A2 – B1

Note:

You may need to provide more support for lower level students. This RPA involves a lot of role-plays which you can develop in a more traditional way or through scenarios (see Introduction to Role-Playing Adventures for instructions on how to conduct a scenario). You may also choose to play one of the roles in case you have a slow-paced group.

Pictures of clothing items (at the end of this chapter)

A copy of the map of the town for each group  (at the end of this chapter)

A copy of the map of the countryside area for each group (at the end of this chapter)

A copy of the picture of the mine shaft entrance (at the end of this chapter) to give to the students at the end of the adventure

A copy of the breakfast menu (at the end of this chapter. Alternatively, you can have students prepare one)

Sheets of flipchart paper and markers

1 or 2 dice for the teacher

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.

If needed, teach and/or review clothes vocabulary.

Say: A portal opens and you get sucked out of the room. You find yourselves in the middle of a park in a big city. It’s 7 o’clock in the morning. What is the weather like? What’s the temperature?

Tell the class to look at their clue cards and the map. Discuss what they think the clues may mean.

Do not interfere with their conclusions, except for the money card. When they talk about the money card, you can tell them that the card represents the amount of money they have for their adventure.

Allow for as many possibilities to come up as possible. (This may be a good opportunity to review or teach modals of possibility – could/may/might. If you have a slow/low level class, it would be a good idea to write sample sentences using these modals on flipchart paper and affix it to the wall so that students can use that as a menu to formulate their own sentences.) 

If you decide to teach modals, it may take longer.

Once the class has explored the clue cards,  suggest that they should find out as much as they can about the city (name of city, country, etc.). You can have them sit in groups, discuss, and write down what kind of questions they want to ask. Then, with the whole group, discuss the questions they have developed.

Place the students in groups and assign the following roles to each group. If you have a large class, you may assign the same role card to more than one group. In that case, have two groups role-play the situation. Provide feedback, and then have the same role-play done by two other groups that received the same role cards.  (For all role-playing activities, we suggest you use the scenario format – see Introduction to RPAs). 

Give the card below to one of the students (or a group) to play the role of the server.

If you choose to ask students to prepare the menu, it will take longer.

My personal experience: My students came up with the following ideas for making money: singing and/or dancing and asking people for money; dancing; having a bingo with a leather jacket that someone had; selling their own hair; and pawning and/or selling a piece of jewelry.

If the students don’t have enough money, it will take longer.

You may want to review money vocabulary. If you have a diverse class, you may have a show and tell activity in which students bring bills/coins from their home country to class.

If you choose to review money vocabulary, or ask students to talk about their home country currency, it will take longer.

Remind students of how much money they have. Ask them if they are hungry.  If they are hungry, tell them they might have to make some money to pay for lunch (if they want to have lunch) and for the tickets. Ask them to calculate how much they will need for the tickets. If they need more money, place them in groups and have them come up with a plan to make money quickly (see task 13 on how students can make money), before the next train leaves. As each team explains their plan, roll the dice to see how much money they made.

Note: If you want them to work harder, you may adjust the prices below so that they will need to make more money before they can buy the tickets.

If students need to make more money, it will take longer.

If you have a less proficient group, you can ask them to sit in groups and write down the questions they would like to ask.

Check how much money they still have. If they decide to rent a microbus, roll the dice to verify whether the money they have is enough. If they decide to hitchhike, roll the dice again to verify whether they were successful.

Note: The order of the following tasks will depend on where the students decide to go, and some tasks may not be used at all if they choose not to go to some of the places.

After the role-play, check with the class what new clues they have and where they would like to go next.

Note: You may choose to put up a poster listing the clues they have collected thus far. Remind students that the clues will help them locate the boy.

Choose one student to play the role of Billy, and have the class role-play their talk with him.

Have students add any new information to the list of clues created in task # 21.

Have them tell you what they will do now. They will probably want to enter the mine. Tell them it is too dark and they will need to find a way to light it up.

Place students in groups, and have them devise a way to light up the mine. Use the dice to decide whether they are successful or not.

When they inspect the mine (if that’s what they decide to do), tell them they found nothing.

Suggest studying the clues again. They will need to find the water well.  If no one comes up with this suggestion, you can guide them to look at the following clues: the bucket, the water, iron ore, and iron man.

If still no one thinks of the well, ask them what they can see around the picture of the of mine shaft (trees, a well,  carts, etc.).

You can also ask them to suggest other things they might find in the area.

When they find the well, tell them it is uncovered, but it is too dark to see inside. They will need to find a way to light up the well (if they have devised something to light up the mine, maybe they can use that).

When they light up the well, tell them they can see a small boy inside. He is either unconscious or dead!  They need to get down and rescue him. There is a rope by the well, but it is too old and rusty. It won’t carry the weight of anyone! The students will need to improvise.

Place the class in groups, and have them come up with a way to go down the well.

Have the groups present their ideas to the whole class. After they have presented all the ideas, ask the class which one they would like to try first. Role the dice to see if the idea was successful. If it didn’t work, try another suggestion until one is successful. If a suggestion fails, increase the odds for the next one. For example, for suggestion one, it is successful only if the die shows a six. For the next suggestion, if they get a 5 or 6, they are successful. And so on.

If you run out of time, resume the task in your following class.

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100 minutes depending on the level of the students, size of the class, and previous knowledge of the vocabulary

Tell them that the boy is not breathing. Can anyone perform CPR?

