Lord of the Flies

By William Golding


Pre-reading Activities

YouTube - Lord of the Flies Trailer (1990)
This link is to a YouTube video of the 1990 version of Lord of the Flies. The trailer captures many important plot elements and is almost a form of summarization for the movie. This would be an exciting and interesting clip to show before reading the book to get students excited to read. Yet, I must caution you, this clip contains several swear words and may be inappropriate in some circumstances.

Lord of the Flies Pre-reading Activity
This link leads to a pre-reading activity in which students must complete a series of problem-solving activities and answer questions based on scenarios they are given. Prompts and questions are very thought provoking and require a lot of higher-level thought.


During/Post Reading Activities

Texting A Response to Lord of the Flies
In this activity students create 5 text messages that they imagine might have been sent by the characters of the novel to an imaginary audience if they would have had the technological capabilities of doing so. Provided in this link are: an overview of the assignment, links to print outs (graphic map organizers, assignment instructions, reflection questions, etc.), and a step-by-step instructional plan.

Teacher's CyberGuide to Lord of the Flies
This site offers four activites for teachers to implement in their classroom. I would only recommend using only Activities 1 & 2. The other two are related to the Holocaust and not Lord of the Flies. Activity 1 asks students to develop a survival manual using the links provided on the site and also from what students learn about survival from reading Lord of the Flies. Activity 2 has students creating a Conch Shell Poster providing scientific information about conch shells and their symbolic meaning and significance in the novel.
Note: This site does not offer much in the way of supplemental teaching resources. I would recommend it only as a "jumping off" point to begin developing ideas for a fun assignment related to the text.

Lord of the Flies Interactive Game
This link will take you to a interactive online game designed after the events of William Golding's Lord of the Flies. This is actually a really cool, very educational game. It teaches the players about the characters and plot of the novel, themes and symbolism, and about the author. The game is easy to follow and a lot of fun to play.

L.O.T.F Mock Trial Activity Lesson Plan
This link, made availble by Discovery Education Online, contains a detailed lesson plan for a Inclass Mock Trial activity. In this activity students are assigned to one of three different groups: Students debating the novel on behalf of Ralph's point-of-view, students debating on behalf of Jack's point of a view, and a group of students representing different adults representing different social & legal authories. Students in the adult group are comprised of a judge, a police officer, teachers, business men, etc. This group formulates questions based on the novel for the other two groups who are representing their respective characters. A mock trial led by the judges is then held in which the other two groups must analyze, explain, argue and defend their characters actions and reasonings based on evidence from the novel. This site provides: procedures, materials, discussion questions, extension ideas, vocaculary, and links to multiple additional resources.

Who would survive? Activity Sheet
This link will take you to a page where you can print the instruction sheet for a Who would survive? The scenario is: that you have survived a ship wreck and your only chance at survival is to take the life raft and make your way to the closest deserted island. In groups of four, tudents must choose 7 people out of the 11 other survivors to go with them on the life raft and attempt to survive on the island indefinitely.

Lord of the Flies: Law & Order
A creative lesson from Ardsley High School, Ardsley, NY. Legal Team #1, the Defense: Ralph has been accused of murdering Simon. You must draft a defense to free Ralph from punishment. Legal Team #2, the Prosecution: It's your duty to prove Ralph's guilt.

Lord of the Flies Survivor
This activity is inspired by the popular televisions show Survivor. Students compete each week for immunity by averaging their quiz scores in groups to see who's group has the highest cumulative score. As they read the novel and compete for immunity, and the chance for extra credit, they are required to report regularly on their thoughts via email. This activity is a good way to familiarizing students with email, netiquitte, and online discussion. A class blog or Ning would be required for this activity.

Surviving The Island Game
The site contains instructions on how to facilitate a survival scenario game based on the reading of Lord of the Flies. The game is most suitable as a post-reading activity. Students break in to teams and work together to solve problems threatening their groups survival. This is a great activity for building on problem-solving skills. Yet, this page leaves a lot to be explained, so as the teacher you are going to have to put in extra work to come up with print outs, specific scenarios, rubrics, etc.


Audio/Visual Resources

Therion - Flight of The Lord of the Flies.mp3
This musical piece draws it's inspiration from the themes of social chaos, good vs. evil, and lack of order found in William Golding's Lord of the Flies. This track could be played in the class as a way to spark in class discussion about the ways in which literature can evoke emotion in the same way that it can inspire music. It's a very cool link worth checking out.

Watch Lord of the Flies Streaming Online
This site allows you to register with them so that you can watch tons of different films, including The Lord of the Flies (1990).

YouTube - Iron Maiden, Lord of the Flies
This link takes you to a YouTube video of Iron Maiden's, Lord of the Flies. There is no actual video for the song, just the album cover for their record Death on the Road. It might be interesting to study the song with students and relate it back to the text.

Lyrics - Iron Maiden, Lord of the Flies
This is a link to Lyricsfreak.com. This link gives you the complete lyrics for the song. Plus, there are no questionable/inappropriate sidebars or advertisements, making it student/parent friendly.


Additional Resources

WikiBooks - Lord of the Flies
The site links you to another "wiki" based resource that contains a chapter-by-chapter analysis of Lord of the Flies.

Lord of the Flies Symbolism, Imagery & Allegory
This link takes you to a page analyzing the important symbols in the book as well as imagery, and the allegorical quality of the novel itself. Also, this link connects you to only one page of several that provide information on aspects of the book such as: summary, themes, quotes, characters, analysis, study guides, and opinions. This is a very informative site.

101 Novel Ideas
This site is called 101 Novel Ideas - Inspiration for the Tired Teacher. This site is in a PDF format and includes, obviously, 101 different ideas that can be applied to any book that is being taught. Many of the ideas are simple, creative ways to get kids interested in the book through creative little exercises and activities.

Poetry Relating to Lord of the Flies
This site has links that will lead you to multiple other sites that will help students to find poetry that relates to William Golding's, Lord of the Flies. Also, this site contains links to other resources and activities at the bottom of the page.

Visual Thesaurus - Lord of the Flies Vocabulary
This page offers an extensive list of vocabulary terms found in the text. The cool thing about this page is that it offers visual translations of the words' meanings. This is a very interesting concept and would probably appeal greatly to visual learners.

Discussion Questions courtesy of BookWolf.com
This link offers a handful of thought provoking discussion questions complete with an analysis of several key ideas.