Pre-Reading:
Discussion Questions: Who has been hunting? What animals have you hunted? Why haven't you been hunting?
As a bellringer, students come to class and answer the above questions on a piece of paper or a Google Form. Then, as a class, we discuss. I ask various students what animals they hunt, we talk about their experiences, we discuss how some people have hunted "big game" and how some don't hunt at all. We dive into why some people may hunt and why they may not. The students lead the discussion and I wrap it up by telling the students: "Let's go hunting."
Let's Go Hunting!
Hidden around the classroom are colorful cards with various animals printed on them. All of the cards are hidden in plain sight!
I tell the students to quietly find a card and go back to their seat. Students then return to their seats and we go around the room and each student tells us what animal they "got" on their hunt. We have some fun and joke when someone "takes out" an innocent penguin or breaks the law with an elephant.
Then, students put the cards back exactly where they found them. They return to their seats. Then the students get back up and find a new card. It is important to not combine the steps so that students are a part of the redunancy and repetitveness.
When the students have a new card in their hand, we repeat the process. We go through the exact process around three times.
Once students sit in their seat the final time, we discuss how we haven't discovered any new animal and I ask students why they are not eager to get out of their seats the final time. Eventually, a student says the words I need to hear "It was the same thing as before - it was getting boring".
I then ask students how I could have made the activity more fun. Answers range from "hunting real animals" to "hiding the cards better" to "hiding the cards around the entire school". We relate this concept to life and how athletes wouldn't want to continue to play a game if they always knew the outcome. We finally come ot the conclusion that "Predicitablity and perfection is boring."
Vocabulary
Students complete the vocabulary assignment in class, or as homework, before we begin reading.
Read! Read! Read!
I ask the students "Why do you think we went hunting?" to which they respond "Our story will be about hunting!"
Together, we read Richard Connel's "The Most Dangerous Game". While reading, students annotate and I stop them frequently to check for comprehension and make connections.
Students also work on a close read analysis while reading to cover the big objectives such as conflict, suspense, and characterization.