The short story “To Build a Fire” by Jack London is a fun story to read with middle and high school students. The setting in the frozen North is interesting as is the tension. The ending is somewhat unexpected as reader would expect the man to make it to safety. At least the dog lives.
Here are some activities for teaching “To Build a Fire.”
Alternate Ending Project
Student can take one of the pivotal plot events and rewrite a new ending from that point. How does a change at one spot change the ending. Students will reference events from the story, but there’s lots of room for creativity. This one is fun for a graphic novel adaptation with the interesting (and maybe easy to draw) snowy north setting.
Buy the Alternate Ending Project with student instructions and rubric for graphic novel project, as well as narrative instructions and rubric.
Alternate Point of View
The story focuses on the a 3rd person limited view point. Students practice the valuable skill of writing from another view point by retelling parts of the story. One option is to tell the story from the view point of the dog (goes well if also studying Call of the Wild). Another option is to tell the story through the view of someone who finds the body– what do they know or learn about the man and his final mistakes?
Buy the Alternate Point of View Creative Writing Project with student instruction sheet and rubric, pre-writing worksheet and student reflection.
How to Guide Writing
Creating a how to guide about surviving in the Yukon is a fun visual activity. Students can draw on details from the text about survival. They could add additional research, optionally. Students will use bullet points and headings as part of organizing their information. As a challenge, students can be tasked with using a positive tone (instead of “don’t” focus on “do.”)
Buy the How To Guide Activity with student printable and rubric. Includes option for requiring positive tone.
Read about Jack London
Prepare to read the story “To Build a Fire” with learning about Jack London. His writing draws heavily off of his experiences, particularly in the Yukon during the Klondike Goldrush. Using a non-fiction article is a good way to practice non-fiction reading skills.
Buy the Jack London Author Information Activities. Includes an original non-fiction article (written by Ms. Dickson) with Reading Questions. Alternately, the same information is provided as Guided Notes PowerPoint with student worksheet. Great for “To Build a Fire” as well as The Call of the Wild.
Reading Questions and Critical Thinking Questions
Hold students accountable with reading questions. Students can answer the questions while they read. This also provides a sort of reference sheet for when they work on concluding project(s).
Critical Thinking Questions are questions asking students to respond in a short answer, such as paragraph, using support for their answer. These can be turned into projects or essays, or just work as stand-alone short, supported responses to targeted questions.
Buy the Reading Activities, with reading questions, critical thinking questions, and graphic organizers.
The items listed in this post are sold in the money saving To Build a Fire Activity Bundle PDF. Great for building a unit including “To Build a Fire” by Jack London.