Skills Focus: Reading

Location: Computer room (multiple computers)

Game: Rizzoli and Isles

If I ever ask teachers if there’s a game that they would want to use in class that’s based on a specific theme the most common answer is crime or a detective based game – so here’s one right here.  There’s even a nice little tutorial at the beginning which your learners can read.  It tells you how to play the game.  Here’s the first one:

 It’s basically a point and click game – you point your mouse on various parts of the screen and click to see if you get some information in your role as a detective.

Note it is a homicide you are investigating so be aware there are some scenes that are inappropriate for a younger audience.  For instance, you have to view the scene of the crime and so you not only get to see the murder victim but you have to collect evidence from the body.  However, if you’d like to judge this game for yourself and see the content of the game you can always take a look at the video walkthrough that is at the bottom of this post.

The screen shots here are all taken from the tutorial at the beginning of the game.  This will not only give you an idea of the level of language in the game but will also give you an idea of what to expect in the game.  Of course, these will all be read by your learners too.

To orientate learners towards the game I took some of the language items from the tutorial and got them to do a little bit of dictionary detective work and find out their meanings.  Basically, it was way to preteaching some of the game’s vocabulary, orientate learners towards the language task (we switched to an online dictionary) and introduce the game itself via the tutorial.

Here’s the vocabulary we did before the game:

There’s a bit of jumping about in this game.  As you solve clues and progress, different locations become available to you.  You start at the crime scene where you collect evidence and talk to the police officers on the crime scene and the building supervisor who’s office is next door.  I say talk but what you in fact do is read what they say, choose from a short list what you say and see where that takes you in the conversation.  A little simple but, hey!  It is reading practice.

While you do move around a few different locations you do have to keep going back to your office.  Your office is not only the place where you collect all your evidence, arrange it and make connections but there’s also the forensic department which you have to go and talk to.

Your notice board (pictured above) is a click away from your desk and you drag and drop the evidence you collect onto it and, as the game progresses, continue to move them around so that they begin to join up.  This in turn gives you more ideas on where to look and impresses your boss so that they can direct you to more locations and more clues.

I have to admit having played the game myself with a class this moving clues around the notice board can prove a little tiresome and it’s a good idea to have the video walkthrough on hand to give learners a little bit of extra help.  Either go and have a look yourself and call out what they need to do next and invite them to go up and have a look at it.  I generally don’t let them have too easy an access to the walkthrough (like on their computer in a different window) as they tend to overuse it.

I think I’ve already mentioned the desk, haven’t I? I also mentioned the bulletin board but reading back on this blog post I’ve called it a notice board.  I made this mistake in class and it did create a little bit of confusion but strangely enough generated some quite spontaneous and natural English.  Basically I got told off by my students, got involved in a semantical arguement which even if I didn’t really win I felt that by getting so much language out of them was a victory in itself.

Notice how ‘bulletin board’ is on my preteach vocabulary list (above).  Yep!  I learnt my lesson and by the time I got round to using the game with another class I was calling it ‘the bulletin board’.  However, I did feel that by skipping over calling it a ‘notice board’ we were missing out so subsequently I threw it back in and, you’ll be glad to hear, feel much better.  I have, rather unfortunately, never had that same level of “discussion” as I had the first time.  I feel rather nostalgic about it now.

Anyway, I’m waffling.  Either play the game yourself or watch the video walkthrough.  Here’s the link to watch it:

Rizzoli and Isles

Location:  Computer Room

Langauge: Giving advice – 2nd conditional/ should

Skills focus:  Reading/ Speaking

Game:  The Power of Research

Welcome to a game where your learners will get the chance to live a little of the hectic life of a hospital doctor.  Most of the language in this game is quite low level but the vocabulary tends to be quite specialised.  I’d recommend that your learners have a good online dictionary to hand when they play this.

The tool bars shown in the screen shot above: patients status (top), possible doctor actions (left), hospital & doctor status (bottom).  This may all look a little complicated but the part of the fun of playing the game is learning to play the game.

