Where else would you lock yourself in a room with a bunch of strangers and solve a series of puzzles and clues in order to be set free — all within a certain time limit? Escape rooms are the latest entertainment craze where you submerse yourself in an alternate world from which you must escape before something terrifyingly apocalyptic, yet hypothetical, occurs.
Escape rooms are so popular that teachers and educators are creating their own escape rooms in their classrooms to teach students valuable lessons. Take a look at how an escape room lesson in your own classroom can benefit your students and how to implement your own.
What Exactly Happens?
A traditional escape room features a themed room where participants first receive instruction. They must work together to solve a series of puzzles and decipher clues to reach an end goal, all of which depends on the theme. Along the way participants must work together and communicate well. If they can complete the entire scenario before the end of the appointed time, they win. Typical props range from intricate devices, books and furniture to signs, pictures, and text.
Why Use an Escape Room Lesson?
Teachers are always searching for ways to interest their class in any given subject. It can be difficult to stand in the front of the classroom and be the entertainer. Attending seven different classes every day can become tedious for students, especially teenagers. The nature of the escape room is a highly motivating teaching tool for students because it is interesting, unusual, and challenging.
As students are engaged in an escape room, they:
What teacher wouldn't want this for their students?
What Could You Use an Escape Room Lesson For?
The escape room challenge is more than making your students solve riddles and unlock locks so you can be the cool teacher — although this is what you will end up being. This type of lesson plan can be used for a variety of reasons.
How to Get Started
The age of students greatly determines how you structure your escape room, but most of the time teenagers are the ideal target audience. Don't let this deter you from trying one on your 8-year olds. Start by collecting the props you want to use for your classroom. Common props include various locks and keys, padlocks, lockboxes, video clues, clues written in black light ink, 3-D glasses, etc. Familiarize yourself with different types of clues and ciphers. Then look at the physical layout of your classroom and determine your best option for set-up.
Any good escape room does not allow cell phones or sharing of information afterwards. This can be difficult in a high school setting. One way to dissuade your classes from discussing it behind your back is to make your escape room lesson a competition between classes. This way, students are motivated to not cheat.
If you're still not sure about making an escape room lesson, visit an escape room yourself and see what all the hype is about.
Share30 May 2017
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