Level:  Beginner->Intermediate

Location:  Connected classroom (i.e. one computer with an Internet connection)

Language: Directions and driving language (turn left/turn right/go forward/go back / stop – more complicated directions can be used if the level is higher: take the first right / go straight ahead / slow down / speed up / etc.)

Skills focus:  Listening/Speaking

Game: Driver Seat

Preparation

Make sure the game works in your classroom and play the game to get a feel for it.

Pre-gaming

Tell the learners you are going to give them a test, and then after the groans, say that it’s going to be a driving test! Elicit or tell them the basic vocabulary and write this on the board.

Gaming

1. Show the learners the game and the first task (see image below), which is to drive through town and make a few errands. Check understanding and then you’re ready to start.

2. When you can see the car, start driving and pause, asking the learners to tell you what to do (turn left / go straight on / etc) until you get to the first task – Parking (see screenshot below).

3. Ask a volunteer to continue to tell you what you should do to be able to park correctly. If you crash, then you need to start again, and ask for another volunteer. If a learner manages to do it, you can ask another to try to park in less time, giving practice to a number of the students.

4. The next task is to drive to meet a friend for lunch (see screenshot below). Proceed in the same way as you did with the parking section. This time, you have to be careful not to knock anyone down.

5. You can always let the learners have a go at driving too (try some of the other mini games for variation), but tell the person in the driving seat to follow the instructions given by the others rather than drive where they want to go.

Post Gaming

Review the language with the learners and (if appropriate), talk about driving (what makes a good driver? Do people drive well where you live? etc. )

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.

Location: Computer room

Language Focus: Game vocabulary (things in the street)

Skills Focus:  Receptive - Reading

Game: Abuba the alien

Preparation

Download and print a copy of the Abuba the alien worksheet for each learner.

Pre Play

1. Hand out dictionaries and the worksheet for learners to work through.
2. Learners complete page 1 of the Abuba the alien worksheet (exercise 1 – 3).
3. As you monitor help with some of the dictionary work by having your own copy and working backwards on the pictures.
4. As feed back describe one of the objects for learners to guess.
5. Do exercise 4 on page 2 as an open class activity.  If you can have the image above displayed.  To help learners ask questions like:

“Which of the objects can you see in the street?”

“What do people in films use a pin to open?”

6. Choose a volunteer to read the instructions for exercise 5

Play

1. Learners play the game in pairs.  They may use an online dictionary.  One learner plays the other completes the work sheet (change roles every 5 minutes or so).
2. Learners use the answers from exercise 4 to complete the first part of the game (screenshot above).
3. Then encourage learners to continue playing but to write the game instructions for the next two screens.
4. For fast finishers they may play an extra screen as long as they continue to write the instructions/ walkthrough.
5. Stop the activity when all learners have completed the next two screens.

Post Play

• Learners make their own vocabulary / picture activity for ‘The dog’ and ‘The manhole’ stages of the game (see Abuba the alien worksheet page 1 as an example).
• For homework learners play some more of the game and write the instructions / walkthrough.

Language: Vocabulary – action verb + noun

Skills Focus: Dictionary work / Speaking

Location: Connected Classroom

Game: Dream Machine

Nice little one screen game activity.

Preparation

Play the game and familiarise yourself with how to complete it using the Dream machine walkthrough.

Pre-play task

1. Dictate the following text in chunks using as natural speech as possible:

You go to sleep one night / and dream you are on a / small desert island. / You are very hungry / and you imagine / what you need / to catch and cook a fish. / As soon as you imagine / each of the things / they appear on the island.  / What things / do you think of?

Learners may ask you to repeat what you say and slow down.  It’s good to repeat (the chunks) using natural speech but not slowly.

2. Learners should compare what they have written with others, discuss any differences and make corrections if possible.  They can then ask you for clarification on any doubts they may have OR you can show them a copy of the original text for them to compare with what they have written.

3. Show the game to the class and elicit a name for the character.  Then brainstorm all the objects that they can see (rocks, palm trees, fishing rod, fire (place??), (fire)wood, etc).  Learners could use dictionaries at this stage before adding any new words to their list.

4. Then ask learners what they think the character should do first?  If their suggestion works tell them to to write down ’1′ in their notebooks and cooperatively decide on the sentence for everyone to write down.

e.g. Pedro picks up the fishing rod.

Essentially the class is writing the game walkthrough.

5. Once the first few sentences or so have been written down tell learners to continue in pairs.

NOTE - the annotation in the game offers an abridged ‘pick up fishing rod’ so be sure to elicit the definite / indefinite articles.

