Teaching The Hunger Games

I'm sure a lot of you have heard of this trilogy. It's called The Hunger Games, and it's written by Suzanne Collins. This Young Adult Novel is all anyone can talk about here lately, what with a new movie hitting theatres soon. Teachers are teaching it in their classrooms, and the kids are loving it. The movie is getting a lot of buzz. The Hunger Games is the first book in a three part series, including Catching Fire and MockingJay.  It highlights the dangerous journey of Katniss Everdeen as she is thrown into a murderous game called, you guessed it, The Hunger Games. She fights her way to death and back in order to keep herself alive. You see, only one can win this deadly game, and Katniss must do everything she can to make sure she comes out victorious.

I recommend teaching the first book in the trilogy. Anyone more after that and it's overkill. Just let the kids read the rest of the series on their own if they so choose (which they will). I would teach this to grades 8-12. Here are some suggestions on how:

-Before reading, teach the kids what a dystopian society is. A dystopian society is defined by Webster's dictionary as "an imaginary place where people lead dehumanized and often fearful lives". Have a classroom discusion on what the children think would make a society a fearful place to live in.

-I would invite my students to bring snacks with them to class, and let them bring blankets and pillows and let them sit on the floor. Then I would read to them. This would happen once or twice a week, depending on how much time I had planned for other activites.

-Have the kids write about what they would do if they were put into the position Katniss is, and explore the rest of the adventure.

-You could also have a class reaping, discuss questions, themes, and quotes, while having the students write in reading reponse journals. I also like the idea of putting the main character's names in a bowl, having students draw them out, and write from the perspective of the person.

*The main purpose of this reading activity is not for some big grade, but as you can see there are many activities you can do with your students in order to make sure they are learning.. An exercise like this should get kids interested in reading again. 

Goal: To have students begin reading for pure enjoyment again.