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Cherise and I teach our Hunger Games lesson plan this Thursday, so we spent the weekend printing worksheets, buying art supplies, and testing out our activities to make sure that they worked well and were as active as we imagined. The lesson focuses predominately on the relationship between Katniss and Rue and connects to the NCSS themes of Culture and Individual Development and Identity. After completing an activity that will help the students determine the characters strengths and weaknesses and discussing how they were shaped by their environment, the students will construct a pictorial language artwork that helps them understand their own strengths that were shaped by living in Chicago. To introduce them to the lesson, we decided we would share our own artworks, so the students could get some insight into our strengths for the arena.

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The rules for creating a Hunger Games pictorial artwork are as follows: Teachers will ask one question every 4 minutes. Students must answer each question with a one-word response that is written repeatedly across your paper in any direction and style. Students must use a different art material for each question.The first answer will be placed on your board only once and will be written in chalk. The last answer will be constructed with paint. Thee students will rotate stations in small groups for the in-between questions.

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The questions for the pictorial language artwork are:

Social (S), Cultural (C), Environmental (E)

• Name one character that you identified with the best. (S) (ex. Clove, Glimmer)
• Name a mode of transportation that you could use to navigate the city. (E) (ex. CTA, Bus, Bicycle, Parent, Walking)
• Name a type of first aid that you have administered. (S, C) (CPR, Band-Aids, Medicine, ice pack)
• Name a way that you have helped a friend or family/community member in need. (S, C) (ex. babysat, errands, groceries, cleaned, tutored, volunteer)
• Name the best hiding place in Chicago. (E) (home, neighborhood, school, park)
• Name a meal you can prepare. (C, E) (spaghetti, toast, ramen)
• If you were lost in the city, what would be your best trait for survival? (S, C, E) (humor, logic, calm, direction)
• What would be the most important trait of your team member? (S) (ex. honesty, loyalty)

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We had a lot of fun testing this portion of the lesson on ourselves, and I can’t wait to share the student results. Cherise and I even attended the midnight screening of the Hunger Games together to celebrate our success.

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