Fan of 'The Hunger Games'? Check Out More of Our Fan T-Shirts!

It's no secret that I'm a HUGE, GINORMOUS fan of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I teach it, I dress like Katniss in my spare time, and I've personally converted many, many 8th graders to the dark side! I LOVE THIS BOOK, and I hope my students continue to spread the word...I think the popularity of this book is definitely 'Catching Fire'...har, har, har! Instead of a final exam over The Hunger Games, my students were required to design a fan t-shirt based on their favorite characters, scenes, or memorable quotes from the novel. I was blown away by the variety and quality of the designs. My room will probably be forever covered in fabric paint, but it was well-worth the mess. The students wore their t-shirt on our field trip to Barnes & Noble, where they participated in a scavenger hunt that the winner won a copy of Catching Fire, the second book in Suzanne Collins's series. I'm planning on hosting a Mockingjay party on August 24th at Barnes & Noble. I hope to have tons of freshman returning to B&N to purchase the third book...let's hope they aren't "too cool" by August 24th for their 8th grade Reading teacher! ;)

This young man is CONVINCED that Megan Fox should play the part of Katniss. Ugh.

I love this kid. When a gal doesn't mind having the word "pus" on her shirt, you know she's a keeper!

A Peeta fan, apparently!

Simple, but cool shirts!


"Loverboy" is Peeta...I thought that was clever and cute! "Cinna Told Me to Wear This Shirt" was more than likely 'borrowed' from another fan t-shirt site.

Hmmmm....how do I explain this set of shirts? I can't. They were made by 8TH GRADE BOYS. Does that help at all??? LOL!

Teaching The Hunger Games and a Tour of Mrs. Hart's Room!

Nanny-nanny-boo-boo, I get to teach The Hunger Games! Whoot-whoot! This will be my second year to teach the novel, but given the success of last year's teachings, I'm so pumped to repeat the process. Never before has a book been so loved and adored by my students. I only had the funds to purchase a class set, so the students couldn't leave my room with a book, which caused MANY of them to attempt to find excuses to come to Mrs. Hart's room to read! Many personal copies of the book were purchased after Chapter 2 because they couldn't STAND the fact they would have to wait until the next day to read. Suzanne Collins and Scholastic publishing, I'm still patiently waiting for my royalty check! ;)

If any of you are teachers of middle to high school age students, I HIGHLY recommend teaching this novel. Most students have read Lois Lowery's The Giver, and The Hunger Games is a great way to align with that classic work of fiction. I also teach about dystopian and anti-utopia societies and how they reoccur in literature and movies...hello??? ever hear of a little book called 1984 by Mr. George Orwell? Totally an example of an anti-utopia society! Or The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood is another literary example of an anti-utopia! You knew you were a fan of The Games, but I bet you didn't know the literary significance of the piece, now did you?! If you are interested in teaching this amazing novel, shoot me a message and I can send you what lesson plans and activities I have that tie into the novel. I have also written a few articles with lesson plan ideas at Brighthub.com that you can find by accessing this link: http://www.brighthub.com/education/k-12/articles/39748.aspx. In the meantime, here is a tour of my reading classroom and a few snippets of my Hunger Games wall. I predict it to grow tenfold by the end of this school year!


Due to a very rude comment an "anonymous" viewer left (and which I promptly deleted), I would like to apologize for the gum smacking at the beginning of the clip! I had just put the piece in my mouth after lunch and was working in my room. I never smack or even have gum in my mouth whenever students are present! In the future, whoever you are "anonymous", don't visit my blog if you have only rude comments to leave. I'm not perez hilton, and do not welcome insulting comments...stop coming by if I offend you or make you upset! Sheesh!