Briefly describe a conflict that you or someone you know was engaged in. For example, you could cite a story about a teenager who wants to have his curfew extended, but his parents say no. Ask the students to brainstorm a list of times that they have been in external conflicts. When they have finished, ask the students to share their lists, and also to describe how this conflict made them feel and assign an emotion to it.
Divide students up into groups or teams. Assign them a specific conflict to act out. You might want to make one up or choose one from a novel that the students are reading. If you select the latter, have the students role play how they think that the characters will solve the conflict, or how they think they should have solved it if the way that the characters went about the issue was problematic.
Have students brainstorm a list of external conflicts that exist in the novel or piece of poetry that they are currently reading for the class. Allow each student to pick a different conflict or let multiple students work on a conflict. Assign them a comparison and contrast essay where they have to relate the conflict in the story to a conflict in their own lives, and say how the conflicts and the ways they were resolved are both similar and different.
In addition to external conflict, students also learn about internal conflicts. Have the students create a chart on a piece of poster board that separates the internal and external conflicts in the story. Ask the students to present their posters and make an argument for why particular conflicts belong in each category. You might find that some conflicts could fall into both categories, so specifically ask students about why they put those conflicts where they did.