Preparation

Write some illnesses onto post-it notes.  I used some illnesses that came up in the game and they included heart attack, flu, influenza, medium fracture, complicated fracture and then a mix of basic illnesses (which aren’t in the game) such as a cold, tooth ache, back ache, a cut etc.  This is a good opportunity to pre-teach some of the illness vocabulary that comes up in the game.

Preplay

Tell learners you are going to put an illness (post it) on each of their heads.  They have to go round and look at their colleagues illnesses and offer advice.  By listening to the advice they can guess their illness.  When they guess their illness they can take their post-it notes off and go and give advice to others.  When everyone has guessed each others illnesses they can sit down.

Tell learners that they are going to play a computer game together.  In the game they are a doctor in a hospital and they will have to deal with patients.  As they play they should discuss their actions and give advice to each other on what they should do.

Play

Learners play the game in pairs and may use an online dictionary if they want.

Monitor and help with any language problems that arise and encourage learners to discuss their game progress while giving advice on what to do next.

Ask learners questions such as:

“What patients have you dealt with today?”

“What did you advise?”

“Where have you been in the hospital?”

“Has the game advised you to do anything?”

“What’s the best/ worst advice you’ve heard so far?”

Post Play

Reflect with a new partner on how they ‘should’ have played the game. i.e. could they have done it better (the answer is usually ‘yes’).

Discuss in open class what illnesses they dealt with and how.  If anyone else in the class can interrupt with advice then ask them to raise their hand and wait for you to call on them.

Location: Computer room

Skills focus: Reading.

Game: My American Farm

The American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture has commissioned a set of games aimed at teaching agricultural literacy.  The selection of games test players on topics as diverse as geography, maths, ingredients to recipes and even the best type of machinery to mow the grass at St. Andrew’s golf course in Scotland.

What I like about the games here is that there is extensive use of language.  Like many online quizzes you get asked a question and you are tested on whether you know a select item of vocabulary.  This goes one step further and provides additional clues.  Take for example the Equipment Engineer.  I chose this one because I was doubtfulwhether my learners would benefit from expanding their knowledge of farm engineering equipment.  However, the language clues contained useful language and valid reading skills practice and avoided technical and specialised vocabulary.  You read the clue, look through the equipment and click on one to read a description of it, then drag it onto the golf green if you think you have found the right piece of machinery. You get feedback on your progress on the left hand side with each ‘cog’ turning gold each time you complete a quest.  Complete three of the quests and you earn a stamp in your passport.

The passport is the the thing I liked the most, though admittably it is the element that is the least digital of all.  You download and print off the passport.  Then with a pair of scissors and some glue you put it together and then when you play any of the games and complete one of the challenges you earn a stamp in your passport (stamp, unfortunately, not included).  This is great as it provided an extra incentive for learners to play the games and even conduct a little (cheating) practice at home.  Luckily, I have a stamp with a rather comical sheep on it (looks a lot like the sheep in Wallace and Gromitt the wrong trousers) and along with my signature over the top (plus the name of the game) means that I can control the game play.  I even offer my hand at doodles around the sheep if a player completes a game a number of times.

But what about the games?  Are they all good?  Well, not all of them but judge the ones below for yourself:

AG Across America Asks questions about aspects of geography and you have to click on a US state the question infers.  Get the question right and you also get given a fact and you learn about agriculture in the states

Amazing Grains Read the question and make a choice on your answer from the two options.  You have a 50/ 50 chance of getting the maths focussed quiz right.

Equipment Engineer we’ve explained already above.

Farmers Market Challenge Choose a market topic (flowers, protein, eggs, fruits, nuts, veggies or cheese) and answer solve maths based puzzles.

Finders Keepers Choose a food group (grains, protein, dairy, vegetables, fruits or physical activity) then read the challenge to find, say healthy physical activities and then drag the right floating images into the boxes.

Let’s make Something Tasty Read the recipe clues and then find the missing ingredients in the word search to complete the recipe instructions.

