Topic:  Jungle adventure

Language skill: Reading and online dictionary work

Game: Hetherdale the game Hetherdale the walkthrough

There is a mystery to solve and its your job as intrepid explorer Dr. Montrose to solve it.  Play the game as you read the story and find out the mystery surrounding the secret jungle city of Hetherdale.

Preparation

1. If you can show the video introduction in class and brainstorm a few ideas on what they think the story is about and what they think they will need to do in the game.
2. Tell them they are going to go online and use three internet explorer windows to 1) play a game using 2) a walkthrough and 3) an online dictionary when necessary.
3. What English words do they predict will be in the walkthrough.  What words do they predict that they don’t know the word in English for.  Get them to explain them to you to translate and write up on a board.

Preplay

In the computer room get them to open three internet explorer windows and direct them to this site.

They can use the links above the picture here to 1) play the game 2) find a walkthrough and for 3) they should find an online dictionary to use.  Ask them if they know any good ones.

Play

They can then play the game using the three internet explorer windows.  Your role is to monitor, help with language and make sure that each learner gets a turn to use the mouse to play the game.

Post Play

If they don’t complete the game in class then set it for homework.  It’s a bit risky to hope to continue the game next class.  Some learners may well go home and complete the game without you telling them to or not.  Next class you can ask learners to explain the story to you.  You can ask about:

Who was in it?

What part did they play in the game?

What locations were there?

What happened at each location?

What were the most difficult parts?

Was it a good story?  etc

Tweet this!

Location: Computer room

Skills Focus: Live listening

Language Focus: It’s something you use to + verb / for + gerund

Game: Mystery of Time and Space (MOTAS)

This game was probably one of the first point-and-click games I used with a class and many consider it a classic ‘escape the room game’.  It has got over a hundred rooms in which you have to find objects, work out puzzles and escape from the room.  What’s nice about this game is that if you hover your mouse over the objects in a room it is annotated (see below).  This is worth pointing out to your learners at a very early stage.

The pre-gaming activity below orientates learners to the annotation function within MOTAS.   You need to do this in a connected classroom before moving to a computer room.

Preparation

Print off a copy of the MOTAS walkthrough (rooms 1-8) or use an electronic copy of the MOTAS walkthrough (rooms 1-21) or the MOTAS video walkthrough (rooms 1- 5) to ‘dictate’ the game play to your learners.

Pre-Play

1. Present the game to the class and show them the first room.
2. Tell them they have 2 minutes to write down the name of as many objects as possible that they can see on the screen (whether they may use dictionaries is up to you).
3. When they have finished ask them to swap lists with another group.
4. Tell them that they get 2 points if the name of the object appears on the screen and 1 point if you accept it.
5. Move your cursor over each object on the screen.  Learners give 2 points if the object name appears.
6. Add up the marks and hand the list back to the original group.
7. Groups can now argue over the 1 point score words on their list e.g. ‘Locker’ is annotated but you can give 1 point if they say ‘cupboard’

Play

1. In a computer room tell learners they have to listen to you tell them how to escape.  The first one out the room and says stop gets 1 point.
2. They have to either find the annotation to find an object or ask you to describe the object to them e.g. Learner: “What’s a pillow?” Teacher: “You use it to put your head on when you go to sleep.”
3. Use a copy of the walkthrough or the video walkthrough to dictate to your learners how they should complete the game.

Post Play

As learners to write down some of the objects they remember from the game and to write a definition for the objects using the grammar:

It’s an object you use to + bare infinitive

It’s an object you use for + gerund

Alternative activity

Instead of doing a live listening activity or gaming dictation you could give learners a reading in which they have to sequence jumbled walkthrough sentences by playing the game in the computer room.

If you would like to try this why not download a copy of the MOTAS Sequencing Activity and make enough copies for each group in your computer room.

Tweet this!