6. Pairs then compare their walkthrough with another group and expand on their own walkthrough by incorporating and copying any sentences another group has written that they think are valid.

Play Task

1. Learners read out the walkthrough which now becomes a dictation on how to proceed in the game.

2. If any sentences produced do not produce an effect in the game encourage learners to improvise orally.  You can listen and encourage self correction.

3. Any improvised sentences that produce an effect in the game that moves the game towards the end should be written down by learners.

4. When the character finds the map inside the fish (after he has eaten it) ask learners to theorise about what the map is for, what each of the parts of the map represent and finally to guide you to what you should do (dig) and where

There’s a nice little end sequence to the island dream.

Post Play activity

• Using their walkthrough learners go home and play the game and continue the walkthrough with the next scene (which, incidentally, is quite short and not as good as the first – it’s the demo version).
• Learners change the walkthrough into a narrative starting:

“One day last week I had a strange dream . . . “

Location: Classroom

Skills focus: Relay picture dictation

Language focus: There is / are . . . , colours, bedroom furniture, prepositions of place.

Game: Tucoga’s room

Preparation

1. Download and print a copy of the Game Picture Dictation.
2. Put it on the wall in a fairly central position or make four copies and put each copy on the four walls of the classroom.
3. Hand out a blank piece of paper to each pair of learners.

Reading Activity

1. Tell the class it’s a dictation but they don’t copy the words.  They should draw the picture.
2. Learners work in pairs and take it in turns to go and read the text.
3. They then go back to their partner, relay the text information.
4. Their partner listens and draws the picture.
5. They then swap roles and repeat from step 1.

Post Activity

A – Connected classroom

Put the game on the board for learners to compare their pictures with the game.  Talk about the differences e.g. in the game the carpet is big, in my picture it is small etc.  Give points to pairs if they can spot a difference and tell you and two points if they can spot a similarity.  Don’t allow repetitions on the sentences.

B – Computer room

Learners play the game by listening to you describe how to play the game using the walkthrough.  i.e. a live listening.

OR

Learners use two internet explorer pages.  One to play the game, the other to read the walkthrough.

NOTE

There is a mistake in the Game Picture Dictation.  It should read ‘wardrobe’ and NOT ‘cupboard’

Location: Computer room

Skills Focus: (Relay) Reading

Language Focus: Directions & Prepositions of place

Game: Space Quest

This is a short and simple sci-fi point and click game.

Preparation

Download a copy of the Space Quest Walkthrough and make a single copy to put on the wall of the computer room.

Pre-play

1. Put learners into pairs.
2. In the classroom put the walkthrough on the wall and tell learners they have 5 minutes to relay dictate as much as the walkthrough to their partner as possible.  The winners will be first in line to go to the computer room.
3. Learners relay dictate the walkthrough to their partners.  This is to orientate learners towards the text on the walkthrough so when they go to the computer room they will continue to rely on it.
4. After 5 minutes stop the activity.  Declare a winner and put them first in the queue to go to the computer room.
5. Take the walkthrough with you.

Play

1. At the door to the computer room explain to your learners they will continue the relay dictation but no writing.  this time learners will read the walkthrough (hold it up) which you will put on the wall (put it up) and go and tell their partner how to play the game.
2. Tell them the winners get less homework.
3. Sit learners in pairs at computers and direct them to the game.
4. Do the relay gaming activity.
5. After 3 minutes or so pairs swap roles so they both take turns in playing the game/ relay reading the walkthrough.
6. Stop the activity when one pair finishes the game.

Homework

Photocopy the walkthrough on to double sides and give out to the learners who didn’t win the activity.  Their homework is to go home and complete the game using the walkthrough.

Alternative activity

DInstead of doing a relay gaming activity you could direct learners to an online Space Quest Walkthrough and they read the walkthrough as they play the game.  This activity is quieter and more appropriate if you have one learner to one computer.

Level: Pre-intermediate

Location: Computer room

Skills focus: Reading

Game: Bamba Snack Quest

A squirrel steals your crisps.  Bamba decides to go and get his crisps back but the ending might be a little different to what your learners predict . . .

Preparation

You need to get your learners to open two internet explorer pages:

To play the game

To read the walkthrough

As most of the language problems are to do with the vocabulary you may like your learners to either use an online dictionary OR use an image search engine to teach the vocabulary.  If you use the latter then you should set the filters on strict in the advanced search options to avoid embarrassingly inappropriate images appearing.  This is how you set a strict filter in google images.  REMEMBER your learners will need to use three internet explorer windows for the game, the walkthrough, dictionary/images.

