Overview:

This project will take place in the middle school TFL classroom. The project will be completed by groups of 4 students at different times throughout the semester. The course content of this semester is focused on mystery and adventure stories. Each week, one group will present a mystery project for their classmates to complete. Students are encouraged to incorporate class vocabulary and content they’ve learned into the project. The following class period after each project, the teacher will lead a reflection in which they will discuss challenges that the students experienced while designing and participating in the project.

Procedure:

Near the beginning of the semester, the teacher will demonstrate an example of the project the students will produce. The project consists of a backstory, and problem, along with a series of scavenger hunt clues for solving the problem. Students will form groups of four near the beginning of the semester, and each group will design their mystery over the course of a couple of weeks and then implement it for the class, having a different group present their mystery each week. The rest of the class will wait outside while the group which is presenting hides clues and props around the classroom. Then the rest of the class comes in and tries to solve the mystery. The presenting group will observe and take notes while their classmates are sleuthing. They need to write a reflection based on their observations and possible things to improve on in the future.

Variation:

One variation is to have the clues based on the grammar themes; for example, prepositions, nouns, etc. Each teaching language will also have variation in authentic material use and cultural context, for example, Spanish mystery stories or TV series. Another variation for higher-level learners is to take their back stories and expand them into short stories. Students can also film the escape room project and create a documentary on their experiences.

By Josiah, Jerry, Kim, Chandra and Amy