Topic: Christmas

Focus: Christmas vocabulary

Time: 30 – 45 minutes

Game: Junior’s Christmas

Junior wants to get a present from Father Christmas but there are a few things getting in his way.

screenshot of Juniors Christmas

 Key Language: Carpet, cookie jar, key, hug, cupboard, knock, feather, wing, box, tail, elf, tickle, window,  bird house, hammer, ribbon, scissors, shelf, plate, bird seed, lever, nest,

Preparation: Connected classroom or computer room. One printed copy of Junior’s Christmas activity worksheet for each learner. One photocopy of Teacher’s notes with  walkthrough.

Pre-gaming

Hand out a copy of Junior’s Christmas activity worksheet to each learner.  Tell them to read exercise 1 and ask them if they understand all the words.  Show the game to the class and ask them to watch the opening sequence of the game and answer the questions in exercise 1.  The opening sequence is like a short video and shouldn’t be skipped.  As long as ’skip’ at the bottom isn’t pressed you will see the kids stand in line and get seen by Father Christmas.  The sequence will stop when Junior reaches the front.  The game then Feedback and then do exercise 2.  Alternatively, before doing exercise 2 you could brainstorm vocabulary which can be seen in the game.

Playing

In the computer room, learners work in pairs playing the game.  Tell them they can start the game without watching the first part by clicking on the word ’skip’ at the bottom of the game.  Learners use the sentences in exercise 3 to complete the game.  As they play they match the sentences on the left with the sentences on the right.

Post-gaming

In the classroom feedback on the answers and discuss the answers to exercise 4 in open class.

Tweet this!

Topic: Vocabulary within the game Hapland

Listening Focus: Instructions & directions

Time: 20 – 30 minutes

Game: Hapland

Screenshot of the game Hapland (what you see is what you get)

Hapland is a point and click game which takes place over the space of one screen.  Basically, in the screenshot above you can see the whole game.  The object of the game is to get the stick man, who you can see in the cave by the light, out of the cave and through the door which is on the other side of the door in the cave.  Of course you have to do a lot of complicated things in between to get him there but that means there is a lot of explaining to do and therefore a lot of language.

Preparation

Print off a copy of the walkthrough and familiarise yourself with the game by playing it a few times.  There are a few screenshots of each stage of the game to help you.

Playing

In the computer room use the walkthrough to guide your learners through the game.  Most of the language production will be done by you so essentially this is a listening.  However, because this is live it does allow the opportunity for learners to interect with the teacher and vice versa.  For an idea of how to conduct this activity, have a look at this Hapland tapescript of the Hapland live listening activity between myself and an English learner.  I try to be as natural as possible and ask occasional questions to check comprehension, recycle vocabulary and get the learner to describe a little about what’s happening in the game.

Post-Playing

Back in class you can ask the learners:

1) what new vocabulary they learnt and ask them to write them on the board, correct spelling and then copy into a gaming dictionary.

2) Show learners or give out a Hapland screenshot and ask learners in pairs to take it in turns to explain how they completed the game.

3) Ask your learners to write out the walkthrough using the the new vocabulary.

Tweet this!

Language: descriptions of people, relative clauses and the difference between first and second conditionals. This game is also a very rich source of vocabulary that you can either pre-teach the learners or deal with as you go along.

Preparing to Play

1) Ask the learners if they like travelling by public transport – what disadvantages are there?

2) Write this on the board:

What would you do if you found yourself crammed into a particularly busy tube train carriage?

Next, show the learners the following image (the easiest way is to start the game)

Ask them to describe the people and identify the potential problems they might cause

Game Plan:

The carriage is too busy – it would be better if someone left. But who would you like to get rid of first? And why? The options are:

• The man blowing the party blower who is carrying the ghetto blaster
• The bald-headed man who has the sweaty armpits
• The backpacker who’s carrying the heavy rucksack
• The small child who is holding the fizzy drink
• The tall man in the suit with the red nose who’s got a cold
• The plump ginger-haired man who’s carrying lots of food
• The goth with the red sun-glasses who has a pigeon on his head

Once the learners have given their ideas, ask them to guess the answer to the following questions

• What would happen if I hit the balloon? (correct answer: it would bounce off the wall)
• What would happen if I nudge the backpacker?

