The Importance Of The Hunger Games In Today's Society

When I read the description for the thematic unit assignment, I immediately knew I wanted to use The Hunger Games. Since reading the trilogy a few years ago I have, on multiple occasions, thought about how great it would be to use in the classroom. It is an exciting, engaging story that students enjoy but also addresses numerous important aspects of today’s society. This allows students to ease into talking about sensitive or overwhelming topics – like various forms of government, the corruption of power, heroism, the impact of reality television, loyalty – by creating a safe but critical space for exploring them. By discussing the characters and plot of the story then broadening the scope to include personal experiences and the current state …show more content…
So while putting the unit together, I tried to consider both what would fulfill the standards requirements but also what students would find interesting. I do understand that this is not always an option and sometimes you need to do the best with what you’ve got, but since this was supposed to be set in a perfect school in a perfect world, I thought I would take the opportunity to create an exciting, engaging set of lessons that would be enjoyable for everyone involved and I think I achieved that. Looking at the standards for eighth grade, I could have picked almost any of them and made it work under the society theme, so I carefully considered what activities I could do with each one and what would be the most fun to hypothetically teach while also focusing on knowledge and skills that would serve students well into the future. I have the goal, as do many others, of being the kind of teacher who helps students succeed in life as well as in school; I hope to teach not only facts and information, but also the ability to think critically about important topics and how to speak up for what you think or believe. Through this unit, I tried to mentally put myself in the position of teaching in a standards-based environment while also providing a big picture view of the material. This gave me an awesome opportunity to stretch outside my comfort zone of lesson planning and see really how much work it is going to take to be the kind of teacher I want to be. Despite all the rules and regulations imposed on teachers today, I found that it is possible to teach to cultivate skills that students will use for the rest of their lives while also teaching to the standards. I recognize that it’s a bit idealistic and will definitely come with long nights, a lot of frustration and maybe a few tears, but in the end, I think it’s a small