Hatchet Unit Plan - Gary Paulsen Novel Study Reading Unit

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Hatchet Unit Plan includes everything you need to teach Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. With more than 200 pages and slides of content, there will be absolutely no prep required. This novel unit includes eye-catching presentation slides, print-ready assignments, questions, vocabulary, quizzes, and interactive class activities. You will have everything you need to make your students fall in love with Hatchet!

What Teachers Are Saying About The Hatchet Unit Plan:

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Included in This Hatchet Unit Plan:

➡️ Hatchet Introductory Presentation: Start your Hatchet unit plan with this interactive PowerPoint presentation that includes pre-reading discussion questions, an interactive class activity, a biography of Gary Paulsen, a fun review quiz, a video, and background information on the novel.

➡️ Hatchet Summary Cards: These summary cards are an excellent classroom reference for both teacher and student. These 20 printable summary cards outline the most important plot moments from Hatchet. Simply print and cut out the cards, and you have a resource available that can be used as a tool for struggling readers, as a quick way to find plot moments, or as a tool to find text evidence during essay writing.

➡️ Hatchet Quizzes: These short assessments are perfect as a quick check for student comprehension. Included are seven quizzes to assess student comprehension of the novel. Each quiz includes six multiple-choice questions and two quotes that students must respond to by sharing context. For each quote, students are required to explain what is happening at that point in the plot with any relevant information. Detailed answer keys are included.

➡️ Hatchet Vocabulary Booklet and Slides: Help students learn new vocabulary words from the novel with this ready-to-use resource. This resource helps students hone their skills in using context clues to determine the meaning of new words as they are used within the novel. Included is a vocabulary booklet organized by novel chapter sets where students read the new word in a quote from the novel and infer its meaning. Then, they look up the definition to see if they were correct. Presentation slides are included for easy class review or grading.

➡️ Hatchet Questions and Answers: This resource includes novel reading questions organized by chapter sets in the novel that include comprehension and digging deeper questions. A presentation is included to review the answers with students. The answers are detailed and include text evidence for support.

➡️ Hatchet - Video Clips: Help your students make connections to the novel with these video journals. Students will watch a short video clip on YouTube that relates to a topic, theme, or idea presented in the novel. A related journal prompt is included and students share their thoughts and ideas in writing. The videos are not specific to the novel, but they relate in a way that allows students to make a text-to-self or text-to-world connection. YouTube is required.

➡️ Hatchet Analysis Notes: This 30-slide presentation shares some of the most important literary elements in the novel organized by novel chapter sets. The notes address characterization, theme, conflict, and more. The notes can be used for students to copy, or they can be used as discussion starters. After using this presentation, your students will have a much deeper understanding of the novel.

This Hatchet Unit Plan also includes creative assignments and activities for each chapter set in the novel. You can learn more about what's included below:

Chapters 1 - 3

➡️ Hatchet Wilderness Survival Quiz and Reflection: Build context for the novel with this fun pre-reading quiz that checks students' knowledge of what it takes to survive in the wilderness without supplies. The quiz includes 10 general multiple-choice questions about survival that will warm students up to important topics that will come up later in the novel. Also included is a short reflection assignment that will have students reflect on what they learned during the quiz and whether or not they feel they would have the skills to survive.

Chapters 4 - 6

➡️ Hatchet Post Plane Crash Planning Activity: This activity allows your students to put themselves in protagonist Brian's shoes in Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. After reading Chapter 5 and learning what items Brian has with him, students will use this resource to brainstorm different ways Brian can use these items to survive in the wilderness. The Hatchet activity allows students not only to empathize with a character but also to use problem-solving strategies and out-of-the-box thinking.

Chapters 7 - 9

➡️ Hatchet Nonfiction Article & Berries Sorting Game: In these chapters, Brian consumes berries that are toxic and falls ill. Help students make a text-to-text connection by reading a short article about tips for knowing which berries can be eaten and which are toxic. Then, they will play a sorting game where they must sort pictures of berries based on what they learned to reveal two mystery words.

Chapters 10 - 12

➡️ Hatchet Fire Concrete Poetry Writing: In these chapters, Brian finally has fire and is able to appreciate the significant difference it makes for his survival. Have students reflect on this by writing a concrete poem in the shape of fire. Included are instructions for how to write the poem, a pre-writing graphic organizer, and two templates for students to use (one with a fire image and one with the space for students to create their own.

Chapters 13 - 15

➡️ Hatchet Brian as a Dynamic Character Assignment: Use this resource to analyze protagonist Brian's development as a dynamic character in the novel Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. This resource allows students to use textual evidence to demonstrate Brian's physical, mental, and emotional transformation throughout the novel.

Chapters 16 - 18

➡️ Hatchet Survival Pack Activity: In chapter 17 of Hatchet by Gary Paulsen, protagonist Brian realizes there is a rescue pack on the plane and sets a plan in motion to attempt to retrieve it. You can use this fun activity to have students predict what they think Brian should find in the pack and explain why they think each item should be included. This resource allows students to infer what would make survival easier based on Brian's experiences and their understanding of the challenges Brian faces in the novel.

Chapters 19- Epilogue

➡️ Hatchet Character Interview with Brian Activity: Allow your students to create an imagined interview between protagonist Brian and the local media after his rescue from the wilderness. This resource allows students to use their background knowledge to infer the questions an interviewer may ask and enables students to show their understanding of the content of the novel through Brian's responses. After the written portion is completed, you could have students perform the interview in front of the class!

Post-Reading

➡️ Hatchet Brian's Survival Manual Assignment: This creative writing assignment has students use information from Hatchet by Gary Paulsen to create a survival manual. Students play the role of protagonist, Brian, after his rescue when he is asked to write a survival manual for the Canadian government. This assignment will allow students to use text evidence from the novel to share the lessons that Brian learned during his experience in the wilderness in a fun and creative way.

➡️ Hatchet Plot Diagram: Students will use this ready-to-use template to write what happens in the exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution of Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. This is a useful assignment for students to show their understanding of plot structure using a story arc template. Also included is a detailed answer key that outlines the key moments of the plot in each area of the plot diagram.

➡️ Hatchet Final Projects: End your unit for Hatchet by Gary Paulsen with these high-interest final project ideas! Students can choose to write poetry, create a novel soundtrack, write a speech, design a comic strip, write diary entries, record a podcast, or film a scene from the novel.

➡️ Hatchet A Cry in the Wild Movie Comparison: A Cry in the Wild is the film adaption of Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. After students have finished the novel, show the film version and have them use this assignment to compare the two.

What Teachers Are Saying About The Hatchet Unit Plan:

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This is great! Great activities with tons of choices for lessons.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Absolutely loved this. One of the best units I have purchased on here. Students really dug deep with some of the questions! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ My students enjoyed many of the activities in this unit, such as the plane crash activity. The comprehension questions and journal slides were thought-provoking and kept my students engaged.

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