Engaging Activities for Teaching Long Way Down

Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds is a novel that grips readers from the very first page. The narrative unfolds over just sixty seconds in the life of fifteen-year-old Will, who grapples with the aftermath of his brother’s murder. As he rides down an elevator, Will confronts a series of ghosts who force him to confront his own decisions about revenge, violence, and the cycle of loss.

What makes Long Way Down so compelling? It’s Reynolds’s masterful storytelling, weaving together verse and raw emotion to capture the intensity of Will’s journey. The novel’s unique format makes it accessible and engaging for readers of all backgrounds and reading levels. This accessibility is crucial in the classroom, where it opens doors for discussions about complex themes such as grief, justice, and the impact of violence on communities. Through Reynolds’s powerful narrative, students not only learn about the impact of violence but also gain insights into the power of forgiveness and the possibility of breaking cycles of violence in their own lives and communities.

If you’re ready to take advantage of the accessibility, rich symbolism, and literary merit of Long Way Down, here are a few of my favorite activities for teaching this powerful text:

NOVELS IN VERSE: “WHAT DO YOU NOTICE?” ACTIVITY

One of my favorite activities to introduce students to novels in verse like Long Way Down is the “What Do You Notice?” strategy. During this activity, I give students a stack of various novels in verse and ask them to explore the structure and format of the texts. I challenge students to notice “anything and everything” about how these texts are written (rather than what they are about). It’s fascinating to see students shift their focus from content to structure, making observations about the unique formatting and style of verse novels.

As students explore, they record their observations and questions, which we later discuss as a class. This discussion is always rich and insightful, as students share their discoveries and ponder why authors choose to write in verse. We compile a list of characteristics we notice and delve into the emotional and figurative impact of verse. The activity wraps up with students reflecting on what they’ve learned about this unique literary form, setting a strong foundation for our unit. You can check out this resource HERE or find it in this Long Way Down bundle HERE.

LONG WAY DOWN: FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE QUESTION TRAIL

Long Way Down is full of figurative language and ripe for literary analysis. One way to help students notice and analyze Reynold’s command of language is through an engaging activity called a “question trail.” If you’ve never tried this strategy before, it’s a kinesthetic, student-centered activity that gets your classroom buzzing with energy and engagement. Imagine your students moving around the room, collaborating, and thinking critically as they participate in an activity that feels more like a treasure hunt than a traditional lesson. That’s the power of a question trail!

It may sound magical, but this strategy is pretty logical and straightforward once you wrap your mind around it. Here’s how it works: During a question trail, multiple-choice questions are posted around the room. Each question directs students to a new station based on their answers, creating a specific sequence. As students work through the questions, they use their answers to navigate the trail. If they make a mistake, they’ll find themselves backtracking to correct their path—an instant feedback mechanism that lets you see who needs extra guidance. You can find this question trail available separately HERE or bundled with other activities HERE.

SYMBOLISM CHALLENGE & ANALYSIS

Identifying and analyzing symbols in literature can be challenging for students. That’s why I like to make it fun with a “Symbolism Challenge” activity before I ask students to apply their knowledge to the symbols in Long Way Down. If your students struggle with symbolism, you will love how this activity makes the abstract concrete, accessible, and relevant.

This activity gamifies symbolism by showing students different examples of symbols from life (and a few common ones from literature). Each round of the challenge, students have must guess the meaning of as many symbols as possible.. With timers ticking, students jot down what they think each symbol means and earn points for correct answers. The symbols become increasingly complex and difficult to pinpoint as the rounds progress, so this activity is a great way to spark conversations about multiple interpretations, context, and more. The challenge is a great way to scaffold symbolism and segway into an analysis of the various symbols in Long Way Down.

You can find this Symbolism Challenge activity available separately HERE or in my Long Way Down resource HERE.

