The Most Dangerous Game: Pre-Reading Activity + Game

Pre-reading activity · Grades 8–10 · PDF + slides · $4

I use this before "The Most Dangerous Game" so students are already wrestling with survival, fear, and moral lines before Rainsford ever lands on the island. Built for grades 8-10.

Students start with a "Would You Rather? Survival Edition" warm-up (4 choices, write and discuss). Next, small groups are "stranded" on an island, pick their top 5 survival items, then face a twist: another group is on the island. Do they work together, steal, or ignore them? Finally, everyone draws a role (predator, prey, or neutral) and plans how they'd survive, either as a class discussion or as sticky-note posters for a gallery walk.

The wrap-up asks students how survival can blur morality and how fear can turn prey into predators.

What's included

• Editable Google Slides deck (5 slides) with teacher directions on each step
• PDF version of the same activity
• "Would You Rather? Survival Edition" warm-up with 4 prompts
• "Survival of the Fittest" group scenario with a moral-dilemma twist
• Predator/Prey role game with two options: class discussion or gallery walk
• Wrap-up exit ticket question

How teachers use it

• One class period before reading the story
• Groups of 4-5 work best for the island scenario
• Pairs well with the after-reading discussion questions, which call back to this activity

Topics: journal, writing, prompts, bell, ringer, bilingual, spanish, ell, esl, slides, powerpoint, presentation, middle, school, high, grade, 8, 9, 10