Brian's Winter

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. What are some of the dangers a person might face if they were stranded alone in the woods of northern Canada during the winter? List as many as you can think of.

Teaching Suggestion: Many students will be able to generate a substantial list of the dangers of such a situation. After they have spent some time making their lists, you might offer them access to the listed resources or other similar resources and talk about which dangers they overlooked. You can extend this conversation by asking them how they might rank these dangers—which are most probable, for instance, and which are most life-threatening?

• This article from Snowshoe Magazine details some of the winter hazards snowshoers encounter.
• This article offers general information on hazards in the Canadian Rockies.

2. If you were stranded alone in the northern woods, what would be some important steps to take to survive the winter? What difference would it make if you had access to at least some survival equipment?

Teaching Suggestion: Students are likely to realize that they would need to create a shelter and acquire fire, food, and water, but they may not think of some of the other obstacles that someone stranded in the wilderness in winter might face. A whole-class discussion, as well as some of the resources below, can be used to broaden student thinking about this prompt.

• This article from CBC News discusses survival tips for the Canadian wilderness in winter.
• This 10-minute video from the National Park Service offers safety advice for backcountry camping in Glacier National Park. (Scroll down to the “Backcountry Winter Camping” video.)
• This article from CNN discusses general wilderness survival tips.
• This article from Popular Mechanics offers tips for foraging for food in the wilderness.

Personal Connection Prompt

This prompt can be used for in-class discussion, exploratory free-writing, or reflection homework before reading the novel.

How well do you think you would do if you were in a survival situation like being stranded in the woods? What about your knowledge, skills, and personality would be helpful to you? What would your weaknesses be?

Teaching Suggestion: Before students attempt to respond to this prompt, you might wish to have a brief discussion reminding them of the broad range of risks, opportunities, and challenges they would face in such a situation—physically and emotionally. This may improve their engagement with the prompt and encourage more thorough and thoughtful responses.