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 a range of structured literacy activities including

• Spelling rules ck / dge / drop the e / y as a consonant or vowel
• Sounds of -ed
• Exploring parts of language - adverbs, adjectives, nouns, verbs etc
• Doubling or not when adding -ing, -ed
• Floss rules
• Compound words
• Identifying and naming suffixes
• Identifying and naming prefixes
• Vowel teams
• Root words
• Controlling 'r'
• Diagraphs
• Schwa words
• Ghost diagraphs
• -oo- and -oo- / -au and -ow / 
• Hard and soft c and g
• Common subordinating conjunctions
• And much more!!

 

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