A Game in ESL Class

     I would like to introduce a game as a tool of ESL class. Pollekes Blue Room Escape is a click type room escape game created by Ruud for EscapeGames24. In this game, I was locked in a blue room and tried to escape the blue room by finding and using items. There were three spaces such as a living room with a sink, a front entrance and a computer room and I had to solve puzzles to escape. While playing the game, the game provided some instructions or hints. I played twice because the first time, it took long time and actually, I could not complete the task. So, I checked the walkthroughs before doing it the second time. 

  If I use this game in the class, I will teach some vocabulary provided by the game like a balloon, a fishnet, and so on and definitely it will be a good way for a speaking group work(three or four members).  Through this game, students would be able to be exposed to various vocabulary and some instructions from the game. Before starting the game, I will set the context to warm up the activity and introduce some vocabulary they might not be familiar. Also, I will provide a sheet of walkthroughs with a couple of sentences for the beginning part and have students complete their own walkthroughs with their members. This will allow students to practice speaking and writing to solve the task. During the game, I will walk around and monitor their performance to check their understanding and how they are doing the task. To motivate their participation more spontaneously, I will provide some rewards to the winner who escapes the room the first or I will limit the time to escape the room. After they finish the game, I will give the walkthroughs to compare their own walkthroughs and collect their walkthroughs to assess their performance. Also I can use walkthroughs as an assessment like filling in the blanks to check their learning.

Performance Indicator - ESL.E.2-4.4.1.8:
Students negotiate and manage interactions to accomplish social and classroom tasks.

Try this game! -> Polleke's Blue Room

Try a game as a language learning activity!

   I believe that using games a great activity for students to learn a second language because it is easy to motivate student to get involved in the activity and, finally, they encounter the lesson which a teacher would like to teach.

For example, Phantasy Quest1 was interesting! Although I complete the tasks a little, I was able to see various vocabulary with having fun! Phantasy Quest 1 is a point and click type adventure game, where you awaken to find yourself alone on a beach. Nearby is the wreck of your ship. All I need to do is that using the mouse and clicking anywhere on the game screen. Some things I can activate simply by clicking on them, while others I may have to use an item that you have collected in your inventory. From this game, teachers might pick and teach some vocabulary or make students the sentences popped up and check the walkthroughs. To complete each tasks, students have to read the sentences so I believe that this is a good way for students to be exposed to new words or sentences. Also, by making this game as a pair work, they can negotiate and talk about the tasks which would lead them to practice the speaking skill.

    Also, the name of another game I played is ‘Juiceand Fruit’ and I played the game three times. At the beginning I could not connect to language learning, however, as time goes by, I recognize the vocabulary related to a serving beverage store. So this game is to show the skills as a juice maker and serve the beverages requested by customers within a limited time. If a user achieves the specific score, the number of customer is raised. I can choose some vocabulary related to such as a type of glass, fruit flavor, various straws, strip pattern, and so on. For the teacher’s role, we can guide or give more specific instructions when teachers encounter students who are in stuck by monitoring their performance. Above all, this game is very simple and addictive so I think that students probably enjoy this game to win the higher score. And before starting this game, I can encourage students to play this game with the competition. So the student who gets the highest score will get the juice as a reward. I will definitely use a walk through for the game because it can be helpful for students to learn the game. With a walk through, I can make them guess the walk through first and then provide the answers. Also, the images from the games are very helpful and simple for students to remember the vocabulary. To assess students, I can make some pop quiz of vocabulary like filling in the blanks to check their understanding or make them engage in a cooperative activity as a writing activity to create the instructions how to play the game. One more thing as an assessment, I can provide the images of each vocabulary and play the role as a customer to make the student pick the right image from my beverage requests. 

Performance Indicator - ESL.E. PK-1.4.1.8:
Students negotiate and manage interactions to accomplish social and classroom tasks.

Game Link: Juiceand Fruit