After their usual 10 minute textbook listening task I decided to liven up my 2nd year review class with an escape room. I loudly announced with a prop that a bomb had been found in the classroom and the door had been locked cue co-alt dramatically closing the door.
At this point they have two tasks: Defuse the bomb and Unlock the door.
Part 1 (15 mins):
Ss are in 10 groups of 4 people and each group has a locked box and a map template. This template is covered in mulitiple choice grammar questions and by solving each part they get a 2 digit code that is identical to a pouch on the wall of the classroom. This pouch contains the associated part of a map of the classroom showing a key. They must complete questions to find all parts of the map until they find the key which is the same color as their box. The box contains some hints and a party popper. I usually let the first team set off their popper and then explain part two to the class.
Part 2 (20 mins):
At this point I announce that there is a traitor in the class that is the culprit and also a hostage is locked in the side room (if you dont have an extra room you can just use an alternative door).
New tasks: find the traitor and unlock the side door to free the hostage.
Locked box contents:
Letter from hostage - this details the situation of the hostage being trapped and also includes a hint about the identity of the traitor, Ss must trade information with other teams to get more clues and find the traitor (I created these clues beforehand based on a previous self introduction writing activity)
Crossword - by completing this crossword they can find 1 of 10 passwords that are needed to unlock the main door
Riddle - by matching 1 of 10 riddles to an image they can unlock the side door and free the hostage
During this time you should also discreetly hand the traitor you have chosen some scrap paper with the code for the bomb (24KO in my case) and tell them to keep it hidden. Assist the students giving them as many hints as needed to complete the tasks before the end of class.
Big reveal (5 mins):
On the powerpoint their is a menu to reveal each of the 4 tasks answers. You can navigate by clicking on the icons.
I usually start with the traitor (who, if you have chosen a genki student, will dramatically reveal themselves), then I ask them to reveal the code and defuse the bomb. While they are distracted I hide my JTE in the side room so that when they unlock the door they can be freed (I also had them put on a wig and handcuffs for effect and gave the traitor the keys). Then finally I let them unlock the main door so they can leave.
Recommendations after doing it a few times:
The boxes can be bought for 150 yen each at any Yamato distribution centre. The rest you can all get from Daiso / Seria
If you are doing multiple classes it requires a fair amount of printing and preparation so give yourself plenty of time
If you have two classes in a row the prep is a nightmare so try and re-hide all the keys and start sorting things as soon as task 1 is over
I did this for second years at a very academic high school so please change to fit your students ability (all questions were taken from textbooks)
It may also be fun to record the times so Ss can see how they compare to other classes
Not a single person got the coin riddle so I'd recommend changing it
Use plenty of sound effects, BGM, drama - the kids love it (I've included stuff below and in the PPT)
During the time they were working I left up a video of the bomb slowly ticking to zero (attached below)
Impossible to understand for me imagine Japanese 2nd year students. I find these games are a hit in the states but bomb in the classroom because of all the rules, new English grammar you must teach for the game and simply too much explaning. This is the bomb (hehehe) but for- JHS students in Japan it's a lot of prep for no real results. Moreover, who has another ALT in the classroom to assist them? This game requires 2 ALT's, as the author points out.
Again this game is awesome and well thought out. However,for a classroom game it's not a realistic goal.
Also: my JTE's after reviewing this got overwhelmed by the grammar of this explanation so they were thinking how do JHS students understand this game?!? Any pointers ???
This is an activity for high school not junior high school but I still think the grammar questions and vocabulary I used can be switched for simple versions. You may also have to simplify the "letter" from the hostage.
As for teaching grammar this is a review game so its testing grammar they have already learned in their regular classes.
In my high school we have 2 ALTs but if you have a JTE willing to help then it should be no problem.
For the explanations I'll leave some tips:
The map with the grammar questions is very simple for them to work out since they can see the packages around the room with matching letters. Just emphasise that they need the key with the same colour as their box.
The crossword has Japanese instructions written on it for them to follow so it was no problem.
For the riddles just let them know that it matches a picture on the door.
For the letter you can reduce the detail and tell them directly to trade information about the traitor (I just said uragirimono).
This wall of text is probably difficult for a JTE to understand off the bat. If you need help explaining it to them then I'd recommend doing a brief demonstration with the printouts or the visual explanation on the powerpoint file:)
All they need to do to help is to briefly act as a hostage that is released at the end.
I will repurpose a little and take your kind feedback! I love this style game so round 2 coming
Thx for the reply this helps a ton....You da man!!!
I really like the idea of this lesson but am quite confused by it, as there are so many parts. How do you explain the riddle with the circles? If the kids asked me what they were supposed to do, I couldn't understand enough from the written instructions to visualize how this was supposed to go. Hopefully, I can get this lesson to work smoothly someday. It's so cool.
For the riddles, each team has a piece of paper in their box with the written riddle on it, for example: Riddle 1 - "what is full of holes but still holds water". They then look at the different pictures on the wall and choose the matching image (e.g. a sponge). Then they place the image in circle 1. After all the teams have chosen the image for their riddle you can check if the order is correct, then unlock the door to save the hostage!