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

One definition of gamification is the use of features usually found in games in areas of life which are usually game free. Only time will tell if this buzzword becomes the next big thing as some people are predicting, but meanwhile, sites such as Chore Wars can help you make a game of some of the most uninteresting but necessary tasks of life.

Chore Wars

Although Chore Wars has been designed to turn housework into an adventure game, the site is flexible enough to let you customise adventures, which means it can be converted for use in the classroom.

Let’s look at this through an example.

I have a class of teenagers studying for the Cambridge First Certificate in English exam and in order to prepare yourself for this exam, you have to do a lot of practice tests. The problem is that doing these tests frequently becomes routine and repetitive, which is where Chore Wars can help.

Getting Started

I started by setting up an account on the site and creating a number of adventures. You can then create a number of adventures from scratch, which is what I did. I

I made each part of the exam an adventure that when claimed, earns the player XP (experience points) , gold coins and the possibility of finding treasure. The learners (players) can see the scores of the others too, which adds an element of competition to doing practice tests. I also made the rewards on the more difficult parts of the exam higher to motivate the learners into doing them.

Introducing Chore Wars to Students

The idea is to encourage the students to do more exam practice tests by making it fun. After I’d set up the adventures, I introduced the learners to the concept in the classroom and then we went to the computer room.

There, they created their characters, choosing what they looked like and giving themselves a name.

Joining the Party

They then joined my party of adventurers. The best way to do this is to give them the link to join on a simple webpage. I used http://pen.io for this, which lets you create a webpage instantly, without any need to log in. You can see the page I set up here: http://chorewars.pen.io/.

Adventuring

Once they’d joined the party, I asked them to start doing some practice tests on a site called Flo-Jo, and as they finished, they claimed the adventure on Chore Wars.

Student Reaction

Another reason why I chose to use Chore Wars was because I have a number of students who play online adventure games, and so the concept of XP, collecting gold coins, etc was familiar to them and they needed no introduction to the idea of turning the FCE exam into an adventure. It went down well with them and they happily ploughed through a number of practice tests and started to claim the adventures.

There are other students in the class, however, who do not play these games, and it was more difficult for them to see the point of the game. They seemed a little bit bemused by the concept, but I hope and trust this will change in time, as they become more familiar with it.

Managing the Adventure

I am the Dungeon Master (the game controller) of the FCE Ninjas Chore Wars adventure, which means I have control over what adventures to set, etc. I can change the number of XP, gold coins and possibility of treasure of each adventure. I’d do this to encourage the students to do part of the exam they are reluctant to do.

It’s early days, but I have already seen a potential problem that I have to deal with that could spoil the game if I am not careful: cheating

Cheating

Chore Wars is based on a trust system. Players claim an adventure and this relies on their honesty. However, I could see that some of the students were very interested in knowing how the game worked, and have just spotted that one in particular wanted to see how it was possible to increase his level and XP.

Look at the screenshot below and you’ll see that this student (abaairenjy in the game) logged in and continued playing after class. I know that by looking at the times he claimed the adventures. We were in the computer room for 20 minutes, from 6.00-6.20pm and he did two practice tests while we were there. But, he also logged into Chore Wars at home, at 10pm and played the game, increasing his XP and level from level 1 to level 3. I know that it’s impossible he did 9 practice tests in this time (10 minutes!) and so will have to call him on it next class.

The good news about this activity is that he’s interested enough to do it at home to see how it works, but this will destroy the game if his cheating is allowed to continue. This is what I have decided to do now:

• I will draw the class’s attention to the cheating next time we meet. I’ll do this and ask them to decide how to deal with it. We’ll do this through negotiation and it’ll make for an interesting class discussion on honesty and what everyone thinks about cheating and of obeying the rules of games.
• I have left a comment for Alejandro, so he knows I am onto him (see screenshot below)
• I am going to suggest that all the class does what Alejandro has claimed, in the same order. That way, they too can claim them too, and they will get similar XP, treasure, and advance in levels. If they don’t like the choice of exercises, they have Alejandro to blame!

I hope this strategy will work. There are other things you can do, as Dungeon Master, to allow you to manage your adventures, which are particularly interesting if you want to manage the adventures in the classroom.

