BEFORE YOU START

Play the game by downloading the free app from iTunes or Google play. If you get stuck, watch the walkthrough video further down the page to find out how to complete the game.

This game is funded using banner ads. It’s possible to get rid of them by making a one-off, in-app purchase.

This promotional video shows how the game is played:

 

LESSON PLAN

Aims: for students to practise note-taking, writing and giving instructions and following instructions
Resources: Can You Escape app, at least one tablet or smartphone per 2-3 students, walkthrough video(s) on YouTube
Age: 8-10, 11-14, 15-18, Adult
Level: A1+
Time: 15 minutes plus optional extension

PROCEDURE

Before the lesson

1. Set up the walkthrough video for Level 1 of Can You Escape:
    
   

2. Note down words which, depending on their level, your students will need to write a walkthrough for the first level. For example, an A1-level class might need:
    

   click	change	open	pick up	put
   chest	photo	horse	tiles	handle
   table	drawer	screwdriver	air vent	screw
   safe	painting	code	key	lock

3. Use this language to prepare a worksheet to help students with the task, if needed.

During the lesson

1. Show students the photo of the room and elicit the various objects they can see. You could give them one minute to do this in small groups.
2. Tell students they need to escape the room by opening the door to the lift, and they’re going to work out how to do it as a team. Explain that student A is going to watch a video showing how to do it and write notes, and then student B will listen to their instructions.
3. Ask student A to face the screen and ask B to leave the room or turn away from the screen.
4. Explain that student A can ask you to stop or start the video at any time and that they must write all their instructions in English, in note form rather than full sentences. Play the video and check A has written something, using the words on the worksheet if needed.
5. Tell student B to come back into the room or turn round to face the screen. In pairs, student A guides B using the instructions s/he has prepared, and the winning team is the first team to escape the room.
6. Get feedback by asking the winning team to present their solution to the rest of the class, who listen and follow.

TAKING IT FURTHER

Depending on your students and the time available, you could:

• play the game whole class and elicit ideas from students as you work together to complete the first level
• leave out the note-taking stage altogether and ask As simultaneously to watch and give spoken instructions to Bs, with the option of asking you to pause the video
• ask students to change roles and repeat the task for the second level
• set a homework task where students work out the solution to later levels for themselves and write walkthroughs for other students, either individually or as a group
• give students a written walkthrough with deliberate procedural mistakes to correct, sentences to reorder or gaps to complete
• give students a written walkthrough to do as a running dictation.

OVER TO YOU

Do you feel you could use this lesson idea with your students? If so, how would you integrate it into your curriculum? How would you make sure your students used English?

Can you think of any other ways of using Can You Escape in the classroom?