Play

1. Instruct your learners in how to open three internet explorer windows.
2. Get them to open the game in the first one.
3. Get them to open the walkthrough in the second one
4. Get them to use an online dictionary or images (on strict filter) in the third one.
5. Learners read the walkthrough to complete the game.
6. Stop the activity when you see fit.

Post Play Activity

The walkthrough is graded but contains a lot of repetitive use of the zero conditional and some of the 1st conditional.  The zero conditional really just expresses the fact that if you do something in the game the result is always the same.  The 1st conditional is present when the game requires the player to complete a task that is difficult to complete and in this way uses ‘will’ to predict the eventual outcome in the game.  For this reason, the walkthrough language offers you the opportunity to focus on these two conditional forms.  You can either do this by:

1. making a worksheet based on the walkthrough
2. using a relevant section in the coursebook
3. eliciting the form in a connected walkthrough while playing the first screen of the game.

Learners find the last activity very enjoyable and there is the option of either doing it orally in open class or by putting learners in pairs to write each stage of the walkthrough.  This last one is good as having played the game there is a memory test aspect to it that learners respond to well.  You can either feedback after each sentence or wait until the whole screen of the game has been completed.

Enjoy!

Level: Pre-intermediate

Location: Connected classroom

Skills focus: Speaking & pronunciation

Language Focus: Countries and nationalities

Game:  Geography game

Preparation

1. Hangman for ‘countries/ and/ states’.
2. Brainstorm a few and elicit the name of a person who comes from there.  Don’t be afraid to say “I don’t know”, if you don’t know the answer yourself.

Play

1. Divide the class into teams of 3 or 4.
2. Tell them they have to identify a country (the game asks them to find the country) and say what you call a person who comes from there.
3. Play the game.  A learner from each team comes up and points to the country on the map.  If you know the answer (whether learners get it right or not) click on the country.  If you are not 100% sure but there is a general consensus then click on that country.  Otherwise choose the country the winning team chooses.
4. Learners get a point for getting the right country and minus a point if they get it wrong.  They then get the chance to earn a bonus point for identifying the person who comes from there.  If the team gets the bonus question wrong it is open to the class and the team that gets it right first (hands up no shouting it out)  gets the bonus.  There are no minus marks for this.
5. Play the game until all the countries have been eliminated (guessed right).  Teams add up their points and a winner is declared.

Post Play

Learners draw two columns.  First column is country and the second is person.  Give them a chance to try and remember the country and person from the game and fill in the columns before playing the game again.  This time play the game open class (no teams) and the class completes the columns.

Alternatively focus on pronunciation.  Learners may need a little practice on vowel sounds or word stress.  If you play the game twice then you may want to do some pronunciation work between the two.  In this way you can note down mistakes the first game and focus on them in the second game.

Note

Sometimes its a little difficult to be able to say who comes from that place (especially if the game is on the states of a country).  In these cases you can accept a common answer each time (African, American, Australian, European etc) or ask a general knowledge question about the country.  You will need to do a bit of extra research and preparation for this though.  Some suggested general questions may include:

What colour is their flag?

What is the currency of this country?

What’s the name of a football team from here?

What language do they speak?

What’s the national animal?

What is the life expectancy for this country?

What are the names of three animals from there?

What are the names of three food products grown there?

1  Spot The Difference

Use downloadable flashcards for a spot the difference activity with low levels.  Alternatively, higher levels can use the same flashcards to practice the present perfect and identify ‘What has happened‘ between the 1st and second picture.   If that’s not enough, give out the first flashcard to intermediate learners and get them to predict what ‘will‘ happen and then give out the second picture – now then can see what is ‘going to‘ happen.

2 Who wants to play Samorost 2

If your learners have completed Samorost 2 why not do a reading activity with this fun PowerPoint quiz ‘Who knows all about Samorost 2‘ based on the popular Tv show ‘Who wants to be a millionaire?’.  For the ‘phone a friend’ option I usually allow them to text someone outside the classroom (in English) and allow two minutes for a reply.  ’Studio audience’ you can take a class vote (some interesting results with that – join in yourself  if you like).  If your learners like the game so much why not ask them ‘who wants to do a quiz about Samorost 2?‘ and get them to practice question forms and download the PowerPoint template and write their own questions and answers.

3 Poetry with Samorost 2

An acrostic poem is where you write the name of your subject vertically down a page. Ask your learners to do this with the word ‘Samorost’, and to start a line to their poem starting with a letter from the word ‘Samorost’.  Alternatively, try a more traditional poem with an advanced class using a more structured approach.