If any of the students knows how to perform CPR, ask him/her to teach the other students. If no one does, have them research and describe what to do the next class. This is also a good opportunity to watch a video on CPR or to invite someone to give a talk on this topic.

Take a big pillow (or a dummy) to class and ask students to perform CPR on the boy.

It is time now to start a new adventure!

(You are the guardian of this room. DO NOT ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS FROM THE STUDENTS. JUST READ THE INFORMATION BELOW TO THEM. TRY TO SOUND MYSTERIOUS.)

Say:

So, you are the new participants in the game. Hmm, you will certainly need a lot of luck. You don’t seem very resourceful. I don’t think you have a lot of experience. Well, here are your instructions:

1.    Look at the clothes around you. Choose the clothes you will wear in your next adventure. Decide in your groups. Choose wisely. (Stop here. The teacher will tell you when to continue. Go back to your group and choose your own clothes, too.)

2.    (After everyone has chosen their clothes, continue reading). There is a boy in great danger. Your objective is to save him. Here are your clues. (Give them the envelope containing the clue cards.)

Good bye and good luck. You will need it.

Name of your city: Nipp, Glassland.

Date: today’s date.

When you are shown the clue cards, you recognize The Red Lion, a restaurant near the park. Point at the map and give directions to the restaurant. For example: Go down that street and turn right. Walk for x blocks. The restaurant is at the corner of Main and Second Ave., on your right.

You have no information about any kids.

You work at The Red Lion as a server. If students ask you about a boy in a picture, don’t give any information until you are sure they are looking for him for a good reason. For all you know, they could be kidnappers! If they are able to convince you that they are good people, tell them that you think you know him. You are not very sure, but you believe you have seen this boy in the school bus that your father drives. Give them information about your father: name, telephone number and address. If they ask, provide directions to your father’s house.

You drive the school bus for Nipp Elementary School. Don’t offer any information about the boy until you are convinced that these are good people. Yes, you recognize the boy. His name is Wyatt and he went to Nipp Elementary School last year. You haven’t seen him since last year. Maybe he changed schools or moved somewhere else. Suggest going to the school and getting information there. Give them the school’s address and directions on how to get there.

Yes, you sure remember Wyatt Sommers. He was a brat! Wyatt’s family moved to Walden last year. Walden is a small town about 200 km from Nipp. You can get there by train. There is a train to Walden every 3 hours. If they ask you how to get to the train station, tell them there is a bus to the train station every 10 minutes, and the bus stop is right across the street. The fare is 25 cents per person. Don’t offer any information unless someone asks for it.

Passengers cannot pay the fare with money. They need to use prepaid bus cards. To enter the bus, all they need to do is to tap the card on the fare payment device. If a passenger does not have a bus card, they need to leave the bus at the next bus stop and buy one. Bus cards are available for purchase at each bus stop.

You are the clerk. It’s 11:16 a.m. now. A train to Walden has just left. The next train leaves at 2:15 p.m. There is a train every three hours. The trip takes 2.5 hours. Price of tickets:

One way:  $5.75

Round trip: $9.00

If students ask you if you know where Wyatt Sommers lives, tell them that he lives on a farm about 10 km west of Walden. Everyone is worried because he has been missing since yesterday. It’s all over the local newspaper.  Point to an imaginary poster on the wall.  There is a train to Galvin, a city 50 km north, that goes through the farming area where Wyatt lives, but it has already left.  The next train only leaves tomorrow afternoon. Ask them if they have a map. If they do, show them where the farm is located. If they don’t have a map, suggest buying one at the newsstand just outside the station.

Your name is Father O’Brian.  You have worked in this church for 45 years and you know everyone. You are very, very worried about Wyatt. He is a good boy and his family attends church every Sunday. Everyone is looking for him. The last time you saw Wyatt was during Sunday Mass. You think that maybe Billy knows something. Billy is Wyatt’s best friend. He lives in a small house about 2 miles down the road.

You are the clerk. It’s 11:16 a.m. now. A train to Walden has just left. The next train leaves at 2:15 p.m. There is a train every three hours. The trip takes 2.5 hours. Price of tickets:

One way:  $5.75

Round trip: $9.00

Information Booth at Walden Train Station.

If students ask you if you know where Wyatt Sommers lives, tell them that he lives on a farm about 10 km west of Walden. Everyone is worried because he has been missing since yesterday. It’s all over the local newspaper.  Point to an imaginary poster on the wall.  There is a train to Galvin, a city 50 km north, that goes through the farming area where Wyatt lives, but it has already left.  The next train only leaves tomorrow afternoon. Ask them if they have a map. If they do, show them where the farm is located. If they don’t have a map, suggest buying one at the newsstand just outside the station.

Your name is Father O’Brian.  You have worked in this church for 45 years and you know everyone. You are very, very worried about Wyatt. He is a good boy and his family attends church every Sunday. Everyone is looking for him. The last time you saw Wyatt was during Sunday Mass. You think that maybe Billy knows something. Billy is Wyatt’s best friend. He lives in a small house about 2 miles down the road.

Your name is Billy. You are 10 years old, and you are Wyatt’s best friend. You go to school together. The last time you saw Billy was yesterday on the school bus. You had a fight because Wyatt said that he knew where Iron Man lived, and you laughed at him. That is so stupid! Everyone knows that Iron Man does not exist! Wyatt got very angry and said he was going to prove it to everyone. Then, you got off the bus, and that was the last time you saw him.