Hunger Games Camp: The Reaping

I was trying to figure out the best way to organize all of my information on the Hunger Games camp I ran last week, and I decided that the best way to do so would be to give an activity-by-activity write up in the order that we did everything.  This is easier for me, since I've already created "activity plans" for each thing we did, and I also think this organization makes it easier for others to search and find things via Google, etc..  This first activity is pretty easy, since it's The Reaping, which isn't too complicated anyway.  Here's how it went:

The Reaping

Materials:

·         1-2 Large Glass Bowls (one for boys, one for girls, or you can combine)

·         One slip of paper for each camper

·         Pink Wig (for Effie Trinket)

·         Top Hat (for Mayor Undersee)

·         Dry Erase Board and Marker

·         Copy of The Hunger Games

Set Up:

• Place the bowl and dry erase board at the front of the area
• On the dry erase board, draw a chart with three columns and thirteen rows.  Complete the chart as follows*: 

District	Tribute #1	Tribute #2
1: Luxury Goods
2: Weapons
3: Electronics
4: Fishing
5: Sports
6: Oil
7: Lumber
8: Textiles
9: Arts
10: Livestock
11: Agriculture
12: Coal Mining

*I totally made up the industries for Districts 5 and 9, but the rest are taken from the books.  I chose Sports and Arts because they were easy to costume and no other reason.  Change as necessary.

• As campers arrive, have them write their names, and a Hunger Games nickname, if they would like, on a slip of paper and then drop it into the bowl. 

Procedure:

• Once everyone has arrived, one of the gamemakers begins the session by reading aloud two brief sections from The Hunger Games which introduce the Reaping:

(page 13) “You become eligible for the reaping the day you turn twelve. That year, your name is entered once. At thirteen, twice. And so on and so on until you reach the age of eighteen, the final year of eligibility, when your name goes into the pool seven times. That's true for every citizen in all twelve districts in the entire country of Panem. But here's the catch. Say you are poor and starving as we were. You can opt to add your name more times in exchange for tesserae. Each terrerae is worth a meager year's supply of grain and oil for one person. You may do this for each of your family members as well. So, at the age of twelve, I had my name entered four times. Once, because I had to and three times because for tesserae for grain and oil for myself, Prim and my mother.  In fact, every year I have needed to do this. And the entries are cumulative. So now, at the age of sixteen, my name will be in the reaping twenty times. Gale, who is eighteen, and has been either helping or single-handedly feeding a family of five for seven years, will have his name in forty-two times.”

Page (16) “Attendance [at the reaping] is mandatory unless you are on death's door. This evening, officials will come around and check to see if this is the case.  If not, you will be imprisoned…People file in silently and sign in…Twelve through eighteen year olds are herded into the roped areas marked off by ages, the oldest in the front, the young ones, like Prim, toward the back. Family members line up around the perimeter, holding tightly to one another's hands...We all exchange tense nods then focus our attention on the temporary stage that is set up before the Justice Building. It holds three chairs, a podium and two large glass balls, one for the boys, and one for the girls. I stare at the paper slips in the girls' ball. Twenty of them have Katniss Everdeen written on them in careful handwriting.”

·        Mayor Undersee (dressed in top hat): Our great nation of Panem rose from the ashes of a place called North America. Before Panem there were many disasters that ravaged this land: droughts, storms, fires, and encroaching seas that swallowed up so much of the land.  Because of all these horrific events, our ancestors engaged in a brutal war for what little sustenance remained. After years of fighting came the establishment of Panem, a shining Capitol ringed by thirteen districts, which brought peace and prosperity to its citizens. Then came the Dark Days, the uprising of the districts against the Capitol. Twelve districts were defeated; the thirteenth obliterated. The Treaty of Treason gave us new laws to guarantee peace and, as our yearly reminder that the Dark Days must never be repeated, it gave us the Hunger Games. The rules of the Hunger Games are simple. In punishment for the uprising, each of the twelve districts must provide one girl and one boy, called tributes, to participate. If either boys or girls are not available, a district may second two of either gender.  The twenty-four tributes will be imprisoned in a vast outdoor arena that could hold anything from a burning desert to a frozen wasteland. Over a period of several weeks, the competitors must fight to the death. The last tribute standing wins. The Hunger Games is a festivity, a sporting event pitting every district against the others. The last tribute alive receives a life of ease back home, and their district will be showered with prizes, largely consisting of food.  All year, the Capitol will show the winning district gifts of grain and oil and even delicacies like sugar while the remaining districts battle starvation…And now, allow me to introduce Effie Trinket!

·         Effie Trinket (dressed in pink wig - bright green pantsuit optional): Welcome to the 74^th Reaping for the Hunger Games! I am Effie Trinket, and I have come to draw the names to determine the tributes who will be competing in this year’s games.  I will draw the names one district at a time.  As your name is called, please come to the front.  We will take your photograph.  Once all tributes have been selected, we will board the train to the Capitol.  May the odds be ever in your favor!

• The names of tributes are drawn one at a time, two for each district.
• Tribute names are filled-in on the chart as names are called.
• As names are called and tributes come forward, each tribute has his or her picture taken for the end-of-camp video highlights montage.

Short and sweet!

Oh, and if you're wondering about why I included reading quotes from HG, my reasons are two-fold.  1) I wanted to show how the activity was rooted in the book and 2) I let the kids know in advance that listening carefully to the sections I read-aloud would give them a leg up in Hunger Games Jeopardy!, since the clues were directly related to the portions I read.


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