| Body | This activity is designed to engage learners in higher-order thinking related to moral issues, while evaluating and increasing their awareness of the target language. Students will engage with peers to play through the game and make educated decisions based upon information presented by the colonists. This is a great activity to help a class play through the game, increase in-game awareness, and challenge them to make thoughtful decisions.
Objectives: Learners will be able to:
- Understand basic instructions for playing a video game.
- Demonstrate understanding of how to form statements and suggestions
- Share and justify their own opinions on common moral dilemmas
- Exchange information about the community and points of interest.
- Use comparative language to make choices
Modes: Interpretive Reading, Interpersonal Communication
Resources: Intermediate Activity 1- Worksheet, Quandary App
Procedure
- Learners should download Quandary on tablets or be given devices with the app downloaded. Alternatively, they can play the online version if mobile devices aren’t available. Students should then select their avatar and read through the opening comic. After the comic, they can begin to play their way through each of the four chapters.
- As students play each chapter, they should fill out step 1 in the Intermediate Activity 1 worksheet when they arrive at the “Get Your Facts Straight. As they write, direct them to pay attention to the language structure. As students sort the cards in the game into the “Fact,” “Solution,” and “Other Opinion” categories, they should write three examples (one of each type) from each chapter followed by their observations of the language used.
- Following the completion of the chapter one section of the chart, help the students engage with the language by asking questions and allowing students to share their linguistic observations. You may then want to revisit this after the entire game is completed. Questions could include:
- How are facts, solutions, and opinions phrased differently?
- What do you notice about sentence structure?
- Are verbs used differently? How? What verb form is used?
- Was it easy to tell which category cards fit in? Why?
- If it was difficult to tell where cards went explain why.
- (if revisited at the end) What is one of the sentences that you created yourself?
Teachers can write down several of the phrases and use it as a teaching moment to draw students attention to structural differences and reinforce the students’ observations.
- In the game, students will be presented with a total of four possible solutions. It is the student's job to select the two which they feel are best for the community. Have students pair up and discuss which solution to choose. Have them fill in the next step in the worksheet.
- Next, after selecting two solutions, students will be asked to present these solutions to the colonists. Students select a colonist and present both solutions and accompanying facts. The colonist will then state how they feel about the solutions, and whether or not they change their mind about their initial opinion. In Step 3 on the worksheet, have students write down each colonist’s opinions on the solutions. Mark whether they agree or disagree with a given solution.
- Which solution is ultimately chosen? It is the student's duty to decide. Students will collaborate with their partners to select their final solution and jot it down in the worksheet. They must also justify their decision. Finally, the game’s council will decide whether they agree and support the player’s decision. Have students write the council’s advice.
- After each chapter, teachers should then bring the class together and have students share their solutions from the given chapter, why they selected them, and whether or not the council supported them. Students from each solution must justify their decision to the class. As teachers, you will guide the discussion/debate with guiding questions such as:
- Who selected____solution? Could one of you please share why you chose this solution? What did the council say?
- After hearing your peer’s selections, have any of you changed your mind about which solution is best? Why?
- Do you think that the council’s ultimate decision was good? Why or why not?
- If our class had to select one solution all together which would it be? Each person state one solution and why it should be that one.
|
|---|
