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Your student has finished a novel. Now what? It’s time to put all that awesome reading to work and dig a little deeper; that’s what! There are many, many ways to explore the themes and characters in a book post-reading. What’s important with a post-reading activity is not to squelch the interest the book brought the reader. Post-reading activities can and should be interesting! Here’s a fun way to get kids thinking about the main character’s journey and the internal and external conflicts they faced throughout the book. It’s also a great way to help kids retell a story, put facts in chronological order, and think about the outcomes each conflict brought or didn’t bring.

Life is a Maze- A Reading Activity for Internal and External Conflicts

A character in a novel typically goes through many a challenge. Both internal and external, it’s important readers pay attention to these challenges.

To use this activity, first, be sure your learners know the difference between internal and external conflict.

Here are a few ways to introduce the activities depending on where in the book your readers are when you do.

• Pre-reading– Introduce types of conflict and have readers make a chart to fill in as the read
• While reading– Introduce types of conflict, have readers make chart and fill in the conflicts that have happened so far. They can keep filling it in as they read.
• Post-reading– introduce types of conflict and have readers brainstorm the many conflicts the character faced while filling them into the chart.

Whenever I teach conflict, I make sure to brainstorm with my students the different conflicts they have encountered in other books and real life.

Post-Reading Activity- Create a Maze

Your readers have finished the book and have a completed internal and external conflicts chart.

They will want to map the conflicts chronologically, so if the events are not organized, or readers seem to be having trouble sequencing the events, have readers number the conflicts in the order, they occurred.

When they have an organized list, it’s time to draw a maze.

Using graph paper, kids can draw their character’s journey from the beginning to the end. Along the way, they can put in dead ends and obstacles to indicate internal and external conflicts.

Once the mazes are complete, make copies and let kids try to get through each other’s.

If your students liked this activity or want to take it further, have them make a board game for their novel. They can make conflict cards, come up with trivia, and review several literary devices at once.

Mazes and games are fun ways for students to review the novels they read and share their knowings with others. Identifying internal and external conflicts is an important skill, but it doesn’t have to be boring!

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