Into the Wild Lesson Plan

Unpacking for the Wild

Kind of Activity:

Group Discussion

Objective:

Students discuss what they would need to leave behind before journeying into the wild

Common Core Standards:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.11-12.1

Structure:

Ask students, as a class, to list everything McCandless got rid of before he was ready to go into the bush. There are the tangible things -- his watch, his comb, 85 cents he gave to Gallien, his abandoned Datsun, the money that he burned -- and also the less tangible: his contact with his family, his contact with his new-found friends on the road, his relationships. Discuss why he got rid of what he did, and what (if anything) he gained by doing so.

Then...