French teachers give thumbs up for virtual escape room game

8 Jan 2021, 12:50 by Kate Moore

MFL teachers volunteer to try Asteroid Alert for themselves  

Asteroid Alert is an online escape room game for schools who missed out on their trip to France because of the pandemic. 

Designed by our creative animateurs in Chateau de la Baudonniere the hilarious and fast paced game allows students to interact directly with our animateurs via a live link to Normandy and can easily be incorporated into a remote French lesson.

As part of the development process we had tested the online game with Year 10 French learners from St Catherine’s School in Eastbourne but we were keen to also find out what teachers thought. So, in November we invited French teachers to try out our new virtual escape room activity for themselves.

We were pleasantly surprised by the number of teachers who made time in their busy schedules to take on the challenge and ended up running five online sessions with 28 teachers. At the end of each session we asked teachers for their honest feedback and advice.

What teachers said

“9/10 We really loved the experience, it was good fun, aimed at listening and speaking skills in the target language”

“Very good, it was well prepared, the story and the language is quite difficult but engaging when you know what to do.”

French Teacher, Drapers Academy

 

“8/10. The overall experience was fun The animatrice was fun and engaging, guided us whilst leaving a challenge,”  Joint Head of MFL, Swanbourne House School

“We really enjoyed the experience! We thought the presentation was excellent and Lilie was really engaging… it was great to see how creative people have been during the confinement.”

Head of French, Cheadle Hulme School

 

“The animatrice who led us through the mission was very typical of the château staff we have worked with in the past: enthusiastic and helpful, able to get into her role completely and good at giving clear instructions and gentle nudges in the right direction when required.

The overall experience was really good fun and very much of the quality we have come to expect from years of visiting the château itself”

French Teacher, The Mary Erskine School

What did we learn?

Our volunteer teachers offered lots of constructive tips and pointers which we have incorporated into the experience, in particular how we can ensure that all levels of French learner can participate in the game.

The activity is designed for KS3 and KS4 students which means that some groups will need more support to complete the game than others. Of course, our experienced chateau animateurs are used to differentiating their lessons to suit all learners, but following this feedback we now recommend a meeting between the animateur and the teacher, in advance of the session, to ensure the activity is pitched at the right level for each group from the start.

We have also produced a briefing pack so that teachers can prepare students in advance and pre-teach the vocabulary to make sure that every participant can get something from the game.

Want to find out more?

Asteroid Alert is a fun way to encourage students to practise speaking French with a native speaker, while studying from home, and is a sure-fire way to make your remote lessons the talk of the school!