Little Ag Me Choose a job from the agricultural industry (food chemist, large animal vet, logger, plant scientist, diesel mechanic, produce buyer or environmental engineer) and answer questions about it.  The questions are supported by images so it’s possible to deduce meaning from even some of the more difficult language.

Spin ‘n Solve Spin a wheel to decide your prize and then read a clue to a word before guessing which letters may be part of that word.  If you’ve ever seen the Tv game show ‘spin the wheel’ then you have a good idea how to play this game.

That’s Life Learn about the life cycle of various things (soy, cotton, pumpkin, horse or paper).  There’s actually not a lot of language in this game but I was using a course book that had exercises around this topic.  Learners played this game and then used the language in the book to write about the life cycle in the game.

What’s in The World a nice geography test where you read clues and look at pictures in order to identify a country.  Get the answer right and you get a ‘fun fact’.

Wild Water Adventures Choose an adventure (alpine skiing, ride the rapids, crazy canoe course or olympic swim trials) and practice your reading comprehension skills.  Each adventure has a different story.  Read the story and answer comprehension questions.

There were a few other games on the site but the level of language content was low.  Having said that they are educational so they could be offered as ‘fun’ breaks from English.  I just wouldn’t encourage too much play on them other than to get the stamp in their passport.  Speaking of passports I need to check mine – it’s my summer holiday soon!

And on that note folks Digital Play will be on holiday for the summer.

We’ll be back in September.

Wishing you all a relaxing summer!

Location: Computerroom

Language skills: Reading

Topic: The British electoral process

Game: MP for a Week

This is a great activity for an advanced group of English language learners with not only lots of reading practice but also the opportunity to learn a little about the political process that a British MP has to face each day of the week.  The first step is to choose your name, whether you are male or female and, of course, you take a side choosing either to be part of the governing party or the opposition party.  You then start your week on monday at 9:00 a.m and immediately the minutes start ticking by as if they were seconds.

The game is essentially a whole series of tasks of which there are simply too many to keep up with.  This is all part of the game.  The idea that MPs have too much to do and too little time to do it is implicit within the game.  From the offset you have to prioritize what you have to deal with, how you deal with them and what to let slip by.  Of course, throughout the game each decision you take is reflected in the polls.  Is this stressful?  Most probably but in a game context pressure and stress seems all part of the fun and as long as tasks you are on are doable it’s the kind of game play that is just what an advanced language learning class is looking for.

From the start there are a number of issues that you need to consider tackling on a range of topics.  Choose to deal with what you consider the most important issues and let what you choose to tackle and how you tackle it be the order of the day.  Be careful though as your decisions will affect your running in the opinion polls.  You get to see your progress here

regularly.  In regular progress updates you see how your party’s reputation is faring, what your voter support base is like and how your media profile is bearing up.

The number of tasks in this game just keep on piling up but in a way that justkeeps the game play engaging and challenging.  For instance, you may have to set up committees and select various members from your constituency to sit on a panel to ask your party’s MPs questions. Read your constituents profiles, select who you want and then generate a report on the event.  Your success at this will in turn be reflected in the polls.

There are also various debates that you can attend that call for speeches.  Speeches here consist of five short sound bites.  You get to review a selection of short extracts that could all be chosen to form part of a possible speech you are going to make. You edit them by placing a limited number in a specific order ranging from the opening of your speech on through the various points you want to make to finally  your closing comments. You then get to listen to the finished speech that you have cut and pasted together.

The things you need to do seem to go on and on.  There are seemingly endless meetings to attend.  Of course, it is up to you whether you attend or decline.  What is unavoidable is your mobile phone.  Besides the occasional call there always seems to be a huge backlog of messages waiting for you to answer.  As mentioned earlier there are too many for you to deal with.  As I mentioned earlier, rather than frustrate this just leads more to the feeling that you need to play harder.  That is, there is a lot of work to do but it’s kind of fun to be under this amount of pressure.  Never has reading and answering your text messages seemed so busily enjoyable.

