6th Grade GT Summer Reading Assignment 2017
Students will read the novel, Hatchet by Gary Paulsen and complete the following assignments:
Assignment 1:
As you read your assigned novel, please complete the following annotation process using Dr.
Sandra Kaplan's Depth and Complexity Icons. Please refer the Depth and Complexity Thinking
Stems page for the types of thinking that is associated with each icon to support you in their use
in annotation.
Process:
1. At the beginning of each chapter, choose 3 Depth and Complexity Icons to look for as you
read. For example: Details
, Ethics
, and Multiple Perspectives
chapter title page to reference as you go along.
. Draw these on the
2. As you read that chapter and find connections to those icons, highlight the text and draw the
symbol in the margin beside the text. You may also choose to make notes in your book
regarding your thinking for later reference.
3. You will need to use all of the icons as many times as you can throughout the book. Please
rotate which icons you use in each chapter to ensure this. You may need to change the icons as
you go if there are no relevant examples for that icon in the chapter. A suggested structure for
this is found below. Feel free to create your own structure based on your own book and
interest.
Chapter 1
Details
, Ethics
, and Multiple Perspectives
Chapter 2
Patterns
, Unanswered Questions
, Big Idea
Chapter 3
Language of the Discipline
, Change Across Time
Disciplines
, Details
Chapter 4
Repeat....
, Rules
, Trends
Assignment 2: Thematic Connection
Each of the following themes are among those used in Hatchet. Read the themes below and
provide an event from the story to support how each theme was included by the author in the
novel.
Man and the Natural World:
Preservation:
Courage:
Isolation:
Exploration:
Choose a poem that connects to one of the themes and write a brief paragraph discussing how
the poem is connected. Be sure to bring a copy of the poem to class.
Possible sources for your poem:
www.poets.org
www.middleschoolpoetry180.wordpress.com
www.poetry.com
www.poemhunter.com
www.poems.com
Other Themes: What is another theme you can come up with that would fit with Hatchet?
Connect this theme to personal experiences or to the real world. Describe the connection chosen.
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Assignment 3: Choose 11 (one per each depth and complexity icon) of your favorite, meaningful, or
thoughtful quotes from the novel and write a dialectical journal entry for each.
ICON
QUOTE & PAGE NUMBER
RESPONSE
Depth and Complexity Thinking Stems
Symbols
Thoughts that go with it
What details help you understand what the author is saying?
What details are important and what is your evidence?
What features are described to help you create a picture in your mind?
What patterns in language does the author use? Why do you think they do that?
What behavioral patterns do you see in your characters?
What events have you seen in other places in the book? Why is there a pattern for
that event?
What words are specific to the work?
What new vocabulary words have you learned?
What words do you not understand?
What ethical issues or moral dilemmas are happening in the story?
How do ethical issues and moral dilemmas make the plot more interesting?
What lesson can be learned from this ethical dilemma?
What are the unknown stimuli or details for the event?
How would it change the plot if these questions were answered earlier in the plot?
How does not knowing all information about a story make it more interesting?
***You may come up with your own unanswered questions as you read.***
What past, present, and possible future events relate to this issue, topic, or plot
event?
How has the thoughts about this pattern changed over time?
How does knowing things over time affect how we think?
What are the rules of the society/setting that the book takes place in?
What rule boundaries do the characters face to achieving their goals?
Identify implicit and explicit rules in the book.
How do the rules of the genre contribute to the plot of the book?
Describe trends that you see in the book.
What causes the trends in the book?
What trends in the book are also seen in real life?
What multiple perspectives are present in the book?
How do multiple perspectives create conflict in the book?
How do multiple perspectives create resolution in the book?
If your perspective different from the book?
Does this topic relate to any other school subject?
Does this remind you about something that you have read/learned in the past?
What text shows you the big idea of the book?
What relates to the theme of the book?
How does the author teach the lesson they want you to understand?
Assignment 4: Figurative Language
Assignment 5: Enrichment Projects
“Hatchet” Enrichment Projects
Name:
Date:
Based on the details
from the novel, create a
two page survival guide
that you could hand out to
your classmates with
instructions on how to
survive if they are ever
stranded in the Canadian
wilderness.
The guide should include
several ideas that you read
in the novel, a catchy title
and two illustrations.
Sadly, there have been
many real plane crashes in
Northern Canada through
the years. Research one of
those crashes and create a
1
1 page compare and
2
contrast paper comparing
and contrasting the real
crash to Brian’s crash in the
novel, “Hatchet.” Turn in a
copy of the article with your
paper.
1
Write a 1 page report
2
on one of the breeds of
wildlife that Brian had to
deal with in “Hatchet.”
Research facts and include
them with your report. Add
an illustration.
Pretend you were able
to talk to Brian on Twitter.
You are allowed to ask him
anything and everything
about his life that readers
would want to know.
Create at least three Twitter
pages showing your indepth conversation
between Brian and yourself.
You may have to make
some of the answers up
based on inferences you’ve
made from the details in
the novel.
Pretend you are Brian
1
in the novel. Write a 12
Research real life
mountain men that live in
geographical areas like
page ballad about your
the area that Brian’s
life, from your parent’s
plane crashed in. Write a
divorce to your plane
ten page picture book
crash and finally your
rescue. Include a chorus about their life and how
they survive with a
as well for your ballad.
paragraph and an
illustration on each page.
Include a cover page as
well for your picture
book.
Write a four stanza poem
Write a twenty
as a tribute to Brian
question “true or false”
expressing his bravery
quiz about the novel,
throughout the novel.
“Hatchet.” Include an
In your poem use examples
answer key for your
from the story. Include an
teacher.
illustration with your poem.
Complete three projects in tic tac toe order.
©GinaKennedy
Pretend you have
decided to open a
Canadian Wilderness
Adventure Tour Company.
Create a poster that
advertises your company.
On the poster include the
activities that participants
will take part in. Include
details about their sleeping
quarters in the great
outdoors and ideas about
the wildlife they will get to
see. Create a catchy title
for your company and
make your poster attractive
to encourage people to
want to come.
Hatchet:
Figurative Language
Directions: Explain how each form of figurative language below could be
related to an event in Hatchet.
1. “No man is an island”:
2. “Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst”:
3. “Death always comes too early or too late”:
4. “When in Rome, do what the Romans do”:
5. “Absence makes the heart grow fonder”:
6. “Method to Madness”:
7. “When the going gets tough, the tough get going”:
8. “Birds of a feather, flock together”:
©GinaKennedy