Hatchet by Gary Paulsen Unit Portfolio Presentation Mrs. Gettys

Unit Summary Brian Robeson is stranded alone in the Canadian wilderness after the pilot of the single-engine Cessna plane in which he is traveling suffers a fatal heart attack. Brian is forced to crash-land the plane and escapes just as it sinks in a remote lake.Canadianwildernessheart attacklake Brian figures out how to make fire. He forces himself to eat whatever food he can find, such as turtle eggs, fish, berries, and even a couple of birds. He deals with a porcupine, bear, skunk, moose, and a tornado. He eventually becomes quite a craftsman, crafting a bow, arrows, and a spear. He also fashions a shelter out of the underside of a rock overhang. During the story, he struggles with memories of home, and the bittersweet memory of his mother, who Brian has discovered was having an affair with another man.fireturtleporcupinebearskunkmoose tornadobowarrowsspear When a tornado hits the woods and lake, it draws the plane wreckage toward the shore of the lake. Brian makes a raft from a few broken off tree tops to get to the plane. When Brian is working his way into the plane, he drops his hatchet in the water. He realizes how critical the hatchet is for his survival. After diving twice, he retrieves the hatchet and narrowly avoids drowning. Inside the plane, he finds a survival pack, which has a transmitter, packs of food, and a AR-7 (.22 survival rifle). Brian unknowingly activates the transmitter, but he thinks it is broken. As he is digging into the food packs, a fur trader arrives in a water plane. Finally, after reaching his father, he is no closer to being able to tell him about the mother's affair than at the novel's beginning.transmitterAR-7 In an alternate ending sequel, Brian's Winter, the novel supposedly ends with having Brian not yet rescued, and with winter looming ahead. He was in the woods for 54 daysBrian's Winter

Curriculum-Framing Questions Essential Question : What is essential for (mental and physical ) survival ? Unit Questions: In the novel Hatchet what is essential for Brian to survive? Content Questions: What is bothering Brian ? What is the “Secret”? Why did Brian’s mother purchase a hatchet??

Vision for Unit By creating this unit, I want to Get my students to critically think about survival techniques. Help students to deal with divorce and depression During this unit, I want my students to Learn ways to connect survival to their daily lives Enjoy reading novels

Project Approaches As my students work on this project, they ● Connect information from the novel to their lives ● Collaborate with peers ● Create a product that shows what they’ve learned ● Share their learning with a real audience

21 st Century Learning Students will develop higher-order and 21 st century skills in this unit as they ●Use the Essential and Unit Questions to guide their analysis of the novel ●Communicate their ideas to a audience ●Reflect on their reading, writing, research, and thinking strategies, and modify and adapt them as necessary ●Use project assessments to self-assess their work and give feedback to their peers

Gauging Student Needs Assessments Use CFQs to learn Students express feelings and ideas about survival, divorce, depression Background knowledge of characters and plot of novel Assess 21 st Century skills Ability to communicate and collaborate with peers Make choices and decisions

Gauging Student Needs Assessments I can use the information from these assessments to: Focus on parts of the novel that students have prior misconceptions about Plan activities in which to challenge my students to think and question more critically Students can use the information from these assessments to: Relate what they have learned to their lives and other novels that they will read

Requests for Feedback Need help in using more technology throughout the unit Need help assessing students’ higher- order thinking skills

Hatchet