Teaching The Hunger Games and Other Dystopian Novels
By Tracee Orman
Author of Hunger Games Lessons
I began teaching The Hunger Games to my ninth graders in the fall of 2009. So much in education has changed since then, but one thing is constant: students love Katniss’ story and reading dystopian literature.
WHY NOW?
In less than a month, Scholastic is publishing Suzanne Collins’ fifth book in the series, Sunrise on the Reaping. The movie is set to hit theaters later in 2026. Whether you have never taught the novel, taught it but replaced it with something else, or continue to teach it but would love to bring new life to your unit, this renewed interest is a perfect opportunity to incorporate it into your curriculum.
WHY DYSTOPIAN LIT?
Dystopian literature has been a favorite for decades. Though it dates back to the French Revolution, Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World (1932), George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949), and Lois Lowry’s The Giver (1993) have all had a profound impact on the genre. They all tackled issues that were important and pressing at the time in a futuristic world. The Hunger Games (2008) is no different. The topics it addresses that are relevant in today’s world are endless: climate disasters, rebellion/uprisings, totalitarian governments, reality TV, materialism, disinformation and propaganda...I could go on and on.
Dystopian literature allows students to explore these topics, fears, and real feelings in a fictional world. It builds confidence that they, too, can make a difference in their own world. It gives them hope that there is time to improve and change things in our real world so we don’t end up in one of these fictional settings.
TEACHING THE HUNGER GAMES
I cannot lie, but The Hunger Games (THG) is my favorite dystopian novel to teach. One of the best parts of teaching THG is introducing students to such interesting and beloved characters that make them so invested they actually want to read all the other books in the series. I had students who admitted to me that they had been “fake” reading all through elementary and middle school and THG was the first book that actually made them want to read. I call it my gateway into reading: it hooks them on the genre, so I can keep feeding them other series like Divergent, Legend, Scythe, The Selection, Ender’s Game, and so on.
TIMELINE
I am always reluctant to give a set timeline for teaching the novel because it truly depends on your students, class structure, and how much time you wish to devote to the novel. Things you need to consider before starting:
1. Will you be reading the book in class or assigning reading as homework?
I chose to have students read it in class only when I first began because I did not have enough books for them to take home. It took us at least six weeks to get through the novel. Some groups it took even longer. (Another factor is the length of your class. My high school class periods had 50 minutes per class; middle school had 35 minutes.) If you are reading it in class, I suggest blocking out at least 5-6 weeks, if not more, for the novel. When I had enough copies of the book to allow students to check them out and assign reading at home, I was able to get through the novel in about 3 1/2 weeks (unless we had disruptions in our schedule, like snow days).
2. How many skills do you wish to cover in the course of the unit?
If you only want to cover basic reading comprehension skills, you can get through the novel much more quickly. However, if you want to dive deeper into critical-thinking skills, writing, speaking, figurative language, close reading analysis with Shakespeare and other texts, you will want to extend the unit out longer.
3. How much fun do you want your students to have?
One of the things I love to include in all my novel units are some opportunities to make the reading FUN. Even though the themes of THG are serious, even the author weaves in an incredible amount of humor to keep readers engaged. It’s important for your students, as well. I think it’s worth sacrificing a few extra days to make sure your students are enjoying the novel.
CONNECTIONS TO THE REAL WORLD
On my blog Hunger Games Lessons I wrote a series of articles for teachers called Classroom Connections. In each post, I highlight ways you can have your students make real-world connections to the novel(s). Here are just a few possibilities:
✅ Making connections to the Holocaust and the rise of Nazism. In this post, I discuss the similarities of ordinary German citizens and the characters of THG. You could team up with a social studies teacher in your school for a cross-curricular lesson, having students find examples/similarities in the novel and in history. For example, by the use of propaganda and other authoritarian methods, millions of people were led to believe that certain groups of people were lesser than and deserved to be exterminated. Students can find examples in the novel of the same propaganda methods that they've studied in history class.
✅ Combating Hunger. Hunger is an obvious theme throughout the novel. Having a food drive for a local food pantry is one way you can have your students give back to the community during your novel unit. You can also make it a competition: which section/class can raise the most for your “Hunger Games.” Another option, as I highlight in my post, is playing the online game on FreeRice.com. This website has fun vocabulary (and other topics) games that when played will donate rice to areas in need. It works with the UN World Food Program and corporate sponsors, so it costs you and your students nothing to play.
