Monday, December 17, 2012

Reading and Playing THE HUNGER GAMES

During the Fall 2012 semester, the Advanced Reading class of the Loyola Intensive English Program, taught by LIEP instructor Jess Haley, successfully read almost 1000 pages in English!!! This includes 3 entire books and numerous articles from newspapers and academic journals.

The final book read in class was The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. In addition to homework, quizzes, and class discussions based on the book, the students participated in several more creative activities.

The Hunger Games is a pop culture phenomenon in the United States. Written for teenagers and young adults, The Hunger Games tells the story of Katniss Everdeen, a poor but resourceful teenager living in a dark future world. Katniss is forced to participate in a cruel televised ritual, the Hunger Games, where teenagers from around the country are forced to battle each other to the death in a frightening and unfamiliar arena. The story is one of survival and triumph as well as rebellion against a corrupt totalitarian government.

At the end of the semester, as a celebration of all their hard work, the students created two board games based on The Hunger Games and played them during a final class party. To create their games, students worked in two teams to determine the most important elements and events from the book. They used those concepts to create the rules for their games.

The first team created a colorful board that players move around, facing multiple “challenges” when they land on particular squares. The challenges include both mental and physical hurdles: answering trivia questions about the book, arm wrestling, playing rock-paper-scissors, or losing turns to take a needed rest. This team showed a tremendous understanding of the book and also had very cohesive rules for game play. Below are photos of the first team's board game.

Candy Nguyen of Vietnam approaches the board.
Tae Kyung Eom of Korea invites Hebe Gurdian of Nicaragua to take her  turn.
Sister Kim Dung Bui of Vietnam and Elena Holzschuh of Germany face the arm-wrestling challenge!
The second team focused on the “battling” aspect of the book, and designed their board to be maneuvered by players who collect weapons and food resources as they move around the board. When two players land on the same space, they must “fight.” The winner is calculated based on the point value of their weapons. So, if one player has drawn a 3-point weapon, but the other has two 2-point weapons, the second player wins the battle and the first player is out of the game. In this board game, like the Hunger Games, only one player can win. This team really embraced the spirit of the book and created a beautiful game board. Below are photos of the second team's board game.

Sung Uk Jung of Korea, Sister Kim Dung Bui or Vietnam, and Candy Nguyen of Vietnam study the board.
Candy Nugyen of Vietnam contemplates her move.
Hebe Gurdian of Nicaragua and Elena Holzschuh of Germany consider their resourcs and weapons.
Our thanks to the LIEP students of the Advanced Reading class and to LIEP instructor Jess Haley for sharing their creative work with The Hunger Games with us!

1 comment:

  1. Thanks a lot for this article. I like the photos of the second team's board game. They are truly amazing! The best writing service is provided by the most qualified and experienced professionals! No need to doubt!

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