Classroom Management

You have various options with characters, giving players permissions to create their own adventures, etc. I have changed the role of the players’ characters to NPC (non playing character) which means that I can claim adventures on their behalf (see screenshot below). This means that the learners won’t have to log in to be able to claim XP, etc. When we do a practice test in the classroom, I can quickly run through the character list and claim points for everyone there and then. I am also planning to claim adventures only for those students who actually pass a particular practice test.

Final Thoughts

How successful Chore Wars is with my class remains to be seen, but I think the potential is there to increase the interest my students have in FCE practice tests, turning the completion of them into a game, and hopefully motivating them to do more homework (not just the tests I assign them). Whatever happens now, it’s already proving to be an interesting adventure for the teacher!

When I walked into my upper-intermediate class of teenagers yesterday, there were two students already there. One of them (A) spoke up about something that was on his mind and that he wanted to tell me (G) and then the other (D) soon joined in. The exchange more or less went like this:

A: I found a new role-playing game game to play, Cabal

G: Oh, really?Is it a PC game?

A: Sorry?

G: Do you play it on a PC? Is it a multiplayer game?

A: Yes. It’s the best role-playing game, I think. Well, WoW is the best, but this is the best free role-playing game

G: (seeing A glance at D when he said that) You looked at D there. Does that mean you play World of Warcraft?

D: In the past. I played it. I don’t now.

G: Ah, you used to play it?

D: Yes

This exchange took place in English, without prompting, as it was initiated by the students themselves, and was all about a topic close to their heart: gaming. Wherever I go, I hear complaints by teachers about not being able to engage their students: They don’t want to speak; They aren’t interested in English; They’re a difficult class to teach.

Every class is different, of course, and not all students are interested in games. But many are. And I am convinced there are lots of missed opportunities for natural, relevant, meaningful speaking moments like the one above in so many classrooms that are not happening simply because the teacher has no gaming knowledge or interest. And because the students know this, they don’t talk about games, and are never prompted to do so by the teacher. With some students, such as A and D in my class (above), gaming may even be their main interest and what they do with most of their time (outside of school). If so, what this means is that for some students there will be nothing of interest to talk about in your class.

There’s also another interesting point to make. Now, I know that A and D turn up early to class mainly to talk to me about games before the other students arrive. They know I’m interested in games and that we don’t usually talk about them much because some of the other students are not so interested in them (three people in the class have only a passing, casual interest). Occasionally, A and D and some of the other students linger at the end of the class to show me (on the IWB) a new game they have found, one they are playing, or would like to play. Those of you teachers out there who also teach teenagers will know that this is priceless.

Current Affairs

So what to do? You don’t have to be a games player in order to talk about games to your students. But you do have to know something. It’s a case of a little knowledge going a long way. For me, it’s the same with football. I have very little interest in football, but living in Barcelona, I have to know something about it in order to speak to my students. A few of the players names and knowing who won the last match / who they are playing next is usually enough. Then I can let the students speak. And all of this information I pick up from watching the TV news.

The same is true of gaming. Gaming is such big business nowadays, touches upon so many people’s free time, that it regularly features in the TV news and newspapers where I live (Spain). The same may well be true where you live too. IF so, then just keep an eye open for what’s happening. Here, it’s all about changing what you pay attention to, so you can talk about it with your students. Here are some of the latest news in the gaming world you should have noticed. How many of these could you start to have a conversation with your students about?

• Nintendo’s Mario’s 25th Anniversary
• Launch of ‘Call of Duty Black Ops’ (the biggest selling video game in history)
• Microsoft XBox360 new motion controller ‘Kinect’
• Cataclysm – new upgrade to World of Warcraft (11 million users worldwide)

In the conversation that started with my students in class moved to WoW because I’d heard about the last one of these:

G: There’s a new upgrade to WoW out now, isn’t there?

A: Is there?

D: Not yet. Soon.

G: No, it’s out now. Just come out in the last few days.

D: Yes?

A: What is it?

D: It’s called Cataclysm. The level is increased to 85 and there’s a dragon who has changed the world…

This was the point that the other students walked into class. The conversation didn’t last for much longer, but the atmosphere in the room was already one full of vibrant conversation, where the students were doing most of the talking, about something that interested them. What more can a language teacher ask for?

I recommend you take a passing interest in games if your students are interested, and try it out too.

Language: Prepositions of place

Skills Focus: Listening/ speaking

Location: Classroom room

Game: Happy Christmas Escape

Father Christmas wants to deliver his presents but he is locked in a house and he can’t get out.  Help him to find the keys that will help him escape.

