It's a Literacy Revolution & You're Needed!

Join the Literacy Revolution

Katniss fueled the spark that began the revolution in The Hunger Games trilogy. Whether she meant to or not, wanted to or not, she became the symbol of the rebellion; she became the mockingjay.

While Katniss's revolution is fictional, there's a real one going on right now. It's a literacy revolution. Shylah is the author and creator of the blog A Tribute to Tributes. She spear-headed the literacy revolution after reading the series and feeling as though the trilogy needed to end in a happier or more hopeful way. A way in which good trumps evil.  And she also knew that one of the best ways to build a strong nation and end poverty and oppression is through education. "Education powers revolutions." (I'm With the Mockingjay)

That led her to the DonorsChoose.org website, where she found a teacher who only needed $100 to fund her project of 35 copies of The Hunger Games for her high-poverty, under-funded school. The teacher knew that her students would be able to relate to the themes of injustice and oppression. With Shylah's help, the project was funded & the students got their books.

But she hasn't stopped there; she is continually seeking out teachers who need their projects funded. Ones that will share the love for The Hunger Games with hundreds, probably thousands, of children. It is a revolution that is seeking your involvement, your generosity.

She explains on her blog the purpose of the project:
"Our goal is simple. As Hunger Games fans who believe in equity and empowerment, we will work to fund as many as possible of the requests for Hunger Games books posted on donorschoose.org. We’ll take it one class at a time—just as Katniss and the Rebels worked District by District to overthrow the Capitol."

Imagine how many students will begin to love to read again after reading The Hunger Games in school.  Imagine what just one person's generosity can do for all these children. And, in turn, what it could do for generations of children. When you give to a project, you are not only helping that classroom of children, you are helping the future. Those children will remember your generosity and pass it on to their children. And a new cycle will form. One that spreads literacy and a love for reading. One that could mean a way out of poverty for many children. Because without reading skills, we all know how limited our choices, our world, becomes.

Visit the Literacy Revolution site; Shylah has links to classroom projects that need your funding. And when you donate, don't forget to add the following to your personal message:

“I gave to this project because I'm with the Mockingjay, and support a literacy revolution in American classrooms.”

(Source: Literacy Revolution)

Class Reaping and Training: Let the Games Begin!

My students had a lot of fun participating in a mock reaping for each district in class based on the popular novel by Suzanne Collins.  (See the latest images in volume 2 HERE and additional visual aides of materials and the training sessions on my school web page here.)

The reaping slips.

Because I wanted 100% of the students to participate and feel involved in the activity, after we reaped the tributes for each district the remaining students drew for jobs related to the Games and training. For example, each tribute (we only had 12 - one from each district) was assigned a Mentor, Escort, and Stylist. Each class period also had a team of Gamemakers. One of my larger classes also had Avoxes, who were assigned various duties (such as designing, printing, cutting, and distributing the Panem cash).

One of my favorite things about the lesson was watching the groups get together to decide a "persona" for their tribute, then executing the right slogan, marketing materials, wardrobe, token, and practice sessions. The Gamemakers also came up with creative stations, such as the Cornucopia sprint where tributes had to hurdle buckets, hop through hoops, then gather essential supplies in a backpack as quickly as they can and race through the obstacles to the finish. The back-and-forth debate between students about what they should or shouldn't do and why was critical thinking at its best.

The students designed everything themselves, including the cash they used to sponsor tributes. The Mentors were then able to purchase "gifts" to be delivered to the tributes during their mock training sessions. (Though this could be done during a mock Games.)

Handouts customized for each position.

To make the role-play assignment more meaningful and engaging for every single student (and to hold them accountable), I had a series of questions and list of duties for every position (including tributes). Their grades depended on how well they fulfilled their job duties.  You can find the complete 40-page packet, which includes detailed teacher-instructions, handouts for every job, my original "Class Reaping" activity and an additional reaping activity incorporating several districts and positions, and images and examples of the materials we used, in my web store as a stand-alone purchase OR on my Hunger Games CD. It is not available in the digital download because of size restrictions. However, the original Class Reaping activity is still included.

