Breaking Out in the French Classroom

BREAKING OUT in the FRENCH CLASSROOM

A mysterious and possibly immortal French count… the theft of the most famous painting in the world from a museum in France… these two stories set the background for some new, creative and fun activities designed to engage students in the French classroom, called breakouts.

My introduction to this type of activity came from visiting escape rooms in several cities. Escape rooms are popular tourist activities in which a group of people are locked in themed rooms filled with puzzles and clues and have to work together to solve the puzzles in order to escape the room within a designated time limit. Having enjoyed these activities, I was pleased to discover the breakoutedu.com website online, a site which helps translate the escape room experience into a classroom setting, with a series of locked boxes replacing the locked room. Breakoutedu.com was created in 2015 by three former teachers to facilitate classes and get students involved in the learning process by way of adventure, collaborative problem solving, teamwork and critical thinking.

How does one begin a breakout? There are several ways. The website offers breakout games that have been already created and are available for download. Look under the “games” tab to search for games by subject or age range. For the adventurous, the most fun can come from creating your own, tailored to your specific classroom and subject.

CREATING A BREAKOUT

A French breakout could represent any aspect you’d like to explore for your French classes: geography, culture, grammar or vocabulary, for example. The first step involves developing a premise of discovery based upon a theme, and asking yourself what is the end “result” you desire your students to accomplish. The Elusive Count Saint Germain was the first breakout I created, based upon the mysterious past of this historical figure. The goal of this scenario was to discover the count’s last known location. My second breakout, The Louvre Heist, was based on the theft of the Joconde by Vincenzo Peruggia in 1912. For this scenario, the goal was to find who stole the Joconde and where the criminal had escaped to.

The activity’s content is only limited by the creativity of the teacher and how much time is spent developing the breakout, according to curriculum and grade level needs. Some additional possible French-themed stories could be based on things such as: a map hunt through the geography of France; a French chef losing his/her secret recipe for bouillabaisse; or Gustave Eiffel and the whereabouts of his blueprints to the Eiffel Tower. Anything goes, so it’s really up to your imagination to come up with your ideas for a theme, and the subsequent puzzles and clues that lead to the final discovery.

The process of creating a breakout may take a weekend of intensive work, but I found it easier after creating an outline of the story, developing and listing the multiple steps of puzzles and clues necessary to advance the story, then obtaining the required items for each step (specialized locks, boxes). The second breakout I created was easier because I knew how to set it up and what to look for.

In this regard, the breakoutedu.com site can be very helpful, as it has templates available which can help you design your own step-by-step plans for the games, a customizable list of components needed, and it allows you the ability to share your game with the online breakout community, if you’d like.

SETTING THE SCENE

The first thing your students will see when they enter your class is the scene you have pre-set. This may consist of letters, photos, documents, or particular boxes that are locked. Breakout classrooms have their secret items locked in boxes which can only be opened once clues are solved. Often, one box cannot be opened until another one containing its key, clue or code is opened first. The setup for my breakout was fairly simple, and only took a few minutes before my students entered the classroom. Setup times may depend on how many components are used for the game. Some items could even be hidden in the classroom. Before starting the activity, the teacher should review the rules on how to conduct the breakout, such as not breaking items, asking for clues (if allowed), and finishing within the set timeframe. To add excitement and urgency, you can display a 45-minute countdown clock (available on YouTube — search “breakout countdown”) on an overhead projector or nearby computer. You can encourage your students to review the obvious materials before them, to discover any clues or puzzles that may lead them to figure out what next to do. A computer can come in handy if they find a USB thumb drive containing additional clues during their search.

INCORPORATING FRENCH

Your breakout clues and puzzles can be created according to your curriculum and French class levels. Different types of French clues can be incorporated, using differing mediums such as written words, audio recordings, or visuals, for example, a map of the Louvre in French, a recording of French music with a spoken code overlayed, or a series of photos with French numbers underneath. Realia can be used as well — any French ticket stubs, brochures, or online old newspaper articles could be incorporated. Some pieces might even be used as “red herrings” to distract from the actual clues.

The clues could also be interchanged within the same story’s puzzles, dependent on your course level’s difficulty. French one may have a lighter amount of written French material, as compared to an AP-level class, which might have all clues written in French.

ACQUIRING THE NECESSARY ITEMS

Getting the items you will need for your breakout helps implement the solutions to your puzzles/clues. To do so, teachers may purchase breakout kits directly from the breakoutedu.com website, or put them together themself. Prepackaged kits for purchase come with a series of boxes, locks, hidden items, timers, keys and more. I did not purchase a kit, instead I used a recommended list of items from the site and searched at home. What I didn’t have, I purchased either locally or online. Many of the specialized locks can be purchased at your local hardware store, or on popular online shopping sites. I also found fun items to use as props at local craft stores, like ephemera or boxes with french artwork. The final solution is typically in a locked box that is opened at the end. Sometimes boxes of different sizes are used, maybe even nested inside each other. Various types of locks (directional, combination, word and key) are utilized. To keep it fun, number locks can be set to open using specific dates or number sequences found in clues. Word locks work well with French vocabulary clues, as students may need to conjugate or use a vocabulary word to open it. Other props such as invisible ink pens, UV flashlights and USB drives add to the mystery and fun of the puzzles you create. Public school teachers have also used the online crowdfunding site donorschoose.org to get kits donated to their classrooms. This is a great way to start doing breakout activities without breaking out of your budget!

DIGITAL BREAKOUTS

If you school does not have a kit but you have computers available in the classroom, creating a digital breakout is another alternative. Teams are assigned for each computer, and more students can be easily included by adding additional computers. There are tutorials on YouTube on how to create a digital breakout which, if you are comfortable with creating Google forms, can be a good alternative.

CASE STUDY: MY LOUVRE HEIST

The group I had do my first breakout was my middle school French Club, which meets after school. We had about twelve students (6th and 7th grade) participate. There were eight overall tasks they had to complete in order to finish this breakout. One task example: some of the more advanced students helped translate a physical description clue in French and then compared that description to a lineup of photos of historical French criminals. The photo of the criminal best matching the description contained their next clue. This activity could be adjusted to the high school level and I feel they would enjoy it just as much. My school classes are only 42 minutes long, so in order to accomodate a full 45-minute breakout, I felt that utilizing an afterschool activity period with a smaller group would work best. To accomodate larger classes of say, more than 20 students, multiple kits could be used with students broken up into groups.

Because these students were very beginning French students, the two optional “helper” clues I provided upon their request were in English. If used in a high school setting, I would recommend giving all clues in French.

I based The Louvre Heist on the historical theft of the Mona Lisa in 1912. I put digital realia like historical newspaper clippings on a thumb drive, and also printed out some items, like the criminal lineup photos, to add authenticity. The students worked as a team searching the room for certain items and then used them to open a chained briefcase. As the overhead timer counted down, the students completed the puzzles to discover who stole the Mona Lisa and where the thief and painting were located. In this breakout I used some creative license to include some non-related realia such as a fake plane ticket I generated online, as well as some fake photographs I bought in a craft store.

Without giving away the whole story, I can honestly say that my French Club students thoroughly enjoyed it. It was so popular and well-received that I have a waiting list to sign up for my next breakout activity. This turned out to be a great way to spark my students’ imaginations with a fun activity that had them working together while utilizing their language skills and knowledge.

Here are the trailers I created to interest kids on attending!

The Louvre Heist

The Elusive Count Saint Germain

Tin Tin and the Mystery of the Chateau

January 2, 2017