As an added twist, it's good fun to hide some sweets along with these mission slips that students can keep too! Whenever one of these 'tokens' (a symbol on a piece of paper) is discovered, students will bring them to the teacher and trade it in for one of the "missions" (which the teacher can hand out randomly, or maybe in a particular order because each one refers to a particular event in the chronological story).
Gather a series of sources - written accounts, images, props and artefacts - relating to the topic in question.For example, the final mission might be to open the combiniation lock around the door handle to the room this might be a four-digit date, and the the "final clue" given along with the last piece of the timeline might simply read "The fourth event in your completed timeline provides the key to escape!" This will be provided to them as a final reward along with the final piece of the timeline. Decide what the "final mission" entails that will enable them to "escape".Each of these will be given out, in date order, each time a mission is completed. Construct a timeline of TEN events relating to the topic.Design an engaging scenario based on the topic explaining why they need to "Escape the Room".Step 1: The essential steps - pre-class preparation The establishment of the Apartheid Regime I have created a series of self-contained Escape Room activities for the classroom, including: The approach I adopt is summarised as follows and works well in a lesson lasting 45-60 minutes.
So the challenge I set myself was to develop an easily replicable format for setting up such activities which allows teachers to set them up quickly, and which simultaneously keeps genuine subject mastery at the heart of the excitement. What is the best format for making them work in a classroom setting?Īlthough escape rooms have great potential for creating memorable learning experiences in the classroom, they can easily become a time-consuming gimmick where plenty of fun is had but very little genuine learning is taking place. They can be great for introducing a fresh topic, consolidating existing knowledge and introducing fresh learning into the classroom in a fresh and engaging way.
In the classroom, an "Escape the Room" format can involve students working together, against the clock, to solve a series of puzzles using existing and fresh knowledge from their studies and from clues and sources which have been left around the room. They are increasingly popular as team-building exercises as well as a fun leisure activity. Players are given a set time limit to unveil the secret plot which is hidden within the rooms". Provisional Government / October RevolutionĪn escape room is, according to Wikipedia, "a physical adventure game in which players solve a series of puzzles using clues, hints and strategy to complete the objectives at hand.GCSE Course: Arab-Israeli Conflict since 1945.'Escape the Room!' classroom games | ActiveHistory