4 Vocabulary Crossword

You may want to do a pre gaming or language activity (e.g. a walkthrough) with your class and a good way to pre- teach some of the vocabulary is to do a Samorost 2 crossword.  Learners can get good dictionary work in while they have fun doing a crossword that targets vocabulary from Samorost 2.  To change this activity from a primarily reading activity to a writing activity, learners can write down a list of vocabulary from Samorost 2 and write their own Samorost 2 student crossword.

5  Live Listening

If you have downloaded and printed off a copy of the walkthrough you can do a live listening.  While your learners play the game in a computer room you use the walkthrough to guide them through the game.  If some learners get further ahead than others then ask them to switch their screens off and describe to others how they have got to where they are in the game or direct the slower gamers to an online copy of the walkthrough to help them.

6 Picture dictation

Picture dictations are great for lower levels and offers a great opportunity to focus on prepositions of place.  The first screen shot of Samorost 2 lends itself well to a description that makes a great picture dictation to learners who are unfamiliar with the game Samorost 2.  Either use a Samorost 2 picture dictation text or make your own up.  When learners have finished they can compare their pictures with the original either as a downloaded flashcard or on a screen at the front of the class if you have a computer, internet connection and the means to display the game.

7 Comic Books

Comic books are visually engaging and can help to both stimulate the imagination and provide a fun way for learners to practice writing.  They can focus on direct speech elements (left) and reported speech or narrative tenses (right).   Download either of the templates pictured here as well as other comic pages from the Samorost 2 game by clicking on the links in brackets above in this text.

8 Wonderous walkthroughs

8 Walkthroughs

Samorost 2 (part 1) Video Walkthrough

A walkthrough in online gaming can be a written walkthrough text, which consists of step-by-step  instructions on how to complete a game, or a video walkthrough of the game being played and completed.hrough in online gaming can be a written walkthrough text, which consists of step-by-step  instructions on how to complete a game, or a video walkthrough of the game being played and completed.  Why not learn how to use the ‘search this site‘ and look for some ideas on how to use a video or written walkthrough with language learners.

9  Sequencing events

Download and print off a copy of the Samorost 2 action verb cards and there is plenty you can do.  Learners can watch a video walkthrough and sequence the verbs in the order they appear in the video walkthrough (lights! Camera! Action Verbs!).

Once the verbs have been ordered, learners can then tell the story of Samorost 2 (Action speaks louder than words) using the verbs to help them.

Finally learners can use the ordered verbs as scaffolding for a writing activity (The Pen is Mightier Than The Sword) where they write the story of Samorost 2.

10 Verbs + Prepositions

Lots of activities and worksheets to download focusing on verbs + prepositions that cover the whole of the free online part to Samorost 2.  Use password codes to skip levels to do specific worksheets or work your way through over the course of a few classes.  Worksheet activities include:

Mind the gap Place the verb and prepositions in the gapped walkthrough.

Grammar jigsaw Communication gap where learners match sentences ending with a verb with a partners sentence that starts with a preposition.

Scramble! Order the words to form walkthrough sentences.

Over & Out Gap fill preposition activity

Why not check out The 101 ways (and more) to use Samorost site for other ideas, material and lesson plans.

Topic: Directions

Speaking focus: Turn left, turn right, go up, go down

Time: 10 minutes (or as you see fit)

Game: Pacman & Orbox

Preparation

Either play this in a connected classroom and have this game on the board using a projector or IWB or play this in a computer room with two learners to each computer.  this game does not last long but remember the aim of the game is to see how high a score you can get using English.

1) While one person has access to the keyboard (and preferably can’t see the screen) the other learner (s) sit in front of the screen with their arms folded.

2) When the game starts the learner(s) with their arms folded shout out instructions to the keyboard gamer.

3) The person at the keyboard has to listen and use the arrow keys to guide the pacman blind.

4) Make sure you are standing near by so that when they lose a life the pause ‘P’ key can be pressed and learners can swap roles.

5) When learners are ready to continue press ‘P’ again to resume the game.

Student A can say the following words: Student B uses the following keys:

(turn) left = left arrow P = pause/ resume game
(turn) right = right arrow
(go) up = up arrow
(go) down = down arrow

NOTE

Playing Pacman in this way means that most games won’t last longer than 10 seconds or so.  Make a note of the scores and see who can get the highest score.  Remember you can always use this as a warmer.  If you want a game that can be played in the same way but hasn’t got such a demanding/ stressful time limit then play Orbox.

Don’t forget to familiarise yourself with the games before using them in the classroom.  Also, be prepared to teach your learners how to play them.  These games are either well known or fairly simple to get across (even just by miming) but should be used as practice not presentation.