Hatchet Worksheets and Novel Study for Every Chapter

About this resource

What's inside this resource

A 315-page novel study walks fifth and sixth graders chapter by chapter through Gary Paulsen's Hatchet, pairing each of the 20 chapters with a comprehension/vocabulary worksheet, a mystery vocabulary page that uses context clues, and a historical reference page tied to the chapter's content. Each chapter also carries a five-question CCSS-aligned exit quiz, and after every five chapters students take vocabulary, spelling, and homophone checkpoint tests, building toward a 50-question multiple-choice summative test at the end of the unit. Twenty themed reflection writing prompts with a scoring rubric, a student data bar graph for tracking quiz scores, a coloring bookmarker, and a Hatchet-themed journal round out the package, and answer keys are provided for every assessment, including the chapter comprehension questions, exit quizzes, and journal prompts.

In the classroom

Teaching tips & learning objectives

Learning objectives

Answer chapter-level comprehension, vocabulary, and historical-context questions for each of Hatchet's 20 chapters.
Use context clues to decode mystery vocabulary words drawn from the text.
Identify figurative language (similes, metaphors, idioms, hyperbole, personification) within the novel.
Cite textual evidence to summarize chapters and support a stated main idea.
Compose themed reflective writing responses scored against a provided rubric.

Teaching tips

Use the Student English Reference Page (definitions of context clues, figurative language, theme, main idea, point of view) as a standing reference students keep in a folder throughout the unit.
Administer the four vocabulary/spelling/homophone checkpoints after every five chapters, as the unit is structured, before assigning the cumulative 50-question test.
Decide in advance whether students may use their historical reference pages during each exit quiz, since the teacher notes flag this as an instructional choice.
Have students keep all worksheets, quizzes, and tests in a dedicated folder to prepare for the final summative test, as the included teacher instructions suggest.

Skills covered

Reading comprehension — students answer 16 chapter-specific items per lesson covering plot, vocabulary, and historical context.
Context-clue vocabulary decoding — students solve 'mystery vocabulary' blanks using surrounding text clues.
Figurative language identification — students recognize similes, metaphors, idioms, hyperbole, personification, and onomatopoeia within the novel's language.
Evidence-based summarizing — students write chapter summaries and cite textual evidence using a modeled example.

Good to know

Questions teachers ask about this resource

Can students use their historical reference page while taking each chapter's exit quiz?

It's the teacher's choice: the instructions note you can let students reference the page for textual evidence during the quiz, or have them study it beforehand with a partner and quiz them without it.

Does the final 50-question test only recycle questions from the 20 chapter worksheets, or does it include new material?

It includes new material: items 1-30 draw from the worksheet comprehension questions, but items 31-33 come from a brand-new historical reference page and items 34-50 draw from the pre-chapter vocabulary.

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Curriculum

Standards, concepts & topics

Standards

CCSS.RL.5.4 — Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative language such as metaphors and similes.
CCSS.RL.6.1 — Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
CCSS.L.5.4 — Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade 5 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies. a. Use context (e.g., cause/effect relationships and comparisons in text) as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase. b. Use common, grade-appropriate Greek and Latin affixes and roots as clues to the meaning of a word (e.g., photograph, photosynthesis). c. Consult reference materials (e.g., dictionaries, glossaries, thesauruses), both print and digital, to find the pronunciation and determine or clarify the precise meaning of key words and phrases.