Description
Get your learners thinking! Our PRINT AND DIGITAL Maze Runner novel study Unit Plan has the activities and quizzes you need to teach a 7-week novel study — pre-reading questions, characters, vocabulary, final projects, and more. You’ll love the “print-and-go” activities in slideshow and .pdf, AND the same fun activities converted and optimized for digital learning (700+ pages, slides, and forms for all your print and digital teaching needs).
⭐️⭐️⭐️ And don’t forget the easy-grade Google Forms!
Get your learners enjoying the rigor and creativity of our engaging activities built from best teaching practices. We want to make your lesson-plan journey easy so you can focus on your expertise. This literary analysis guide includes a curriculum map and pacing guide that offer our day-by-day suggestions for planning your weeks of fun activities.
Our pedagogy section explains the instructional rationale behind the activity, offers implementation ideas, and aligns the lesson plan with the standards. We’ve filmed some training videos on (1) how to assemble a Novel Analysis Packet that is unique to the academic needs of your learners and (2) how to effectively use our Quickwrite writing prompts.
To make your digital experience smooth, we include instructions (w/ screenshots!) of how to download and organize your activities in Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive. We’ve added easy-grade Google Forms versions of each activity that auto-corrects their responses using a suggested answer key (which you can adjust afterward or modify your answer key) and compiles grades into a spreadsheet with learners’ names and class periods to make things easier for you to grade all in one place (some types of questions aren’t able to auto-grade, though, because of the short-answer format).
TEXT: MAZE RUNNER by James Dashner
LEVEL: 7th – 9th
TOTAL: 700+ slides/pages/forms in lesson plan unit
→ Based off the 2010 Delacorte Press Edition [ISBN: 978-0385737951].
→ Pacing Guide and Answer Keys included
About The Maze Runner Novel Study
The Maze Runner by James Dashner is a dystopian young adult novel that hooks middle school and high school readers from the first chapter. Thomas wakes up in a metal box with no memory of who he is, then finds himself in the Glade, a place surrounded by a shifting maze. When the first girl arrives with a warning, everything the Gladers know starts to fall apart.
This novel study provides a full unit for teaching dystopian literature that pushes students beyond plot recall. Activities focus on character analysis, symbolism, and critical thinking, enabling students to discuss the book with real depth. If you have taught The Hunger Games, this fits the same dystopian genre and works well as a follow-up or paired text.
Use this resource for guided reading, whole-class instruction, or small group work. Every activity is built for classroom use, not filler.
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What Other Teachers Are Saying About This Novel Study Resource
- ♥ A great resource! My students really enjoyed this unit… and so did I! It was very easy to follow and engaging for them. Thank you!
- ♥ Wow! Very comprehensive, much more than I will have time to use!
- ♥ This was a vital resource for teaching The Maze Runner. I liked the appealing format.
- ♥ WOW! Just finished using this packet with a small group of 5th grade students. Loved, loved, loved the packet! It saved me so much time and is extraordinarily well done! Thank you so much.
- ♥ My students LOVED this! We created teams, and the team with the most points at the end of the unit got to skip the test and watch the movie in a separate room! Talk about COMPETITIVE!
- ♥ This is an excellent resource, and I highly recommend it. My students are reading a novel they enjoy and are learning so much as they do it. Thank you!
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The Maze Runner – Novel Study Contents
- → Suggested timeline of how a teacher could plan out the book study
- → Detailed explanations of the goals of each activity and how to conduct the activities
- → Meets Common Core Standards (CCSS novel unit). Easy TEKS conversion.
- → Easy to differentiate for different learning levels: Honors, 2nd language learners, and Sped
➡️➡️➡️ Before Reading
★ Pre-reading Bias Intro Activity
- Answer thematic questions to get learners thinking about the novel
- 11-page + 14-slide activity
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.1,2
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.1
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.1
★ Introduction to Utopias Slideshow
- Introduces learners to the concept of utopias and dystopias; provides examples from real life, novels, and film
- 23-slide slideshow
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.5
➡️➡️➡️ During Reading
★ Slang
- discuss the definitions of all the slang
- 2-page + 2-slide organizer (answer key included)
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.4
★ Plot Chart Analyzer Diagram Arc
- analyze the 6 parts of the plot
- 1-page + 8-slide analyzer & answer key
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.2
★ Conflict Graphic Analyzer – 6 Types of Conflict
- analyze the 6 different types of conflict
- 2-page + 5-slide analyzer & answer key
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.2
★ Characters Analyzer
- analyze the main characters
- 5-page + 5-slide analyzer
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.3
★ Mapping the Glade Activity
- Work in groups to map out the 4 quadrants of the Glade
- 3-page + 3-slide activity
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.1,3
★ Figurative Language Instructional Slideshow
- We set out to create the most helpful, compelling, and visually appealing teaching resource to introduce your learners to the various forms of figurative language. This 70+ slide slideshow + 70+ slide Google Slideshow will help you introduce as many as you need to teach your learners at your level.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.4
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.7
★ Figurative Language Activity
- Analyze and complete dozens of figures of speech specific to the novel
- 10-page + 18-slide bundle (2 parts)
- Similes, Metaphors, Idioms, Hyperboles, Analogies, Personification, Onomatopoeia, Puns, Symbols
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.4
★ Journal – Quickwrite Writing Prompts
- 1/2 writing assignments to spur much deeper conversational thinking
- 70-question slideshow + 70-question digital slideshow
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.1,2
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.1
★ 28 Comprehension Pop Quizzes
- a 5-question pop quiz per 3 chapters
- 114 slides of slideshow quizzes & keys
- 57 pages + 86-slides/28 quizzes of slideshow quizzes
- The purpose of these is to ensure that learners who read the chapters recently ace the quiz, while learners who didn’t read recently do not do well.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.2,10
★ Vocabulary List and Quiz Assessment
- 60 vocabulary words from the novel
- one 60-question quiz and two 30-question quizzes
- 16-page + 36-slide bundle includes list of words, quiz, and answer key
- matching, not multiple choice
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.4
★ Selfie Video Update Activity
- Record a selfie video for the world to know what’s going on in the Glade
- 1-page + 1-slide activity
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.1,3
➡️➡️➡️ After Reading
★ Epilogue Response Activity
- Write or record a response to the Chancellor’s memorandum to her associates about the success of the Maze Variables.
- 1-page + 1-slide activity
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.1,3
★ Persuasive Essay and Speech
- 3 persuasive essay options for learners to choose from; optional delivery of essay as a speech
- Includes essay and speech grading rubrics
- 6-page + 11-slide bundle
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.1,2,3
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.1,9
- CCSS.ELA-SpeakingListening.SL.1,4,6
★ Movie vs. Novel Analyzer
- Compare and contrast the movie and novel
- 2-page + 2-slide analyzer
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.7
Enjoy! And keep running!