After their ideas for each action, carry it out and then check with them what they saw. Now, once they know what happens, ask the students to confirm what they have seen? (So, what happened when I nudged the backpacker?)

• What’s in the backpacker’s trouser pocket? (bubble gum)
  
• What would happen if I gave some to the little boy?
• What would happen if I gave more to the boy?
  

Now, which person is bothering me the most? (The man eating the crisps)

And what happened when the boy left? (a little dog came in)

• What would happen if I gave the dog one of the man’s crisps? (it would want more)
• What would happen if I continue feeding the dog? (It would try to eat them all and the man with the crisps would have to leave)

Now who’s the problem? (the bald man with the sweaty armpits)

And what happened when the door opened? (a spider came in)

• What should I do now? Why? (Push the spider. Because the bald man is afraid of spiders)
• What would happen if I hit the balloon now?

What happened when the bald man left screaming from the carriage? Who came in? ( A nun, a strange man wearing a hat and a bat) What is sticking out of the man’s hat and jacket? (twigs)

• What would happen if the pigeon took the twigs? (it would start to build a nest)
• What’s going to happen when the bird finishes building a nest?

What happened when the pigeon finished building a nest? What’s left of the pigeon? (a feather)

Who’s the most irritating person in the carriage now? Why?

• What would happen if I tickled the man’s nose with a feather?

Now, what’s different?

• What has the man in the hat got in his pocket? (a cricket bat)
• What would happen if the goth had a music cassette?
• What would happen if I hit the bat while the goth was singing?
• What would happen if I hit the ghetto blaster out of the carriage at the next station?

Now who’s the most annoying person?

• What would happen if the two men really saw each other? (tug on the trouser pocket of the man with the cold to find out)

Now, who’s the last person I have to deal with? (a health fanatic)

What’s that on the floor of the carriage? (a lunchbox)

• What would happen if the health fanatic were given some sandwiches?

THE END

Follow-up

After the game has finished, restart it and ask the learners to remember and write as many of the questions you asked them earlier, but to write them using the first conditional (e.g. What happens if I hit the balloon? etc.) – you can tell them that you have to use the first conditional now because they know the answers and this is what happens every time you do this (= now there’s no hypothesis).

Once they have finished, you can get them to ask their partner and see how many of them they can answer. Finally, check the answers by going through the game again.

Extension / Homework

Ask them to write what happened in the game as a narrative: Last Thursday I was on my way home and decided to take the Tube…

Tweet this!

Topic: Doing a crossword/ Using a dictionary.

Focus: Vocabulary in an online game walkthrough.

Time: 1 hour/ 1.5 hours

Preparation: Download a copy of the walkthrough for yourself and a copy of the crossword and crossword clues for each pair of learners.

Game: Blue Beanie A young ghost has his blue beanie hat stolen by a big bird and has to set off on an adventure to get it back.

Opening screenshot from Blue Beanie

This activity is designed for dictionary work and focuses on vocabulary items found within the Blue Beanie game walkthrough.  Decide if you wish your learners to use printed dictionaries in the classroom to complete the crosswords or use online dictionaries in the computer room to complete the crossword.  Either choice means that a valuable language learner skill is being practiced.  If you choose to use online dictionaries it may be a good idea to chat with your learners and find out what they know about online dictionaries.  You may learn something yourself and also acquire a list of possible online dictionary web addresses that you can use and your learners are already familiar with.

Pre gaming activity

Explain to the class that they are going to play a game.  If you have a screenshot of the game show them what the game looks like and ask them what they think  the game is about and what they will have to do.  Tell them that there are a lot of difficult words in the game so before they play they are going to do some dictionary work to complete a crossword.  Show them a copy of a crossword and ask the class how to do a crossword.  Hand out a copy of the  crossword and crossword clues to each pair of learners.  One learner is responsible for reading the clues and writing the answers and the other learner is responsible for looking the word up in a dictionary (online in a computer room or in a printed copy in the classroom).  The learners complete the crossword.

Gaming activity

Direct your learners to the game and tell them they are going to play the game and check their answers to the crossword.  They will have to listen to you to complete the game.  You can then use a walkthrough in two different ways.