This is a great time-saver for those who would love to have students participate, but don't want to spend hours preparing. It's also an excellent student-centered, student-led, collaborative activity.

Additional materials used (to see more, click here):

Students posted marketing materials for their tributes on the board (and all over the classroom & school) to gain sponsors.

Students then decided who to give their avox-created Panem cash to (in the appropriate tribute envelope):

Stylists made tribute tokens using their own materials or optional beading supplies I provided:

Hint: The equal sign can pose as an 11 if you run low on ones!

Mentors used the cash received from sponsors to purchase gifts for the tributes 

(though some mentors may have held on to some of the gifts themselves...)

Fireballs (used to "burn" your opponents) were made with Tootsie-Pops and colored paper:

Hunger Games Projects Encourage Creativity

Creative activities will enhance student learning.

Giving a final exam and/or chapter quizzes over a novel is usually an essential tool to assess whether students grasped the main concept and can identify important character decisions and actions relating to the theme. It's also one way to tell whether the students actually read the book or paid attention to the read-aloud.

But supplementing the test/quizzes with an end-of-the-novel creative project is an excellent way to allow your more "hands-on" learners to succeed. It also inspires creativity--an essential component in critical thinking and problem solving that today's kids seem to be lacking.

I offer a Hunger Games project lesson that includes over 40 different ideas here. It's a mix of both creative and research-based projects to appeal to all types of learners.  You can designate a few ideas for students to choose from, or give them free reign.  I also include grading rubrics to help you assess their final product.  These projects can be used while reading Catching Fire and Mockingjay, as well. However, I do have a more specific list of projects for Mockingjay here and Catching Fire project ideas are included in the discussion questions lesson here.

In my classes the most popular choice by the boys was creating their own Capitol muttations. For a quick assignment, have students visit an animal mash-up site such as: http://www.hemmy.net/2006/08/29/photoshop-animal-hybrids-galore/ and choose a few of the hybrids as muttations. Then allow them to write how the Capitol would use these creatures as weapons against the tributes and district citizens. Here is a free activity with printable handouts: Create Capitol Mutts Activity

Many of the girls preferred creating word puzzles, quizzes, and trivia games for their projects.  Many online sites offer free puzzle making programs for student use, such as Discovery Education's Puzzlemaker Page.

The great thing about these projects is that they can be used for many novels or lessons in not only English class, but in history, science, and even math class. Of course, teachers would have to make a few adjustments to personalize it, but the concept would be the same. 

Examples of projects from my students and other teachers who had great success using my unit activities 

for The Hunger Games:

Capitol-Created Muttations (Using iWork's Pages):

Created by one of my freshman this fall.

Character traits artwork from student "QKC"

http://browse.deviantart.com/?q=QKC&order=9&offset=24#/d2yiyzl

Map of the Arena from Jackson Abbau:

Map of the arena from a student in Mrs. Amy Cobb's class:

http://ebytes.shorecrest.org/Jul-Dec-2010/EBy-Dec10-10/1210/e2.html

The next two are from Mrs. Lenzi Hart's language arts class:

http://lenzilikesit.blogspot.com/2010/10/hunger-games-projects.html

Below - This is a work in progress by three boys I had in class last year. 

 They started their own 3-dimensional depiction of the arena in their industrial arts class as a woods project. Believe me, this is huge! It was the last week of school last year and they had just begun painting the inside and securing rocks inside with caulk for the cave. They did all this during studyhall, then decided perhaps they needed to study for finals. I'm hoping they'll finish it before they graduate or allow another group to finish it. :)

 Work in Progress! 

Three-dimensional depiction of the arena.

The Hunger Games Book Talk Visual Aide (Using Comic Life):

The Hunger Games Board Game

eBay Listing for Katniss's bow and arrow used during her private training session:

(This is a lesson that can be used to teach symbolism in the novel)

Word cloud using the lyrics to the Meadow song Katniss sung to Rue 

(in addition, students can create their own song or record themselves singing this song):

South Park-style character depictions (also displayed in picture of Katniss, top of page):

using the website http://www.sp-studio.de/index.htm

Teachers: In the comment section, add a link to your students' projects or email them to me and I will add them to this page.