Phew!  A lot to do.  Did I also mention that?  Besides the invaluable reading skills practice here there is also the opportunity to learn about various aspects of the British electoral and political system.  They even make this task quite overt by posing questions in a hints optionand then directing you to look for the answers.  They in turn can be found within concise easy to understand video interviews with take place with real world politicians.

With all that’s been mentioned so far you would have thought there was little or no time time to attend a parliamentary Question time.  Attend question time you should though, and decide on where you stand and who you support on a number of issues.

It’s not all about just reading or listening to text either.  There are a few moments where more ‘game’ like moments drop in.  There is one moment where you have to catch the eye of the speaker by ‘waggling’ your mouse around the screen.  Move the mouse fast enough and in the right place and you might just get noticed.  Too slow and you will be left to last.

There are of course game instructions but I found that getting learners to jump straight in meant they learnt how to play as they played.  They also took about 25 minutes to progress from between a day to a few days (one pair were on Tuesday and another reached Thursday).  That’s out of a whole week that it they are MP for.  For this reason look at this activity taking anywhere between 45 minutes to an hour.  Just because your learners are engaged don’t presume to sit back and take it easy either.  While my learners were kept busy being MPs I was kept busy too.  My time was taken up going round asking questions about what they thought of the game, how they thought they were doing, what they were doing at that moment, whether there were any questions about the language and whether the game was changing their perceptions of what it was to be an MP for a week.  Was it fun being an ‘MP for a week’?  Not as fun in real life as the game we were all sure.

Location: Computer room

Language Focus: Any

Game: Xtranormal

Xtranormal is a text to speech movie maker that’s free and easy to join.  It might be a bit heavy to run but it’s a definite hit with learners.

On the right here you can see a screen shot of the movie maker editor. The instructions are at the top followed by the set, actor, sound and story folders.  The story folder is where all language production begins.

The Story

Simply click on an actor and start writing what you want them to say in the text box.  Once you’ve finished switch to the next actor.

For fast finishers there are the effects running down the left hand side.  Why not customize your movie to:

• Change the camera angle during shots.
• Get the actors to perform actions.
• Get the actors to point to objects.
• Get the actors to make some facial expressions.

. . . and more.

At any time you can hear how Xtranormal converts the text that has been written to speech.  It may not be the most authentic sounding speech but it serves the purpose.

The free account is more limited than the options open to those that pay but the free account does offer a good range of sets, actors, sounds and stories. If you did decide to go pro and get the better upgraded options then its worth bearing in mind that learners on multiple computers can access, work and save on a single account  - at least they can on the free one.

Why not watch an example of two actors discussing how an Xtranormal movie can be used with a class.  That way you can judge for yourself if you think its worth turning your language learners into movie makers.

Level: I’ve used this site with language learners as young as 8 to adults.  You just have to make sure the activity task is appropriate and to their level.

Language focus: The first time I use this with learners I generally just let them get on with it.  As I monitor I’ll help on correction, input language and ask them about the direction they are moving in.  Then, in later classes I like to return and get learners to open their movie projects and expand on the text using recent language we’ve covered in class.  This generally means the final product contains a range and complexity of language that they can be proud of.

If learners feel inspired enough to start a new project this is also fine but I always encourage them to review some of the language we’ve done over the course and encourage them to recycle it.

Have fun and maybe see your language learners at the oscars one day.

Topic: Discussing a sequence of events

Language Focus: Linkers and sequencers, (first of all, then, after that, finally, etc)

Location: Classroom/ Computer room

Game: War Bears: Mission 1

I like this game because well, it’s fun first and foremost.  It’s also very easy to keep an eye on learner’s progress in the game as 90% of the game takes place in the screenshot you can see below.  It’s one of the longest walkthroughs you’ll have seen to date on the Digital Play Blog with a word count just shy of 300, so lots of language to process..  You may have to show learners how to fight in the game – place the cursor over the Bear in the Bandana on the roof and then click on one of the fight options that appear in the mini drop down window.  You also have to stress that they have to restart the mission (by pressing the button in the top right hand corner) if any of the War Bears or hostages get killed.  Have fun!