1  Using the copy of the walkthrough you printed off for yourself, dictate to your learners how to complete the game.  They listen and play the game.   If a learner has any language difficulties that were covered by the crossword then refer them to that.

2 Using an online walkthrough your learners can open two internet explorer windows.  One to play the game on and the other to read the walkthrough from.   Learners play the game and use the crossword and clues as a referrence to any of the vocabulary they have difficulty with.

Learners need to understand the vocabulary items in the crossword in order to play the game.  This is because in the game you have to click on the right vocabulary items in order to successfully complete the game.  Playing the game not only tests their understanding of the vocabulary items but seeing the objects also helps them to remember the vocabulary.

Homework

You could ask your learners to find a short point and click game and write their own crossword using an online crossword generator.  Rather than encourage endless hours of game playing which learners can tell their parents “my English teacher told me to do it!”, why not have a list of short games from which your learners can choose?  A list of games providing links to the games and their walkthroughs can be found here.

Tweet this!

The Game

You are a robot and you find yourself in a scrap yard and you need to get back to the city.  First of all you need to put your body back together and then solve various puzzles en route back to robot city.  The Puzzles can be difficult to solve and a walkthrough makes things a lot easier . . .

Preparation

Print a copy of the walkthrough gap fill activity (either a copy for each learner or a copy for each pair) as well as the walkthrough.  The walkthrough tells you how to complete the game.  For instance the first thing you have to do in the game is:

Make the bathtub disappear and then get the torso to jump down (just click it!)

Spot the phrasal verb?  Gap it out and you have the start of a gap fill activity that focuses on phrasal verbs:

Make the bathtub disappear and then get the torso to __________ (just click it!)

Pre gaming

Hand out walkthrough gap fill in class and ask them to read the phrasal verbs at the top.  Do they understand them all?  Remember that most of them involve verbs of action and a preposition so you may find miming them a little easier than explaining.

Tell them they have 10 minutes to read the walkthrough gap fill and to guess which phrasal verbs may go in the space.  Point out that the asterisk means that the phrasal verb can be separated.  That is, the object goes between the verb and the particle.  Without seeing the phrasal verbs in context this is quite a hard activity.  This activity is more to orientate your learners and to get a general understanding rather than to complete the gaps.  Encourage them to discuss what might go in the spaces.  If they want to write then they should use a pencil.

Gaming

Learners take their walkthrough gap fill to the computer room and use it to play the game and complete the puzzles.  By playing the game they can more clearly see the context in which the phrasal verbs are used.

Post gaming

When you are back in class feedback on the answers.  At times you may find that learners’ answers differ from the master copy walkthrough. Discuss any differences and decide if they are ok or not.  You may wish to do a follow up activity on the phrasal verbs, looking at the different types (see activity sheet II)

Homework

Ask your learners to find a short walkthrough to a game and add some of the phrasal verbs they saw in the class today.

About the game Machinarium

This walkthrough is not for the complete game but it does cover the three levels you can play for free on the internet.  When you have played the game using the walkthrough this is the end of the demo and if you want to play more you have to pay for the full version.  The full version of Machinarium costs 12.99 €. You may be able to convince your school to purchase the full version.  You can then adapt a full version walkthrough for use in the class.  Check our website for more ideas on how to use a walkthrough.

Tweet this!

Level: Upper-intermediate

Topic: Planning stories

Writing Focus: Fictional story

Time: 1 hour/ 1.5 hours

Game: Arcane Season: The Miller Estate part 1

Opening screenshot of Arcane Season

 Key Language: cellar, path, lantern, chest, hook, matches, well, rope, bucket, firewood, crate, rug, trapdoor, wine rack, barrel.

Preparation: Connected classroom or computer room. One printed copy of the flashcards. One photocopy of the walkthrough.

 The ‘Arcane season’ online game series is a point and click adventure game that the film studio company Warner Bros runs on a website. It is young learner friendly though it’s worth playing yourself first with the help of a walkthrough to evaluate the ‘scarier’ elements that the games contain. Personally, I’d recommend using the game with upper intermediate teenagers and above. The Arcane Season games are visually attractive with a cartoon feel and its audio elements and short action sequences add an engaging dimension to its play.

