Multimedia project based on Gary Paulsen’s Hatchet kicks off 5th grade study of The Land

At GUS, the 5th grade theme is The Land. This theme is central to the curriculum and allows our team of educators to provide truly interdisciplinary learning experiences that excite and engage our students. The Land is woven into nearly every aspect of 5th grade studies. From learning to recognize and identify natural indicators of the passage of time in the land at the Coolidge Reservation to learning about the history of quarry workers on the north shore through trips to the Halibut Point Quarry and the Cape Ann Museum, our experiential and place-based learning approach allows our educators to incorporate exploration and study of our 23-acre campus, and the north shore at large, into much of what they do.

“The area around us is such a rich resource and we love exploring it,” says 5th Grade Teacher Katie Blynn. “In Language Arts, we’re able to explore other lands through the settings of our class books.”

The first project of the year centers on the 5th grade summer reading of Gary Paulsen’s Hatchet. The story features a young man, Brian, who after crashing his plane survives 54 days alone in the Canadian wilderness. On the first day of school, students are asked to bring in a creative diorama of an important scene in the book - the plane crash. The first few weeks of school are spent analyzing and studying the parts that make up a news story. Students read news articles and watch video news reports to learn the difference between “news” and “narrative.” From there, students are asked to craft their own news article.

Through a series of peer reviews, teacher conferences and multiple rounds of edits, the students work to fine-tune their stories. When they’re complete, they step into the role of television news reporter, reading their reports on-camera. Using a green screen, student videos are then superimposed into their dioramas - creating the illusion that they’re reporting live from the scene of the plane crash from Hatchet.

“It’s a really fun project,” says Blynn. “It’s a walk away from book reports, but they’re still doing so much reporting. It just doesn’t feel like work, it feels exciting.”