Screenshot of the game ‘War Bears’

Preparation

Print out a copy of the cut up War Bears Walkthrough one copy for each group of 3 or 4 learners. Cut the sections up and shuffle them.

Pre-Play

1. Write ‘game walkthrough‘ on the board and ask learners what they think it means.
2. Tell learners they are going to play a game but first they have to order the game walkthrough in the correct order.
3. Hand out a copy of the War Bears Walkthrough to each group of leaners and set a time limit of 5 minutes.  Learners should be encouraged to use the target language (language focus above).
4. Feedback and ask learners to compare and justify their order.  Learners should again be encouraged to use the target language (language focus above).
5. Read out the headings in the correct order to give the answer.

Play

1. In the computer room tell learners they are going to play the game competitively.
2. They should use the game walkthrough and the pair who has got the furthest through the game at the end of the computer room session is the winner.
3. For help with language they may ask you or use an online dictionary.
4. Monitor to make sure the walkthrough is being used.
5. Stop the activity and declare a winner.

Post Play

• Set the remainder of the walkthrough as a reading activity for homework.
• Learners extract the nouns and organise them in a ‘gamers dictionary’ and write a definition/ translation.
• Write a short story based on the game starting with the sentence:

“When the War Bears arrived they found that the Brown Bears had taken several hostages. It looked like an impossible mission for the WB team.”

• Write a newsflash news report that covers the events in the game.
  

Spent is a very different type of text adventure. It’s not interactive fiction – firstly, because it deals with a very serious subject : poverty. It is also primarily composed of written text, unlike Inanimate Alice.

Here’s a handout for Advanced students to support the game in class (If you prefer, you can download a printable version here)

http://playspent.org/ is an online game that hopes to raise awareness about what it’s like to be extremely poor in the USA.

Before playing the game, let’s look at the premise of the game.

A) Before playing

1) What do you think will be the most difficult problems of your month of poverty? How will you solve them?

2) Find expressions in the text above that mean the same as these:

• the condition of being extremely poor
• a building protecting you from danger or bad weather
• less than the minimum level of income necessary for an adequate standard of living
• not having enough money or food
• own very little or have little money

B) While playing

Now let’s play the game. While playing, tick any of the following words and phrases that are used during the game. If you don’t last a month, try playing again and changing your choices.

C) After playing

1) How do you feel about your answer to question A 1) – were your predictions right?

2) Which of the words and phrases did you come across while playing? Do you remember how they were used and what they mean? Try to explain the meaning to your partner using other words

Answers

A) Before playing

2) Expressions

Level: Intermediate or Advanced

Location: Connected classroom/ Home

Skills Practice: Speaking/ Listening

Game: Robin Hood Learning Quest

It’s not often you get a fun game which is aimed at more than one Language learning level but this one does.  You first join Second Life (a free virtual world) which both you and your learners will have to do.  When you have finished making your avatar you log in to Second Life and then click on the SLurl above the picture.  Your avatar will then be teleported to the start of the Robin Hood quest.  It may be a little tricky moving around the first time you arrive there so a little orientation video doesn’t go amiss.

Preparation

There are a few system requirements and you will need to check that you can play audio if you are using the audio plays and have working headphones and speakers for each learner if they are using voice.  Of course, if they are in the same room they won’t need to use voice but if your learners are connecting from different geographical locations then voice can be very useful.  Try and establish some ground rules for taking turns to talk though, otherwise it can get confusing.

Arriving

There are a few things you should do when you arrive there for the first time:

1. Make friends with the other people there by right clicking on them and choosing ‘add friend’.
2. Chat using the public text box that runs along the bottom of the page.
3. Talk with them by using speakers and a microphone and clicking on the speak button that is just on the right of the public chat box.
4. Make someone responsible for keeping everyone together (the one most comfortable in this new environment), another responsible for remembering the clues and another for making decisions.

