Creator: U.S. Department of State | visit site
Grade Range: 6 - 11
The U.S. Department of State designed this interactive game to help ESL/ELL learners to learn American English. However, many non-ESL/ELL students could greatly benefit (and enjoy) this highly interactive experience and look at U.S. culture. Download <i>Unity Player</i> to begin. Registration is free, but does require an email address. Begin your mission with Trace, a teen back in time from the year 2045. Help Trace return to his regular time by completing several challenges. Trace must follow directions (called objectives) on each screen. He travels to 8 separate locations around the U.S. Learn about entrepreneurship, community activism, empowering women, science and innovation, environmental conservation, and conflict resolution. Travel to Kansas, New Orleans, the Grand Canyon, New York City, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. Complete 28 practice activities. You will also find 4 multi-player practice challenges, 7 graphic novels for extension activities, and an American English dictionary integration activity. The game is so involved, that you will not even realize that you are also learning English.
In the Classroom
This site offers a window on American culture that you can use in comparing cultures. It is a great way to engage ESL/ELL teens as they practice English skills. Since the State Department created it, an AP Civics or Government class might even want to critique or discuss its portrayal of U.S. culture. Have ESL/ELL students work on individual laptops and explore this site alone or with a partner. Provide this link for students to access both in and out of the classroom. Challenge your students to collaboratively write the dialogue for an additional visit Trace might make to a community near you using Google Docs/Drive <a href="/single.cfm?id=8030">reviewed here</a>. Your more technologically savvy students may like to create another version of a Trace visit to go along with the dialog! In a world language class, have students work collaboratively to create a visit to a cultural site using this game as a model.
At Home
Even if your family is not learning English, this site will engage everyone. Use this as an opportunity to predict what life will be like 30+ years from now. Also share how your own life has changed (and the world: technology, healthcare, politics, etc..) in the past 30+ years.
Tags
communities, conflict resolution, women, conservation, cross cultural understanding,
Subjects
Biology/Life Science, Character Education, Engineering/Technology, English, ESL/ELL, Geography (US/World), History & Culture: World, Science, Social Studies, Social Studies, Special Education, World Languages, World Languages, Writing,