What is an escape room residency?
Phase 1 Acclimation & Introduction
The vision is cast for the days ahead. Students engage Mobile Escape’s challenges as well as a maker space. This looks very similar to an in-class field trip. It helps level the playing field, giving everyone an escape room experience, as well as a chance to make puzzles, riddles and codes of their own.
Best residency ever! @mobileescaperm Stay tunes for updates all week! pic.twitter.com/NfJs2vHbj5
— Fish Creek School G6 (@InquiringFCS6s) January 29, 2018
Phase 2 PLANNING & BLUEPRINTING
Students work together in groups to imagine what their own escape room might look like. Parameters often include: their story and theme, physical constraints, an inventory list, as well as lock and clue types. After creating a coherent blueprint, ideas are consolidated into a master escape room plan.
And it begins! Planning and creating blueprints for our escape room, “Forensic Frenzy,” with @mobileescaperm. #FCSInspired #STEM @PoppyJohnsonEdu pic.twitter.com/ngSrnitCJm
— Fish Creek School G6 (@InquiringFCS6s) January 30, 2018
Phase 3 CONSTRUCTION & ITERATION
It’s time to build the escape rooms! A complete escape room requires a variety of distinct but related disciplines. Students select how they can best contribute to the completion of the room – music team, prop team, multimedia team, puzzle team, etc. Problem solving, teamwork, collaboration and cooperation are emphasized in this phase as students work together with their various gifting. This is a flurrious time of cardboard, tape, paint and... awesomeness!
Students are working so hard on their @mobileescaperm. Collaborating to 1) set the mood with music, 2) promote each room, 3) decorate the space, 4) create puzzles, 5) build props and 6) design the story/video. What an exciting experience! #FCSinspired @PoppyJohnsonEdu pic.twitter.com/sKp33UcLEw
— Fish Creek School G6 (@InquiringFCS6s) January 31, 2018
Phase 4 refine & SHOWCASE
Loose ends are wrapped up. The master clue sheet is consolidated. The rooms are tested for difficulty level. Students are assigned to different time slots when they are able to host their own escape rooms. And finally it is time to showcase their work to other students, siblings, parents, and the school community.
While Vanishing Villains may have come to an end in our mobile unit, it lives on in the creative minds of kids at Fish Creek Elementary School this week. @InquiringFCS6s #awakenwonder #cbedu pic.twitter.com/Qxlzg2LYPG
— Mobile Escape (@mobileescaperm) February 1, 2018
Pictures won’t do this justice, but our @InquiringFCS6s are knee deep in creating crime themed escape rooms. Their excitement is contagious, with many FCS S’s & Staff peeking in. #FCSInspired @AlainaCrone @principalfero pic.twitter.com/Zh329HXCfA
— Poppy Johnson (@PoppyJohnsonEdu) January 31, 2018
What others are saying
“[Mobile Escape] left a lasting impression on the kids. At the end of Thursday, they all said “We miss Paul and Eric!”. You guys were incredible from your level of engagement, enthusiasm and classroom management.... The mobile trailer alone had some of our most talented kids challenged with critical thinking but our students who usually struggle had a chance to excel. I think one of the biggest lessons for them were that things do not always mean what they appear to be and that they need to be critical about what information is presented them.”
Kathy Salmon, Principal at University School, had this to say about the Mobile Escape room residency:
"The Escape Room Residency with Eric and Paul was an amazing opportunity for students to create their own escape room challenges. Eric and Paul were skilful facilitators in setting up task requirements and parameters. The room was buzzing with intense concentration and excitement as students were completely absorbed by the task demands of creativity, ingenuity, and strategy. Both the escape room and residency were valuable learning opportunities for students and capacity building for teachers."
“Thanks for an amazing experience! Our Grade 6 students loved the opportunity to expand and share their learning. You were able to recognize their brilliance and create a safe place to explore. ”
