Level: Upper-Intermediate

Location: Connected classroom with IWB

Language focus: Defining and non-defining relative clauses

Game: Eyemaze GROW games

Top left to right – Grow ver .3, Grow cube, Grow tower

Bottom left to right – Grow ver .2, Grow RPG,  Grow ver .1

The secret to finishing these games is finding the correct order in which to add the objects and make the game grow.  If you get the right order the game grows to its fullest potential.  A bit unclear?  Then find a walkthrough and play one of the games.  By the way, the number of icons at the side is a good indication of how many stages to the game there are.  After each stage finishes the game usually pauses until you click something – use this to your advantage (students can produce language in this pause).

Preparation

1 Choose one of the games and find and make a copy of its walkthrough online by using a search engine and typing in:

“name of the game” +walkthrough

2 Play the game and decide what language is going to scaffold the writing activity.  Think about using a conditional, sequencers, narrative tenses or how you can adapt the game to a grammar point you have recently covered in class.

3 Make a note of how many different ‘game stages’ there are to the game and think about how to scaffold the language with each ‘game stage’.  How will you use a different language item at each ‘game stage’. e.g. stage 1 = first of all, stage 2 = then, stage 3 = after that (sequencers).

4 Do you need to make a worksheet/ presentation?

Play

1 Connect to the internet in class and have the game ready to play on the IWB.

2 Have a flipchart ready or word processing document open to write the text you aim to produce.

3 Orientate learners towards the language (via worksheet, learners looking in notebooks or coursebooks).

4 In pairs learners write down a sentence for each stage of the game (you play it and pause to allow them enough time to wrote it down) using the target language.

5 Learners compare and decide on the best and dictate it to a volunteer who types it into the word document on the IWB.

6 Learners discuss in pairs where a relative clause may go in the text and take it in turns to come up, place a dot where they would place the relative clause and then tell the class the relative clause they would place there.

7 Try and encourage a wide range of relative pronouns (that/which, who, where, when, whose etc) by pointing out the opportunities to use them in the text and eliciting them.

Post Activity

Learners copy the text from the board and include relative clauses where the circles are. Encourage them to try and remember the original relative clause said by the person who put the dot there but stress that the exact same words are not necessary.

Topic: Writing stories

Writing Focus: Narrative tenses

Time: 30 – 40 minutes

Game: Grow Cube

Key Language: canal    pool    pot    pipe    waterfall    dish    steps    cave    tower    skull    springs    dug    planted   flowed    built    grew    cut down    lit    added    threw

Preparation: Connected classroom with data projector. One printed copy of the language sheet for each learner. One photocopy of the walkthrough for the teacher.

Walkthrough: Man    Water    Fruit    Pot    Blue pipe    Fire    Dish    Bone    Spring    Red ball

Grow Cube is an online point and click puzzle game.  The objective of the game is to find the right order in which to place the ten icons onto the cube.  It is a very visual game and the short video sequences in between each click lend itself brilliantly to writing a narrative story.  Though you can have the music of the game playing during this activity I find it tends to become quite repetitive and so I usually click on the ‘sound off’ button on the bottom right just next to the reset button.  Prior to this game you should have presented the narrative tenses, mainly the past simple and past continuous though you can include the past perfect if you think your learners are up to it.

Pregaming activity

Tell your learners they are going to watch a game and tell their partner the story as they watch.  You can then play the game using the walkthrough.  Click on the game’s icons and let the learners watch the short video sequence.  Prompt them if necessary to tell their partner what they saw.  If the story they are telling involves any difficult language they should write it down in their native language.  When the game has finished and the learners have finished their story telling ask them to compare any language they noted down with another group.  This is to allow a little peer teaching time with the vocabulary.  Hand out the grammar sheet and ask them if they understand the useful language at the bottom.  Learners then think of a title for the story and write it in the ‘title’ gap.

Gaming activity

Reset the game and elicit the order you click on the icons from your learners.  Using the grammar sheet your learners then write down the game story.  Remember to allow time between each click for your learners to briefly discuss the story and then write it down.  Monitor as they write.

Material:   Language worksheet