LONG WAY DOWN VISUAL NOTES

Long Way Down is a novel that demands to be read aloud and experienced. To bring the story to life, I highly recommend using the audiobook, which is masterfully narrated by Jason Reynolds. It’s easy to get totally swept up in this short but powerful story, but you might find that you want something to help students focus as they listen or read each section. For this reason, I created a collection of low-stakes “visual notes” designed to support active listening and help students focus on the most important elements of each character’s section. From exploring characterization and word choice to dissecting symbolism and theme, these organizers are the perfect companion to any novel study.

Here are are few examples of what these notes focus on:

  • On Floor 6, students dissect the symbolism of the playground, imagery and juxtaposition, and the FEEL = FLEE anagram.
  • On Floor 3, the graphic organizer turns into an evidence board to help students connect key details and characters so they can piece together the intricate web of gun violence in the story.
  • On Floor 2, the questions urge students to consider Shawn’s silence, tears, and Will’s ultimate choice.

As you can see, these organizers go beyond mere comprehension questions, scaffolding literary analysis in an engaging, student-friendly way. The visual notes give students a focus for each floor, which helps them analyze the importance of each character and see the “big picture” by the end of the novel.

Whether you use these visual notes to accompany the audiobook, structure your daily lessons and discussions, or even assign them as homework for extra accountability, they are a great way to sneak in literary analysis throughout the novel. You can check out the notes & other during-reading activities HERE or find them in the complete unit HERE.

NONFICTION PAIRINGS

Looking to make Long Way Down even more relevant and sneak in the nonfiction standards during your literature unit? Luckily, I’ve found some intriguing informational texts that pair perfectly with this novel in verse. Any nonfiction that explores gun violence, revenge, unspoken “rules” or norms, or adolescent decision-making will work. Specifically, I like to focus on nonfiction that touches on the psychological nature of revenge and the emotional benefits of crying. Here are the two articles I’ve paired with Long Way Down:

You can also use one or both articles to spark conversations about symbolism, theme, Will’s decision, and more. The revenge article, for example, can lead directly into discussions about the novel’s themes and Will’s ultimate decision. This can help students articulate how various characters influence Will’s choices and the broader implications of revenge and forgiveness.

To guide students through each article and prompt critical thinking and connections, I created student-friendly graphic organizers for each informational text. These resources hit informational text, language, and literature standards, all in one lesson! You can check out these graphic organizers HERE or in my complete unit for Long Way Down HERE.

POST-READING LEARNING STATIONS

Ready to transform the way your students reflect on Long Way Down? Then you will love a dynamic set of post-reading learning stations. This activity breaks down the novel’s complexities into engaging, bite-sized stations that get students thinking, writing, and discussing in meaningful ways. It’s an interactive way to deepen their understanding and appreciation of Jason Reynolds’ powerful story. Here’s how I structure my learning stations for Long Way Down:

  • Station 1: Examine the End: Here, students dive into the novel’s cliffhanger ending and analyze Reynolds’ choice to leave the story open-ended. This station sparks thoughtful debate and encourages students to think critically about narrative decisions.
  • Station 2: Verse Summary: This task gets the creative juices flowing. Students summarize Long Way Down through various poetic forms—free verse, rhymed verse, acrostic poems, or haikus.
  • Station 3: Structure & Style: This station challenges students to dissect Reynolds’ unique writing style and the novel’s structure. With a provided example, students explore how the narrative’s format enhances the story.
  • Station 4: Why Verse? At this station, students explore why Reynolds chose to write the novel in verse instead of prose. They analyze the impact of this stylistic choice on the story and the reader, identifying specific examples where the verse form particularly shines.
  • Station 5: Think of Themes: Here, students brainstorm the novel’s themes. They create theme statements and explain how Reynolds develops these ideas throughout the story.

Facilitating these stations is a breeze. I usually time the first round to see how long it takes for students to engage deeply with each activity, and then I adjust accordingly. Seven to eight minutes per station tends to be the sweet spot, keeping students on task while allowing them enough time to explore the questions fully.

If you’re looking to make Long Way Down a memorable and thought-provoking experience for your students, these post-reading stations are just what you need to wrap up reading!