✅ Presidential Elections Connections and President’s Day Connection Both of these posts are additional ways to tie into history and current issues. While we have the luxury of living in a democracy, the characters in THG do not. Both posts have prompts you can use as discussion points or research topics. For example, IF Panem had elections, which characters would make good candidates for President and why? How would life change for the citizens of the Capitol if a district citizen became President? What sort of restrictions or criteria would you have for running? Would they be similar to your country’s government or would you make changes? And so on...
✅ Science Connections: BioDiversity in THG. Author Suzanne Collins gives us many examples of how Katniss uses her surroundings and nature to survive and thrive. This post explores ways students can connect with science through the novel. They can research different plants that can be used as sustenance, such as dandelions (one year we gathered some from outside and ate the greens as a snack in class). Another topic is that of creating the mutts, exploring the ethical nature of creating hybrid species. It’s another great cross-curricular opportunity with a science teacher in your building.
✅ Poem in Your Pocket Day. Which poems would Katniss and Peeta carry in their pockets on this day? This is a fun way to integrate poetry into your unit. You can have students choose poems that match the characters’ moods, personality, emotions, etc. Have students share with the class. What better way to get them reading and sharing all sorts of poems in class!?
✅ Peaceful Protests and Olympic Connections. In THG, Katniss is given the “silent salute” by the District 12 citizens before she leaves for the Capitol. As the novel progresses, she realizes how it and her own actions of placing flowers on Rue’s body are silent ways of protesting. Many athletes choose the Olympics to demonstrate a peaceful protest. In 1968, Tommie Smith and John Carlos gave the Black Power salute during the playing of the US national anthem. You can have students compare the different gestures and what each symbolizes. They can also go beyond the Olympics and find other methods of peaceful protest and the consequences of their actions (i.e. Colin Kaepernick kneeling during the anthem).
✅ Hosting a NONVIOLENT Hunger Games. I struggled with how to approach this when I first began teaching the novel. So many students wanted to have our own class Hunger Games. I felt really icky about it given the theme that the Games are obviously and inherently bad. How could I incorporate fun activities and competition without glorifying violence and still have them learn? I created different challenges (trivia games, marketing campaigns, skills competitions, and more) that still allowed them to have fun, but in a non-violent way. In the part 2 post HERE, I give visual examples of our Class Games.
RESOURCES FOR TEACHING THE HUNGER GAMES
My unit for teaching THG gives teachers so many possibilities and opportunities for engagement. Because my unit is packed with so many activities, you can pick and choose which ones you wish to skip and which ones to use. Often, people are confused about which of my resources to use, so I’m going to break it down for you.
🏹 The Hunger Games Novel Unit: This was my first bundle of all the essential teaching materials. It includes the Student Survival Guide (discussion questions, basic activities, vocabulary, etc.), tests, check quizzes, and so much more. This is all you need if you are going to keep your unit short (less than 5-6 weeks). If you are looking for an even shorter unit, I would just purchase the tests and Survival Guide separately and call it good.
🏹 The Hunger Games Mega Bundle: This bundle contains everything in my unit (above), plus all the fun extras, like: Introduction & Visual Guide Slideshow Presentation: , The Hunger Games Escape Room Activity:, The Hunger Games Interactive Bulletin Board & Fun Quiz Activity:, The Hunger Games Coloring Pages, The Hunger Games Interactive Notebook Flipbook, and more. This bundle is by far the best deal, especially if you wish to spread more than 6 weeks on the unit.
🏹 Grab these FREEBIES for the novel. Not only do I love sharing my ideas freely on my Hunger Games blog, but I’ve created so many downloadable handouts you can use for free on TPT. I love sharing my knowledge and success with you and want you to have the absolute best experience with your students.
🏹 As I said before, THG is a great gateway for so many other dystopian novels. You can purchase novel guides for the other two books in the trilogy, as well as some of my other favorite dystopian novels here:
Catching Fire Unit, Mockingjay Unit, Divergent by Veronica Roth Unit, and The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness Unit
My friends here at the Secondary English Coffee Shop also have some great units and activities for teaching dystopian literature:
DYSTOPIAN SHORT STORY FLIP BOOK & ACTIVITIES by The Classroom Sparrow
THE GIVER UNIT PLAN by Presto Plans
FAHRENHEIT 451 UNIT PLAN & NOVEL STUDY by The Daring English Teacher
DYSTOPIAN FICTION UNIT by Jackie from Room 213
Thank you so much for reading!