There are about 8 episodes of the Arcane Season to date and each part is split into several parts. The material included with this article used part 1 of episode 1 the ‘Arcane Season: Miller Estate’ game. The activities are aimed at Upper Intermediate Language learners for practicing creative writing using the narrative tenses and also to extend their descriptive writing techniques. I have found it useful to have a pregaming activity to orientate the learners towards the language activity. This is so that when they get to the game playing activity they have a clear language objective in mind and don’t get ‘distracted’ by playing the game.

Pregaming activity

I have found it useful to have a pregaming activity to orientate the learners towards the language activity. This is so that when they get to the game playing activity they have a clear language objective in mind and don’t get ‘distracted’ by playing the game. I start by telling the class the name of the game and I write it on the board. Then I present four screen shots of the game and using these brainstorm vocabulary and elements of the story and write them on the board too. This all usually takes place after a presentation on the narrative tenses or, if it came up in a previous class, a short review that is placed on the board (or learners find the relevant notes in their books to avoid crowding the board). If it does get a little crowded on the board don’t worry. When this is done, ask learners to use the language on the board to ‘tell’ their partner the story orally. This helps activate their story telling skills. While they are doing this I monitor and input useful language items. Afterwards I elicit any useful or interesting language that learners may have used during this stage and write it up onto the board (if there is room). The learners then make notes of the language on the board. Once you explain that they are going to use their notes to write a story about a game you are ready to take them to a computer room to play the game.
Gaming activity

This can be done in pairs on computers or alternatively in open class on a data projector.

1. Pairs on computers

If the writing task is to be conducted in pairs on a computer they need to take the notes they made in the classroom with them. It’s good for learners to take writing material with them to the computer room as it stresses that there is work to do and it’s not just fun and games. Having said that I like to give the learners 3 minutes or so playing the game without guidance from myself or a walkthrough right from the start. Why do I do this? Because it not only helps learners to familiarise themselves with the game but the game is also sufficiently difficult that after 3 minutes they are so frustrated with not being able to solve the puzzles that they are more receptive and motivated to receive guidance. The 3 minutes free gaming time is also a convenient time for them to ask/ write down any vocabulary or language items but also allows time for me to round and make sure every one has the game set up and is ready to start. When they are ready the learners can start the game either by reading the walkthrough themselves or listening to you read the walkthrough to them. If you want the walkthrough to be a reading activity, learners can find the walkthrough and have it on a second internet explorer page. They can then go back and forth between playing the game and reading the walkthrough as many times as they like. A third internet explorer page could be used to access an online dictionary but the activity can be more fluid and more engaging for the teacher if learners simply ask the teacher any language questions. It is very important that the teacher monitors carefully to make sure that the learners are writing as they play and NOT just playing the game.

2. Open class with a data projector

The advantage of using a data projector is that the teacher has control of the game. Start by placing the learners into pairs or small groups to allow them to work collectively on their writing. It’s a good idea to have a printed copy of the walkthrough to hand. You can then play a short part of the game using the walkthrough for the class to watch. Be sure to stop regularly to allow your learners to discuss and write the part of the story they’ve just watched. Consider providing dictionaries and for them to feel free to ask you for help with any language. In between playing the game you can walk around the class and provide support to any of your learners.

Post gaming activity

Learners can swap their stories, read them and discuss which stories they like the most and explain why. If there is any interesting language elements from someone elses story, encourage them to write it down.

You can hand out the walkthrough for another part of the ‘Arcane Season: Miller Estate’ game although part 2 is best avoided as some of the game loses narrative elements in favour of puzzle solving (you have to figure out the correct order to prise a lifeless hands fingers off an amulet).

Material:

Flashcards of game images to use in a pregaming activity.

An annotated walkthrough – An online walkthrough which has vocabulary links your learners can click on to view images of the object.

Download a written walkthrough from here – You can print this to use as a gaming dictation/ relay dictation or a reading.

Tweet this!