Running Wild by Paul Mason is a gripping historical narrative that weaves together boyhood adventure and one of the greatest survival stories in exploration history. The text shifts between Frank Worsley’s youth in Akaroa — where curiosity and risk-taking shaped his love of the sea — and his later role as navigator on Ernest Shackleton’s ill-fated Antarctic expedition aboard the Endurance.

Blending fiction with historical fact, the story highlights courage, resilience, leadership, and problem-solving under extreme pressure. Students are invited to explore how early experiences shape identity, how relationships support survival, and how human determination can triumph in the harshest environments. The text supports rich discussion, inference, and connections between personal growth and historical context.

This pack contains wide range of response activities including:

• A guided reading plan exploring key literacy elements including inference and deduction, language use, making connection and text organisation, along with key questioning to promote emotional intelligence, metacognition and compassionate inquiry. 
• An independent learning contract complete with explainer videos for activity clarity
  
• A wide range of response activities to support developing and embedding key literacy skills including sentence and word work, spelling, and cloze activities. 

Curriculum Phase: Phase 3

Year Level: Year 8

Curriculum Coverage:

English – Reading: narrative structure, inference, author’s craft, themes, making connections

Social Sciences – Aotearoa New Zealand Histories: historical context, exploration, leadership, decision-making, cause and consequence

Text Type: Historical fiction / narrative non-fiction

 

Key words include: adventure, Akaroa, ANZ histories, Antarctic expedition, Antarctica, Aotearoa New Zealand histories, brotherhood, courage, decision-making, Elephant Island, Endurance, Ernest Shackleton, expedition, exploration, Frank Worsley, historical fiction, history, identity, James Caird, leadership, narrative non-fiction, navigation, ocean, Paul Mason, perseverance, polar explorers, polar exploration, problem-solving, relationships, resilience, risk-taking, Running Wild, sailing, seafaring, siblings, South Georgia, survival, the Southern Ocean, youth and adventure