Escape the room!

Escape the Room is a genre of online gaming in which you must gather certain objects within a room in order to later use them to help you escape said room.  I played the kitchen escape and the bathroom escape and both were very hard if you do not know what to do! I luckily saw someone commented a step by step guide to follow in order to “escape”.  This game, if using the French language would probably need to be used at a high school level since lower levels would probably lack the needed vocabulary.  I would provide the students with a list of vocabulary terms that they would need, terms that they most likely did not already know.  Vocabulary terms used during that unit would most likely be found already in their notes.  For instance, if I was to use the kitchen escape, the students would be learning kitchen vocabulary in prior days, before playing the game.  The task at hand would be problem solving and following directions. First the students would watch the Escape Walkthroughs video(s) and they would be required to take notes on all of the directions shown.  Students would be required to use their French vocabulary hand-out while watching the walkthrough to make a “grocery list” in French of all of the items that need to be found.  Next, after gathering all needed objects, students would make a list of “etapes” (steps) in order, noting the direction in French, that they were required to go according to the task.  Depending on the level, students may or may not be required to describe the action in French that they needed to perform in order to continue on.  Again, I would have the essential vocabulary provided such as renverser, (to pour), allumer, (to turn on), brancher, (to plug in), etc…At the end of the escape, students would write in French a reaction to the game.  They would express their opinions, feelings of frustration or accomplishment, and general comments about the game, utilizing upper-level French vocabulary. After reflecting on a sheet of paper, the students would then discuss in French their reactions, likes and dislikes of the game with a partner, (satisfying the communications NY state standard for LOTE.)  The task at hand would vary according to the environment they were escaping.  The kitchen escape, for example would be a good game to play during a food and/or parts of the house chapter.  Students could be required to use their French food vocabulary to discuss what they could cook in the kitchen, using the food items already available in the kitchen, within the game.  You’d notice that a turkey, bananas, oranges, and eggs were in the refrigerator. Should students find the game a good way to practice their French vocabulary, I would certainly use it again during other lessons.

Another possible reaction activity to this game could be students creating their own “escape the room” or creating “alternate endings” in which they explained different means of freedom.  They would have to create 3 or 4 steps that would replace the steps in the game.  For instance, perhaps they would use the water to pour on the rug near the dog which would wake him up and cause him to grab his bone that he had hidden and this bone would be used to construct the escape apparatus.  Coming back to reviewing food vocabulary, students could be asked to replace the frozen fish and another item with different food items that they choose from their vocabulary lists.

As a result of this game, I would hope students would be able to utilize the target vocabulary in a meaningful way, such as being able to use it in class when discussing the game.  This game would act as an alternative way to practice the key vocabulary, rather than flash cards for example.  Students could also use what they learned for the game to tell a story.  Students would pretend they were stuck in a room, and write a story describing how they escaped and what objects they used to do so.  The goal of this game would be to encourage student accountability for their vocabulary terms and as such, apply their knowledge of these vocabulary terms in order to complete a task.  Above are plenty of different ideas to use when teaching a lesson using this game.  When it comes down to constructing the lessons for the week, I would pick and choose different ones in a  way that made sense.