Integrating Engaging and Effective PAT Preparation with Digital Escape Rooms

Inquiry Process:

I have three main criteria that will frame my approach to this inquiry: the first being that my instructional methods must be engaging; the second is that the method must abide by COVID-19 health regulations outlined by Alberta Health Services and implemented by Lethbridge Collegiate Institute, as instructional methods, such as group work, are limited; and finally, the instructional method must be one that requires a manageable workload and practical application for myself as a teacher.

To address reading comprehension in an engaging, public health conscious, and manageable way, I have created Digital Escape Rooms (DER) for my students based on texts read in class. These DER have been created on PowerPoint and consist of reading comprehension questions hyperlinked to images that they have to answer correctly to access a “door code” that will allow them to “escape.”

Students will complete two DER throughout the semester; one for Edgar Allen Poe's "The Raven" to enhance understanding, and one for Pamela Porter's The Crazy Man as unit test preparation. Both Escape Rooms will be used for formative assessment.

After completing both Escape Rooms, students will participate in a survey to determine the extent to which the activity was engaging and effective in regards to reading comprehension preparation.

What My Digital Escape Rooms Look Like:

My DERs consist of a PowerPoint with images hyperlinked to Google form questions. Students must answer the question, and add the number at the end of the correct answer to their "door code." Once they have all the questions answered, they put their code into the "lock." If their answer is incorrect, they must go back and decide which question(s) they answered incorrectly. Below, you will find what this looks like and can find a tutorial on how to create a DER in the Tutorial section of this site.

Important Considerations:

While this activity was designed for grade nine PAT reading comprehension preparation, Digital Escape Rooms could easily be used for engaging preparation for diploma exams, other final exams that schools choose to use, or elementary assessments as well. Likewise, the activity could be adapted for classes such as Science or Math.

Traditional escape rooms consist of a physical space that a group of people are locked in and must solve a series of puzzles to escape. The DER I have created use PowerPoint with images hyper-liked to reading comprehension questions using Google forms. Furthermore, the DER I created served as independent explorations of reading comprehension, but could be used in group settings as well.

Classroom Context

I teach two grade nine ELA classes. These classes are made up of students in the French Immersion stream, and therefore these students get half the time of “regular” grade nine classes; instead of receiving an entire school year of ELA instruction, my students receive a semester. This means my classroom instruction and planning has to be very efficient and time effective. Creating a digital escape room allows me to provide engaging instruction to my students while remaining time conscious. Because my students have to go through material in a time sensitive manner, this also gives students a much-needed change of pace, as well as a break from me just talking in front of them.