This week’s Bridging the Distance Contest entry comes to us from Lisa Krol at the University of Saskatchewan Language Centre (USLC). The USLC offers full and part-time EAP programs for international students at the University of Saskatchewan. Thanks, Lisa, for sharing this great learning activity!
By Lisa M. Krol, Bridging Coordinator/Instructor at the University of Saskatchewan Language Centre
I love mysteries and lots of other people do too, so I wrote a chapter story that was interspersed throughout a learning module. Students work through academic sections of the course and then practice those same language skills with a chapter of the mystery story.
The mystery is designed on the same principles as the mystery-dinner-parties-in-a-box. At the end of the module, the students are put into groups and attempt to solve the mystery from the clues and chapters they have completed. Each group presents their solution to the class and the instructor. The class votes on the best deduction although a solution is also provided. The prize is the admiration of the rest of class.
We had so much fun with this! There was a reading component to set the storyline. Then, three different USLC staff members recruited family members to record critical conversations which the students ‘overheard’ at a party. In one case, a group of students continued their deduction meeting for six hours as they considered every possibility!
The “Mystery Module” has become a much talked about highlight each term. And the best part is…the students are engaging in language and their academic studies willingly and for more time than is required!
See the Embedded PDF below for a sample of this great activity!
Mystery Game DebFeature Image: Photo by cottonbro from Pexels