Preparation

Familiarise yourself with the walkthrough to this game.  Also make a list of useful vocabulary.  The vocabulary that is necessary to complete the game is listed below but you may want to preteach others or deal with them as you play.

Play

1. Sit your learners in front of the screen with a clear view of the game.
2. Explain the problem – that father Christmas needs to escape form the house in order to deliver all the Christmas presents he’s got for all the good children.
3. Elicit vocabulary by asking ‘What’s this (called)? or ‘Where’s the X?’
4. Elicit from your learners what you need to do and where you need to look/ go.
5. You can give hints by saying ‘you’re getting closer/ warmer’ or ‘you’re getting further away/ colder’.

To keep the pace moving shift between letting them direct you as an open class, calling on volunteers, giving clues etc

Post Activity

There are a number of activities but here are a few suggestions:

• Learners write the walkthrough using vocabulary only.
• Draw a picture of one of the rooms and label it.
• Write a letter to Father Christmas.
• Write a description of where the keys are.
• Write where they would hide the keys (in a better place).

Level: Upper intermediate+
Location: Computer room
Activity: Reading
Language: Narrative tenses & narrative devices.

Game: I remain

Pre-Play

1. Do hangman for the word ‘Z O M B I E’ and ask them to describe what one is.
2. Learners imagine they have survived a zombie outbreak and they are in a strangers house and in pairs write down 6 things they should do.
3. Take learners to the computer room and direct them to the ‘I Remain’ story.  Learners then read it and find 3 things they wrote down.

Play

Learners use two open internet explorer pages to play the game as they read the story.

Post Play

• Learners write the next part of the story.
• Learners write an imagined walkthrough for the next part of the game.
• Learners change some of the elements of the story (make it better).
• Learners reduce the story to a walkthrough.

1  Dark wood

Level Low Level Primary learners in a connected classroom

Play Read the story in your best scary voice and encourage your learners to join in.  When it comes to the ‘spot the cat’ bits in the game  get your learners to describe where the cat is or build dialogues between you and the class:

“Is it under the tree?”              “No!”

“Is it behind the tree?”            “No!”

“Is it in the tree?”                   “YEAH!”

2     Pumpkin carving

Level Low Level Primary learners in a connected classroom

Play Why not drill the language of giving directions (“up, down,  left,  right and stop”) in a fun way.  Carve an online pumpkin blind man’s bluff style.  Blind fold a learner who listens to their classmates instruct them on how to carve the pumpkin.  The class can rate their classmates pumpkins out of ten after each learner has taken their turn.   Declare the winner/s at the end of the activity.

3 Ghost Hunter

Level Any Level Primary or Juniors in a connected classroom.

Play Do you award points in class as a way of maintaining discipline?  Well what do points make? Prizes?  How about points make seconds  which they play a game?  In one really difficult class I  gave points for everything – the person who opens their books on the right page, whoever completed the exercise first and whoever got the answers right.  Points for just using basic classroom language.  I took points away just as quickly – last to open their book, not listening and not working on their exercises.  At the end of the class, count up individual’s points, convert into seconds and let the highest scorers play first.  The learners to score the highest in the game get to leave the class first.

4 Funny Halloween

Level Intermediate Juniors in a computer room

Play Done that unit from the book on clothes?  Then why not set a writing activity using a game.  As learners play this game they write down the description of what their character is wearing.  Each Learner then swaps descriptions with another learner and try to reproduce the character’s costume.  The learner who wrote the description can then judge the reproduction saying what differences there are between the reproduction and the original.

5 Garfield Scavenger Hunt

Level Intermediate and above Juniors in a computer room.

Preparation Print a copy of the walkthrough

Play Do a relay dictation using the game’s walkthrough and the game itself.  Blu-tac the walkthrough to the door in the computer room.  Learners can now take it in turns to go to the walkthrough, read and return to their ‘ game playing’ partner and relay the walkthrough information that they remember.    Learners  swap after 3 minutes.  Encourage them to ask you to define difficult vocabulary.

6 Halloween wordsearch

Level Any Level Primary or Junior learners in a computer room.

Play This is a fun vocabulary activity.  Learners note down the vocabulary and when they return to the classroom they can make a Halloween poster using the new vocabulary items for inspiration.  Ask about what they are drawing as you monitor and take an interest in what they are doing. Finally, Learners label the objects they drew on the poster.

