Fire is Catching!

Title: Catching Fire (The Hunger Games Series   #2)

Author: Suzanne Collins

Copyright: 2009

Publisher: Scholastic Inc.

Guided Reading Level: Z

Genre: Fiction

Summary: Katniss Everdeen is now known as the "girl on fire"!  Miss Everdeen, the winner of the historic 74th Hunger Games alongside Peeta Mellark, is ready to forget about the games and try to live a normal life.  However, as a chaos starts to spread across the districts, she realizes that a normal life is just something that isn't possible.  Things are certainly not working in Katniss's favor, and when President Snow announces that a quarter-quell is up next for the games, Katniss knows that this time in the arena will not be the same as the last.  Peeta and Katniss go into the arena together yet again, and the chances of survival in these games are slim to none.  Will they survive the games yet again? 

Suggested Delivery: Independent read or classroom read aloud.

Key Vocabulary:

• Abandonment
• Ambiguous
• Audacity
• Exorbitant 
• Guttural 
• Surly
• Wryly 

Electronic Resources:

Here are two online activities to practice/perfect character knowledge and comprehension from the novel.

• Quarter Quell Quiz

• Catching Fire Trivia 

Increasing Comprehension Skills:

Before Read Aloud or Independent Read:

• Briefly have students summarize the first novel of the trilogy, The Hunger Games, to familiarize or remind students of the conclusion, the characters, the tradition of the games, and how Panem is set up as a country (is it a democratic society?) 

• Have students complete a pre-test for important vocabulary in this novel.  I've included an online pre-test and a print-out for your own use. 
• Print-out
• Online
• If the test is expired, go to Words Myth and type in the vocabulary words listed above to create a newer version of the pre-test.  You can also add or take away any vocabulary words from the novel that you'd like.  

• Show Students the movie trailer for Catching Fire, to acquaint them with the story line. 

During Read Aloud or Independent Read:

• If this book was chosen as a read aloud, there are some tricky words in the novel, so a 'popcorn' read or even a reader's theater would be a great option.
• Discuss scenes that may be tricky for students to digest. 
• Ex: Why was Cinna killed?  
• Ex: Why did Johanna cut open Katniss's arm?
• If this book was chosen as an independent read, creating 3-5 post-it notes per chapter and either placing them in the novel, or a reading journal would be a good option.  These post-it notes should include 
• The page number, date AND either:
• Something confusing (describe the scene)
• A visualized scene
• Connections (text-self, text-text, text-world)
• (This activity may also be done as a classroom read aloud activity)

After Read Aloud or Independent Read:

• If the book was chosen as a read aloud, students can have a debate about the novel.  Students can write some sample questions to lead the debate with for a draw.  The teacher will pick the best questions for the debate, and they will be addressed for the students to debate.  
• Ex: Was it necessary for Plutarch to run the games even if he was planning to get Katniss out?
• Ex: Do you think the rescue would have been as successful if there was no alliance formed?
• If the book was chosen as an independent read or also a read aloud, the movie "Catching Fire" can be shown.  Students will note differences in the movie by comparing it to the book.  They may also take the post-vocabulary quiz, or write a journal entry from Katniss's perspective after she was rescued from the arena.

Writing Activity: A sample risky letter to President Snow from someone living in any of the 12 districts wishing to revoke the Quarter Quell, with examples from the text and background knowledge from the first novel, (The Hunger Games) as to why this would be a good idea. If President Snow were to respond in a sinister way, so be it!  Channel your inner Katniss (or Peeta).

Tiffany Tidbit: Suzanne Collins's Catching Fire is my favorite novel in the entire Hunger Games series. I absolutely love this series, and in Catching Fire we really get to see Katniss in an even more fierce, "I'm going to show you up again President Snow", persona.  One of the few times I've actually cried when reading a novel is when Cinna was killed, because Cinna was so crucial to the trilogy, as we find out as the pages turn. Then we meet Plutarch Heavensbee, the man behind what will be the greatest revolution (in my opinion) in young adult literary history. In the third novel, Mockingjay, the revolution comes to life.