Ralph, Jack, Piggy, and Roger. The conch. The beastie. Piggy's glasses. Lord of the Flies is a classroom classic, a staple of so many language arts curriculums that it is practically a rite of passage for students to read it at some point in their education. However, written back in 1954, this novel can sometimes feel inaccessible for our students. The language is dated and heavy in description which is challenging for our struggling readers.
However, we know that Lord of the Flies is chock full of some of the elements that make a novel ripe for analysis; its strong symbolism, characterization, and setting all work together to support a clear theme. There are so many things we love about teaching this novel, but we have learned that we need to create anticipation for the book ahead of time so that students build up momentum to read.
Our all-time favorite way to prep our classes to read Lord of the Flies is our three day survival simulation. This has been going strong in our classrooms for over fifteen years, and students still return to talk about it. Here's how it works:
We begin with an anticipation guide. (Get ours FREE here.) This allows students to ponder over some of the key issues and themes in the novel, using their own life experiences. Statements include "Wherever groups of people coexist, there will be a struggle for power," and "The reason most people hunt is because they need the meat to eat." The upcoming survival simulation will give them evidence to either back up or challenge the answers they write.
Survival Simulation Day 1: Using slips of paper with student names or a tool like Wheel of Names, we randomly divide the class into two "tribes." Then, we assign the tribes certain tasks: choose a leader, assign tasks necessary for survival, come up with tribe rules and consequences necessary for survival. At no point do we tell the tribes they must compete with each other... but it is inevitable that our students turn against one another-- both between tribes and within.
Survival Simulation Day 2: Tribes continue completing the assigned tasks. They must scout the island (a map is provided) and choose a location for their camp and create a rescue plan. At this point, tensions between the two tribes are even higher. Disagreement and discord take over. Tribe leaders are sometimes overthrown, and tensions simmer beneath the surface. (We let these disagreements play out, for the most part, and keep reminding students to pay attention to what we're learning about human nature!)
Survival Simulation Day 3: On this day, tribes take turns hearing a series of scenarios and choosing from one of three options. They then role a die-- representing the role of chance-- and we read the consequences out loud. Sometimes a tribe is rewarded by getting extra resources or earning the other tribe's trust... but sometimes tribe members "die" or are banished as a result of their choices. If you walked past one of our classrooms on this day, you'd hear absolute chaos! Students are shouting, gloating, laughing, and it's absolutely awesome.
We wrap this activity up by writing a reflection. Students take a look back at the anticipation guide and reflect over the past few days, writing down what they learned about human nature.
No joke, students are psyched to start reading Lord of the Flies after this introduction, and that enthusiasm helps us power through the first couple of chapters where Golding is still building his world and not much has actually happened in the plot yet. By the time Ralph's and Jack's tribes are feuding, we recognize our own behaviors in the actions of these British schoolboys. Because we started strong focusing on the theme of human nature, students easily make thematic connections throughout the novel, and are ready to write a literary analysis at the end!
If you'd like to check out our Lord of the Flies Survival Simulation, click here! If you've already used it in your classroom, let us know how it worked for your students!
This resource includes a printable version and a digital slideshow version. We've used both with great success!
**Pro tip: play ocean wave sounds while you run the simulation!**
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Stay weird,
~Jamie
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