CHARACTER ANALYSIS JIGSAW ACTIVITY

Want to dig deep into characterization and symbolism but not sure where to start? Review the novel in an engaging way with a jigsaw group activity that challenges students to stop and think about the purpose each elevator floor. Organize students into 6 small groups (one for each character/floor), assign each group a different section, and give them a graphic organizer/Google slide template to help them focus. (You can check out my version in the image below). Challenge the groups to explain each character and their impact, cite key evidence, and connect each character to symbolism, theme, and more. After the small groups have become experts on their character/section, bring the whole class back together and ask each group to present to the class. During the presentations, students can record notes on each character and consider how the characters work together to impact Will and his decision. After the presentations, you can facilitate deeper conversations on the impact of characters, how they interact, the way they are ordered, the elevator structure, character symbolism, and themes the characters convey.

This activity is a fantastic way to review the novel, challenge students to closely read and think critically, and prepare readers for an assessment, project, or Socratic Seminar. With the graphic organizers, you can also structure this lesson as learning stations, a gallery walk, a choice-based individual assignment, or a mini-assessment. The possibilities are endless! You can check out my print and digital organizers HERE or in my comprehensive unit HERE.

CHARACTER IMPACT PIE CHARTS

Make character analysis engaging and creative with a unique “pie chart” analysis activity. This simple but powerful strategy challenges students to break down the impact of the characters into percentages based on each ghost’s influence on Will and his final decision. After assigning percentages, students create a pie chart that illustrates the relative impact of the 6 characters and then justify their choices with explanation and evidence.

For example, one character might have a hefty 40% impact, while another might clock in at a subtle 10%. The percentages can and will vary among students and that’s the power of this lesson: It always sparks such a rich debate that students don’t realize how hard they are working. Students get so passionate about defending their pie chart percentages that they don’t even mind citing and interpreting the textual evidence to justify their analysis.

After students create their pie charts and justify their interpretation, you can keep the critical thinking going with small-group and whole-class discussions. You can also enrich the activity with extension questions that prompt students to consider Reynold’s choices concerning the characters, setting, and structure.

Why did Reynolds arrange the ghosts in the order he did—Buck, Dani, Uncle Mark, Will’s Dad, Frick, and Shawn? This sequencing impacts Will in a unique way, guiding him to his ultimate decision.

And why ghosts? Reynolds’ supernatural choice adds layers of depth. Could living characters have the same impact? It’s a question worth exploring as students reflect on how the supernatural element enriches the story.

Speaking of settings, why an elevator? Students can ponder this confined space where the characters are metaphorically and literally cramped together.

With questions like these, you can lead students toward a more meaningful analysis of the text…all thanks to a few slices of pie. 😉 To check out this engaging character pie chart lesson, click HERE. (Pie not included).

SPEED DISCUSSION

At the end of a novel, especially one as powerful as Long Way Down, the idea of wrapping everything up nicely can be daunting. There are so many things left to discuss by the end of the book, but before you try to host a whole class discussion, try a speed discussion first! This strategy gets every student engaged at the same time and it can help readers think through important questions before a whole-class discussion. 

During this activity, students discuss different questions with different peers during multiple rotations of discussion. In each “round” of discussions, students rotate to a new peer and discuss a new question. This means that by the end of class, students will have interacted with at least a dozen peers and discussed a dozen or more questions. It all adds up to a lot of low-risk discussion practice. It’s a great way for students to discuss and debrief Long Way Down as a whole. Ideal as a pre-writing or pre-Socratic Seminar activity, speed discussion empowers every student to conibute and be heard.

This activity for teaching Long Way Down is a dynamic strategy that sparks curiosity, cultivates collaboration, and enriches learning experiences! Find it HERE or in this engaging, student-centered bundle for the whole text HERE.

I hope these activities help you plan an incredible unit for Jason Reynold’s Long Way Down. Good luck teaching the book, and please let me know if you have any questions! To get your hands on all of the resources, activities, and lessons mentioned in this blog post, click HERE or on the image below.

For more ideas and information on teaching novels in verse, check out the following:

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