Happy Monday y’all! I hope that everyone had a great weekend. As we get back into the swing of fall classes I wanted to share an activity idea that I learned about at Literacy Texas last week.

During Literacy Texas, one of our TEX apprentices, Matthew Johnston, put together a language labyrinth for the conference participants. The purpose of the labyrinth was to let ESL educators experience what it’s like navigating in the United States without knowing the language. Participants had to fill out a personal information form, navigate through a city using a bus map, negotiate prices at a market, and more all in different languages.

This gave me an activity idea that I think would be perfect for ESL students. Using a local bus map, give students directions to take different bus routes and stop at different stops, and then see where they end up. Were they able to get to the destination you picked? Did they all arrive at the same place? Then, if you would like to extend the activity, you could have the students pick a place and give their classmates directions there. Did their classmates understand them? Were they able to give clear directions?

Would you try this activity in your class? I’m going to add it to my Getting Around Town unit where students learn to give and receive directions. I think it would be a wonderful addition for real world practice, and it’s inclusive for students who have to take public transportation.

If you try this activity, or if you have a similar one, let us know! We’d love to hear from you. Until next time, blessings and happy teaching!