

So how can I use this in my classroom with my students?
I have an activity for students to create their own maps of Panem and fill out a chart of each district and its industry. I want them to use context clues to gather as much information as possible in order to make their map, rather than randomly place districts wherever. In doing so, they practice geography and close reading skills by gathering information and inferring where it would be located, then plotting it on a map.  While reading The Hunger Games, students really only have specific information to plot the Capitol city and district 12. However, they can use context clues and research to speculatively plot districts 1, 3, 4, 11, and 13.

With the additional information and clues the posters and website provide, students can easily attempt to plot all 13 districts using logical reasoning and research. My example is here.

To further help them along, provide them with this list of occupations Panem district citizens have been assigned by TheCapitol.PN:

District Occupations
1 - Goldsmith, Vinter, Furrier, Perfumer, Jeweler
2 - Stonemason, Plasterer, Brick Mason, Brick Layer, Concrete Finisher
3 - Technician, Engineer, Tester, Technical Support, Assembly Operation, Assembly Operator
4 - Canner, Trawler, Ship Captain, Deckhand, Longliner
5 - Systems Analyst, Engineer, Equipment Manager, Maintenance, Plant Security Officer
6 - Mechanic, Conductor, Porter, Baggage Handler, Router
7 - Load Puller, Furniture Builder, Lead Climber, Carpenter, Lumberjack
8 - Warehouse Manager, Weaver, Factory Worker, Designer, Dressmaker
9 - Plower, Cropper, Sower, Farmer, Harvester
10 - Barn Manager, Milker, Rancher, Breeder, Butcher
11 - Sorter, Farmhand, Gardener, Harvester, Irrigator
12 - Coal Miner, Metallurgist, Geologist, Surveyor, Blaster
(These are all from the Facebook pages for each district. If I am missing any, please let me know in the comment section below.)

If students study various careers in another class, this could be an excellent cross-curricular project. They can research any of these occupations and find where (in North America) the most jobs are located for each particular position, the average wage/income, amount of training needed, etc..

You can see my updated map of Panem HERE using my own rationale and context clues. Though, chances are I will probably revise it once again. I believe with the grain indicating wheat for district 9, I will most likely move it into Kansas.

Helpful links:
Market Clipping of US Crops: http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/sis5219
Map of Nuclear Power Facilities in US: http://www.nrc.gov/info-finder/reactor/
Downloadable Statistics through Census of Agriculture: http://www.agcensus.usda.gov/Publications/2007/Online_Highlights/Fact_Sheets/index.asp

My Hunger Games Themes, Setting, Symbols, and Map Activity is currently being updated with the new information. I hope to finish it within a couple of days.

Oh! The Things I Found (while cleaning out my classroom cupboards...)

I have a lot of "stuff." It was time to get rid of some of it...

  I will admit that I tend to save things. OK, I'm a pack rat. But...I don't think I've reached hoarder status! I just have a fondness for things that are a little out of the ordinary. Plus, I have a really hard time throwing away things that can (somehow) be useful in the classroom.

  However, I did do some cleaning and tossing of things this summer because I have run out of room in my classroom for them (and I need to make room for more books!).  I do like to have my room looking somewhat orderly at the beginning of the year. It will collect stacks of papers and projects soon enough, so it's nice to at least start out clean, right!?

  Let me first say that I love my classroom & its built-in storage capacity. My entire back wall is cupboards and counter-space (see photo, right). I do have one of the smaller closets (I have a corner room) and the other two English teachers in my building have built-in shelves along the adjacent wall from their cupboards/counter. But, Ann--our wonderful custodian--set me up with some great book cases last year to span one wall of my room (see photo below). And a great student custom-made a shelf in shop-class for me to fit a small gap of wall (not shown). Yes, they all know I love books!

Thanks to my awesome custodian, Ann, I have bookcases along one wall of my room for my class library.

As I was cleaning to make room for more books, I was pretty surprised at some of the items I found in my cupboards. Here's a sample of things I both wonder why I kept and things I forgot I had:

Some old Sports Illustrated magazines from the early 1980's. I also found some Glamour magazines from 1988-89 (my senior year in high school), but those were quickly snatched up by students. I put these in the box of magazines that students can use to cut up...but since they all have laptops, no one has been touching that box. I guess they will just get recycled this year. Unless anyone knows if they are worth money. If so, let me know! I'll gladly sell! ;]

Some old laminated ink-blots I used for creative writing prompts long ago. I forgot I had these. But since I haven't used them in years, I recycled them. We can always create more, right!

A "To Kill a Mockingbird" project with all the characters cast as comic-strip characters. I still think it's cute & clever. The characters the student chose to represent the TKaM characters are perfect! It really doesn't take up that much room...

A box of PEZ dispensers. There are actually two full boxes; these happen to be ones still in the packaging. The others used to hang from my ceiling with fishing line, but they collected way too much dust and grime. So now they reside in a box. :( I would like to find a way to display them in a fun way because the students have fun looking at them. Not sure how, though...

My "Scream" painting that was to be a Halloween costume (to go as the painting--since so many students were wearing the "Scream" masks...), but I liked it too much to cut the eye-holes & decided to hang it in my room instead. I went as Princess Leia's hologram projected from R2D2 instead.

Nope, these aren't real... I had to get rid of some of my Mexican currency before returning to the States on a vacation to Cabo. My husband & I went with another teacher & his wife. We saw these in the airport gift shop & thought it would be a great prank to put in the teacher's lounge to see how many people would try to eat them. Now, at least once a year, I set them on my desk to see how many students will pick them up. You'd be surprised at how many actually do...

Why? Why did I keep this full-page ad Billy Corgan took out in the Chicago Tribune back in 2005? I mean, I know why...because I'm a huge Smashing Pumpkins fan. But I'm not sure why I held on to it. So...sorry, Billy. But you just got recycled.

"The Most Dangerous Game" board game, made a few years ago by some students. It's so darn cute, I haven't been able to throw it away. But it does take up a ton of room. It just might have to go this year...

Well, I can't throw out my high school letter jacket, right!? This, sadly, made it to my costume box for dress-up days (we dress up for Homecoming, Halloween, Red-Ribbon week, and various other spur-of-the-moment days). The 80's was our Homecoming theme a few years ago (you know you're old when the era of your high school days is now a novelty dress-up day or Homecoming theme!), so I brought it to school and now it is always on hand just in case someone wants to look like a big dork! (The sailor zip-up hood is especially classy, don't you think! ha)

Need I say more? This, inside my closet, has found a permanent home. Because we've all been there at some point, right!?

No matter what, I continue to cheer on the Cubs. Ya, I don't know why, either. I just always have. Some day they'll make us proud...some day...

Pieces from a Tragedy of Julius Caesar-themed board game. I especially liked the colorful paper die the students made. Alas, it was recycled.

In my Homecoming/Halloween/Dress-Up Days box is a collection of masks. This is my PEZ clown mask. I went as a PEZ clown one year (I converted a box into the red dispenser & wore the mask). It was very hard not having the use of my hands, I must say! My giant Bunny PEZ decided to wear the clown mask. This mask actually freaks a lot of students out. I never realized how many are afraid of clowns! Maybe we should stop watching "IT" in class! Ha ha...just kidding! But I do teach a Stephen King unit that is fun. And creepy.

So what types of things do YOU have lurking in your classroom cupboards and closets? Share them below or link a post to this one. I'd love to read about yours! (It also helps to know I'm not the ONLY teacher who hangs on to things...I know you're out there...somewhere!)