Help Brian escape the wilderness! Virtual no-prep breakout room! Hatchet Paulsen

Please make sure your district does not block Google Sites before purchasing! Call your IT department to be sure. I suggest assigning for homework and/or extra credit if you cannot play this escape room on your school's network.

Thanks for visiting my store! This purchase gives you a link to a virtual escape room hosted on Google Sites that you can share with students. The activities are all based on Gary Paulsen's novel Hatchet. Students do not need the novel to complete the activity, but students who have read it will connect with the material. There is no preparation required, but it's always good for the teacher to test it out to support students during class.

The escape room invites students to help save Brian from the Canadian wilderness. There are five activities--two original research-based articles that students get answers from, a map activity with "Oregon Trail"-type directions, a "Where's Waldo" type game but with birds, and a maze activity that provides a code. After students correctly enter all five codes, they are given a link with a congratulations page they can share with you for bragging rights.

I've played several virtual escape rooms with my students and have noticed a few problems, like dead links to outdated websites and content that really doesn't connect to the novel or theme of the escape room. I spent hours making original content so everything is hosted in Google Sites, Forms, and Docs. Also, each activity connects to the novel. Students find a fool bird (a grouse), read articles about foraging and moose attacks, and analyze a map of the Canadian wilderness.

The questions require inference making and analyzing informational texts. There are social studies and science-based cross curricula activities and questions that include using a map's legend and compass and distinguishing between different classifications of organisms.

The escape room takes about an hour to complete, which can vary greatly depending on students' level, so plan accordingly.

Enjoy!