7 Trick or Treat Bear

Level Upper Intermediate Juniors or seniors in a classroom

Preparation Print a copy of the ‘Too many clicks spoil the walkthrough‘ for each  learner.

Pre-Play Learners read the walkthrough and ask teacher about/ look up in a dictionary any of the difficult language.  Learners work in pairs to identify and cross out the repetitive language (verbs) and add a range of different verbs.   They should also expand on any of the text (e.g adding articles) when possible.

Play Learners play the game for homework using their expanded walkthrough.  They should make any changes they feel is appropriate or that makes the walkthrough better.  Next class discuss and compare the changes they made to their walkthroughs at home.

8 Halloween Escape

Level Intermediate and above Seniors in a computer room

Preparation Play the game yourself using the walkthrough to assess whether the content of this game is appropriate for your learners.

Play Learners play the game in order to create and write down their own walkthrough.  As they play they should write down where and what they did in each location.  Monitor, input language and make sure that walkthrough is being written.  If learners are playing the game and not doing the activity then they have to start the game again.

9  Trick or Treat Adventure Quest

Level Upper Intermediate Seniors in a computer room.

Preparation Print a copy of the walkthrough for yourself.

Play This is like a ‘picture dictation’ but more a ‘play dictation’.  Using the walkthrough dictate to your class how to do the game.  Monitor their screens to check on their progress and encourage them to ask questions to clarify any difficult language points.

10 Spelloween

Level Advanced Seniors in a computer room

Play Looking for a quick word building activity for your advanced learners? Then this is a nice little warmer.  Learners play individually or in pairs and when they have finished they compare their score with other the groups.  The highest scorer wins.  As a follow up activity in the classroom, how many can they remember and write down?  Check their spelling and can they describe the meaning of the words to the class?

Notes

Primaries are aged between 7 – 11 years old, Juniors 11 – 14 and Senior 14+.

Computer room = a room with enough computers stations (with an internet connection) for two learners to a computer.

Connected classroom = A classroom equipped with a computer station (with an internet connection and possibly a data projector  or electronic whiteboard).

Classroom = You, your learners, writing materials and printed worksheets and a Whiteboard/ blackboard.

This is just a quick one – good for a filler or for telling students to do on their own at home.

It’s an entertaining version of the popular TV show – the questions are, on the whole, relevant to English teaching, although some are US-culture specific

Play Win A Million at Online Games HQ

Or download a powerpoint template of the game from here ‘Who wants to be a millionaire’ download

1  Decorate

Do your learners know their furniture vocab?  Have your pre-intermedaite learners practice their listening and reading skills as they furnish Roger’s flat.  Great for 1:1 learner/ computer ratio classes or set as a fun homework activity.  Learners read the speech bubbles and listen to Roger tell them how he wants his flat furnished.  Vocabulary sets include furniture, colours and patterns.

2    Sveerz

This is a musical arcade game which is a cross between Tetris and simon says.  It’s great for drilling colours with a primary class in open class.  Simply play the game at the front of the class and have your learners sitting in front of the game shouting out the colours.  You play the game by clicking the colours they shout.  When they know how to play get a volunteer up to take your place at the keyboard.

3    Arcane season

Use the great video sequences, nice special sound effects and what the in-game characters say to stimulate a creative writing activity with an upper intermediate and beyond class.  The good thing about this?  Just click here for a more comprehensive lesson plan.

4    Hot shot business

Disney scored a bit of a hit with this game.  Listen to the two presenters and in game newsflashes as you open your own skateboard retailers, comic shop or pet shop.  Learners can read the speech bubbles as they listen for extra support.  Some nice arcade style games breaks give learners a short break from language and they keep the adrenalin level up.

5    Case of the crabs

This is a point and click game which is great to use with a walkthrough class activity.  Admittably the sound effects are more there to add atmosphere rather than provide some skills practice but it’s still a nice little game.  The opening sequence allows learners to read and listen to the storyline.  Click here for the walkthrough.  Read out the walkthrough, relay dictation from the teacher’s computer screen or tell learners where to access it.

6    Mingoville

Fun English learning games, grammar and songs all with flamingos that speak English.  A popular one with Primary English learners though the activities are very much based on drilling language items.  If this is the thing for you and your learners then set this up at the front of the class.

