A copy of the riddle sheet for each student (at the end of this chapter)

1 or 2 dice

Note: Check the Introduction to Role-Playing Adventures for instructions on how to use the dice, how to integrate writing into the RPA, and how to adapt the RPA to different size classes.

Before starting the adventure, prepare the quotes below as banners and place them on the wall.

Say: You are in the guardian’s room. There is nobody there, but you hear someone say: “Look at the quotes on the wall, then decide on one object to bring with you on your next adventure”.

Banner 1

Let us keep the dance of rain our fathers kept and tread our dreams beneath the jungle sky.

Arna Bontemps

Source: http://www.brainyquote.com

————————————————————————————-Banner 2

It is also rarer to find happiness in a man surrounded by the miracles of technology than among people living in the desert of the jungle and who, by the standards set by our society, would be considered destitute and out of touch.

Thor Heyerdahl

Source: http://www.brainyquote.com

Explore the quotes above before you continue. If needed, help students understand the vocabulary. Ask students what they think the quotes are referring to, whether they agree or disagree with the statements.

Tell students to read the quotes carefully. Place them in groups and tell them that each student should think of one object they would like to carry with them (if you have a small group, you may assign a different number of objects). Tell students that the quotes contain clues about what objects they might need on this adventure. Allow students to use dictionaries or their devices to look up words they do not know.

If two or more students come up with the same object, allow them to choose something else.

Warn students that they need to be prepared to survive through a dangerous situation and that they must be able to carry the objects with them, so, they cannot be too big. Compile a list of the objects they have chosen and distribute a copy of the list to students.

Note: if you have a small class, you may choose to work on each task at a time, with the whole class finding solutions for the same task

Have each group present their solutions for the tasks and roll the dice (see Introduction to Role-Playing Adventures for instructions). If you think their solution is feasible, you may choose not to roll the die.

Night is falling.  What are you going to do?  Are you going to have someone keep watch?  What will you have for dinner? What will you do before sleeping?

Place students into two groups and assign the following tasks:

Group 1 – Prepare dinner. Think about what you are going to make and how people are going to eat it (utensils? plates?).

Group 2 – Prepare some activities for the group to play before bed time.

Before ‘bed time’, check with the whole group who will keep watch through the night.

Note: You may want to carry out the activities proposed by group 2 with the whole class. You may also ask students to assess the dinner they had (how good/bad was it?).

Divide the class into groups and give them some minutes to come up with two or three different ideas. As they present their ideas, roll the die to see if they succeeded.

My personal experience: In my group, they decided to climb a tree.  I then had each of them roll the die to see if they were able to climb it.  Depending on their profiles, I gave them different odds (for example, you are an athlete and you do capoeira, so you were able to climb easily;  you, on the other hand, don’t do sports and your hand is broken, so you’ll need to get a 6!).  Some of them climbed the tree and a girl was left behind.  They had to find a way to help her up.  They remembered they had a rope and pulled her up the tree.

Ask the class how far they will go.  Will they walk for 1 hour and then turn back?

Place students in groups and tell them each group will take a different route. Distribute the cards below to each group.

Have students report on their findings and the small accident someone had. Discuss what kind of aid the injured student needs.

My personal experience: One of my groups said that one of them had been bitten by a snake. I asked them if the snake was poisonous and they said it wasn’t. Then, I challenged them to tell me how they could tell a poisonous from a non-poisonous snake. Nobody knew. I told the group that they would have to tell me the answer the next class; otherwise, their friend would die. The following class, the group had researched and was able to ‘save’ their friend.

Note: Everything they come up with will fail unless they suggest going to the indigenous community site.

Roll the die to decide how many natives they see in different places of the site (keeping watch, dancing around a fire, etc).  Mark their positions on the map.  Tell them they can see (student A) tied to a tall wooden post.

Divide the class into groups and ask each group to come up with a plan to save (student A).

After they describe their different plans, have them choose one of the plans.

Conduct this as a whole class activity and, together with all students, decide on what went so wrong and why.

The encrypted sentence is:  “Press the stones in the following order: monkey, snake, alligator, leopard, and eagle”.

Place students in groups and make a competition to see which groups figures out the sentence first. As they find the solutions, a member of the group runs to the teacher and whispers the answer. If it is right, the student then chooses one of the symbols and asks for its letter equivalent. If you have many groups, you may prepare small cards with the symbol on one side and the equivalent on the other (one set for each group).

Students won’t need to solve all the riddles because they will probably figure out what some of the letters are on their own. You may choose to change the riddles according to your students’ level. The riddles below are well-known. You have probably heard most of them!

Say: Mission accomplished!