Teaching with Technology: Hatchet by Gary Larsen
Lesson One: Surviving in the Canadian Wilderness
Grade Level: 4th, 5th, 6th
Objectives:
1. Students will be able to in a group determine their best solution to a wilderness simulation by using information from their books, library resources and the World Wide Web.
2. Students will be able to present their experiences to the class orally.
Procedure:
1. After reading Hatchet, put students into groups of 3 to 4. Read them the following scenario: Your group has been stranded in the Canadian Wilderness. They have been stranded in the same area as Brian in Hatchet. You have access to clean drinking water; there is an abundance of native game and plants; it is in the month of July. They were able to salvage the following articles when stranded: all of the clothes that they are currently wearing (in the classroom), 5 blankets, 6 canteen/water bottles, 1 hatchet, 1 compass, 5 tents, 1 cast iron cooking pot, 1 cast iron frying pan, 1 coffee pot, and 1 map. The nearest town is 100 miles away through thick woods and hills, but no mountain peaks. There is a river that leads from their current location to within 10 miles of the town. They are only allowed to carry one item per person in their group. They need to vote on a leader, determine what they are taking, decide their action plan and write a summary of how they will be getting out of the wilderness. They may use resources to give them ideas, but they must come up with a reasonable plan. They must be out of the woods within 4 days. Give the students the resources they need and a time limit and watch what is produced.
2. After the time limit is up, have students share their experiences.
Other Ideas:
1. Students can journal about their daily experiences.
2. Students can research survival in other parts of the world.
Lesson Two: How-To Survive in the Wilderness
Grade Level: 4th – 6th
Objectives:
1. Students will be able to locate research in the library using the digital card catalogue and by using the World Wide Web.
2. Students will be able to present their findings as class presentation using Presentation software like PowerPoint.
3. Students will be able to write a “How-To” manual about surviving in the wilderness.
Procedure:
1. After reading the story, discuss as a class what important information is needed in order to survive in the wilderness. Then discuss what it would be like to live in the wilderness in different parts of the world such as the Serengeti in Africa, the Andes Mountains, the rainforests in the different parts of the world: Central America, Africa, and Southern Asia, and the plains in the different parts of the world such as China, Mongolia, Russia and the US.
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