Teach the gripping survival novel Hatchet by Gary Paulsen with this engaging teaching pack designed for Years 7–8 English. This complete unit helps students explore themes of survival, resilience, self-reliance, and personal growth while building strong reading comprehension and analytical skills.

As students follow Brian Robeson’s struggle to survive alone in the Canadian wilderness after a plane crash, they examine how the novel explores determination, problem-solving, and the transformation that occurs when a person must rely entirely on themselves. The story provides rich opportunities for analysing character development, internal conflict, and the relationship between humans and the natural world.

A highlight of this unit is the whole class Survival Challenge Game, where students work in teams to solve survival scenarios inspired by the novel. Through problem-solving tasks and collaborative challenges, students experience the decisions and skills needed to survive in the wilderness while connecting directly with the novel’s key ideas.

What’s Included:
A structured sequence of lessons and classroom activities
A whole class Survival Challenge Game inspired by the events and themes of the novel
Character analysis activities exploring Brian’s physical and emotional transformation
Theme exploration including survival, resilience, courage, and independence
Language and narrative feature analysis (imagery, internal monologue, symbolism, pacing)
Activities examining key turning points and survival strategies in the story
Scaffolded analytical paragraph and essay writing support
Creative and reflective tasks that deepen student engagement

You can:
Convert to PowerPoint: Upload the PDF to PowerPoint (File → Open) and it will automatically convert to slides.
Use in Google Slides: Upload the PDF to Google Drive, right-click, and open with Google Slides.
Use digitally or print: Upload the PDF to your LMS (Google Classroom, Canvas, etc.) or print it for handouts.
You could also use Canva to upload the PDF and convert and save as a PowerPoint.