You are now ready to start the Quest.

Intermediate

For intermediate language learners there is a crossword they can download and complete while playing.  Here’s how they play:

1. They can find the Robin Hood crossword by clicking on the sign on the tree with the arrow in it (see the picture above – it’s the tree behind the fire).
2. They discuss what they should do to complete the crossword.
3. Then they find and read colour coded clues which tell them where to look next and what to look for.  They can surf the net to find the answers if they want.
4. As they journey through the quest they fill in the crossword.
5. Finally at the end there is a puzzle to solve which will gain them access to the dungeon where Maid marian is being kept prisoner.  They open the treasure chest and get a prize.

Advanced

For advanced language learners there are a series of audio plays they listen to.  In each play there is a clue to where they should go next and what to look for.  The Robin Hood crossword is optional but it’s a good way to keep them on task and encourages discussion.  Here’s how they play:

1. They listen to the audio play and discuss where they think the next clue is hidden and how to get there.
2. They also discuss what they need to look for (and complete the crossword when possible).
3. They then follow steps 3-5 in the Intermediate section above.

The audio play tape scripts can be useful.  Here’s a quick video introduction to the Robin Hood Quest:

By the way the final clue to open the dungeon door at the castle is:

1228/ Move aside for me please

If you are playing by using just the audio clues then you will need to tell your learners the password at the end because the last puzzle of the quest is a quiz to make sure they have completed the crossword.

Remember at the end of the day that the sole purpose of the quest is to provide a challenging and engaging task in which a lot of English is spoken.  I’ve spoken to a teacher who did the quest and said that the amount of English produced was great – unfortunately they only got through 3 of the 9 quest locations because they ran out of time.  Oh well!  Extra but fun homework I suppose.

Location: Computer room

Topic: Revision & test of course book vocabulary.

Language focus: Reading

Game:  Blockbusters

How to play

Your learner plays the single red team against the computer (the two blue guys).  The aim of the game is to make a white line across the board from top to bottom (or the other way round) by answering questions to which the answers start with the letter in the hexagon.

This game is actually designed to challenge native English speakers so may prove particularly hard to English language learners.  However, playing the game gives them a very quick way to learn how to play the game.  You could get them to play in pairs and predict the instructions.  They then read the instructions (button on the bottom right) to see if the were right.

Now they have a better understanding of what the game blockbusters is they can now have a go at writing their own powerpoint version.

Blockbusters Template

You could ask learners to only use their coursebooks to find vocabulary items.  This makes the activity a fun revision activity while the actual playing of the game becomes a fun test.   Make sure they read the instructions on slide 3 carefully.  I find that it usually takes a little bit of trial and error to figure out what to do but once someone in the class has figured it out they can always explain it to others.

NOTE

There’s no reason why you can’t use the Blockbuster Template with much lower levels.  Unfortunately the online game is too difficult for lower levels.  It would also be good if the game paused for bigger intervals and there wasn’t a time limit between being given the question and having to give the answer.  If there was that would be a great opportunity for a dictionary race.  They could read the question, identify the answer in their own language, look it up in a translation dictionary and give the answer in English.  Oh well!

Level: Advanced

Location: Computer room

Skills Focus: Reading

Game: Choice of the Dragon

Preparation

Decide how you are going to use the reader in class.  There are a few ways to approach this.

A nice way to orientate your learners to the language focus and task is to first dictate a few of the words for your learners to record.  I use the following grid system with my learners that’s easy to dictate:

or show the opening sequence of the game and elicit difficult language items from the text in open class for learners to record.

Play

In the computer room learners play the game in pairs and discuss the decisions they need to make.

Post Play

1. Back in the classroom in new pairs learners compare stories and discuss the differences, choices and the resulting storyline.
2. For homework learners play the game again but choose different choices.  They:

• record difficult words in their grids and next class see if anyone can teach them the meaning of the words.
• Play and note down three differences in storyline between this reading and the class reading.
• Play  and read just for fun.