7    Stage 07

A very engaging point and click adventure game you can use with a walkthrough.  Choose how you interact with the in game characters to solve a mystery.  Both Listening and reading skills practice.  Great for pair work in the computer room for intermediate English learners and above.  Click here for the walkthrough.

8    voki

This website allows you to create personalized speaking avatars and use them on blogs, profiles, and in email messages.  Get students to record themselves talking about their voki avatars – likes/ dilikes, habits and daily routines are all good areas to cover.

9    Cuboy

Lots of audio for your learners to listen to and they can also read the text with the in game characters’ speech bubbles.  Nice little game with lots of puzzles to solve.  Use the walkthrough to help your learners.  Click here for the walkthrough.

10    Hewitt

Help Hewitt to find a girl for the school dance. This game takes a minute or so to load so be warned.  Use YOUR MOUSE to play the game and make sure you read the instructions to the tutorial at the beginning of game.  Click here if you want the walkthrough.

Language Focus: Present Perfect simple /passive

Time: 30 – 40 minutes

Game:Droppy

Help Droppy to solve problems in 11 different situations and help him stay out of trouble.

Preparations

Download a single copy of the walkthrough for you to use in class and download a copy of the Droppy worksheet. Play the game yourself to get a feel for the game. In class have the game set up at the beginning ready to start and in a place where can be easily seen. Download the present perfect passive exercise sheet for extra language support for lower levels.

NOTE The majority of sentences in the walkthrough are in the present perfect simple but it is possible to produce a present perfect passive structure and still be correct. Be aware that learners may produce grammatically correct sentences that are part of the language focus but that are not included on the walkthrough sheet.

Playing

Hand out a copy of the Droppy worksheet to your learners. Ask them to compare the picture they have on their worksheet with the game on the screen. In pairs, ask them to find as many differences as possible between the two. While they are doing this write this on the board:

The rock on the ground has been moved.

He the top of the cactus has been cut off.

Droppy has put a hat on.

Feedback on any differences the learners have found. Get them to connect the differences to the three sentences on the board. Ask a volunteer to come up and complete this level of the screen.

When the first level has been completed and the game level menu is up tell your learners you now want them to talk about the differences but write down what has happened by comparing their picture with the game on the screen. The first pair to finish should say stop. They then read out their present perfect passive/ simple sentences and you tick them off against your walkthrough. If the pair have identified all elements of your walkthrough, one of them can come up and play the game to the next level. If they have failed to identify all elements of the walkthrough then you should give them clues on where to find them.

e.g.

In the 6th level (roasting marshmallows) Droppy has to get a magnifying glass out of his bag to use the suns rays to start a fire. This is not apparent from the learner’s picture. You can give clues like:

“What do you notice about what has happened to his bag!”

When the magnifying glass comes out you can ask:

“Has anyone seen this object before? What have you used it for?”

Notice how the questions use the present perfect. You can then tell them what the object is “It’s a magnifying glass”.

Repeat for all 11 stages of the game.

Post Playing

Learners use the present perfect to write their version of the Droppy walkthrough (either in class or for homework but you will need extra copies of the droppy worksheet, one for each learner, if you do this). When they have finished they compare their walkthroughs with others and discuss the differences.

NOTE

This activity can be easily adapted to Present Perfect passive by changing the object in the present perfect sentences to the subject.

e.g.

‘He has made a fire’ to ‘A fire has been made’.

Skills Focus:   Listening

Language Focus:   First Aid

Game:   Casualty Challenge

Help your learners practise their listening skills in the computer room with this BBC Skillswise words game based on the UK TV Programme “Casualty”.

Preparation

Make sure that there are enough computers and headphones for your learners and that the game is either ready for them to start or that you can successfully guide them to the website.

Pre- Playing

Dictate the following questions in chunks ‘/’ and as naturally as possible:

1) What kind of things/ does a paramedic/ have to do/ at the scene of an accident?

2) On arrival at the hospital/ how does a doctor/ take over?

3) How might the nurses/ help get the patient/ back into shape?

Learners discuss the questions and feedback before playing the games.

Play

Learners listen to the descriptions of first aid proceedure for a paramedic,  a doctor and a nurse and then move pictures of the proceedures they have just listened to into the correct order.  They have three chances.  If your learners are extra keen then get them to note down any difficult language.

Post Play

In class ask them how they did, if they have any questions about the language, what they remember and what they have learnt from playing the game.