Mystery Riddle (in-class application March 27): The man in the woods...

In the middle of a deep forest, there is an isolated and silent cabin. Inside, in the middle of the main room, there is a chair. A man is tied to the chair and covered with blood.


What has happened?


To find the solution to the riddle, you can ask the teacher any question you like. However, the teacher can only respond to your questions with "yes", "no" or "possibly".

Use your questions carefully to gather more information, which in turn should help you to solve the riddle of the man in the woods...


Good luck!

~ Jason


***

Your riddle today was very interesting. However, I was sad to find out I grew up. I mean I'm not as creative as children anymore. When I heard the answer, I laughed.
So easy, but I couldn't guess it. Anyway, I believe I'll be more creative through your classes. haha!

I felt the same way with Eun Jin..I enjoyed a lot today's riddle..
Even though I couldn't get the exact answer to the end..that process was even thrilling....
Things that we've done during today's class looked different, but they were all stuffs that required the attitude for thinking outside the box which is absolutely challenging to me..They were hard but great things!!!

Someday, I wish my students can also have this much fun during the class!!
Yesterday~ It was so fun and exciting!! Of course that I got the answer is also one of the reasons.
More and more, I am expecting the class.
Already, I am afraid of finishing this class someday.

Right now, I am thinking how to apply this enjoyable writing skill to my students.
I hope they have very basic writing skill, then I can apply this somehow.
But I'm just worried that they can't write even just one sentence.
sometimes when I asked them to write down their feeling about watching video, they just said
"it was fun, or the guy was handsome or I like the guy." that's all.

But I will try to make them write some sentences and express their thought willingly.
Wow~~ Such a great time !!

Everybody~ HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!!

These days I'm absorbed in american dramas such as Prison Break and Sex and The City. One of them, Prison Break, was so impressive that I could't stop watching it even if many scene were so brutal and immoral. Howerer, I didn't care about how it was fit to morality.

You know why I said about those stroies? The moment you described the sitation and made us guess how it happened, I thought that that scene was exactly like that in Prison Break. It reminded me of that brutality shown in Preason Break.

After one smart woman found the answer, I have thought my hackneyed ways of thinking. Actually I'm not creative or ingenuous person. I felt I have to try to be a open-minded person that mentioned in Nam-suk's writing.

And also I would applaud your effort to make us enjoy energetic classes on every Thursdays.

thank you.

eunjin39 wrote:Your riddle today was very interesting. However, I was sad to find out I grew up. I mean I'm not as creative as children anymore. When I heard the answer, I laughed.
So easy, but I couldn't guess it. Anyway, I believe I'll be more creative through your classes. haha!

Hi Eunjin,

I am happy to hear you enjoyed the riddle activity. You can still be as creative as children are, if you allow your mind to move into that fun, creative mode. In fact, that is a crucial teaching skill if you are going to teach young people. And there is still a child inside each and every one of us... That's why so many people in the class enjoyed the riddle challenge.

Please, next time take it easy on the Emoticons! I was almost blinded!

Thanks and see you again in class,

~ Jason


***

Nam-suk wrote:I felt the same way with Eun Jin..I enjoyed a lot today's riddle..
Even though I couldn't get the exact answer to the end..that process was even thrilling....
Things that we've done during today's class looked different, but they were all stuffs that required the attitude for thinking outside the box which is absolutely challenging to me..They were hard but great things!!!

Hi Nam-suk,

Glad to hear you enjoyed the riddle (I thought you asked a lot of good questions during that, by the way) and the twisty-turny story activity! I'm also happy to hear you recognized and enjoyed the chance to think outside the box. Please do take that with you into your own classroom(s).

See you soon!

~ Jason


***

jihyun wrote:Someday, I wish my students can also have this much fun during the class!!
Yesterday~ It was so fun and exciting!! Of course that I got the answer is also one of the reasons.
More and more, I am expecting the class.
Already, I am afraid of finishing this class someday.

Right now, I am thinking how to apply this enjoyable writing skill to my students.
I hope they have very basic writing skill, then I can apply this somehow.
But I'm just worried that they can't write even just one sentence.
sometimes when I asked them to write down their feeling about watching video, they just said
"it was fun, or the guy was handsome or I like the guy." that's all.

But I will try to make them write some sentences and express their thought willingly.
Wow~~ Such a great time !!

Everybody~ HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!!

Hi Jihyun,

Thanks for your very positive posting - I guess teachers always like to hear these things from their students... Also, congratulations on solving the riddle. I hope you can enjoy that and other activities even when you're not winning them (in the case of the riddle, I think the whole class was the winner, as it was the insightful questions from your classmates that in the end helped you come up with the solution, right?).

I was interested to read your thoughts about applying writing with your students. Remember that Korean secondary school students have English that resembles icebergs, with much more hidden under the water than we can see poking out into the air. It's your job to find ways to make more of the whole ability emerge.

Also remember that what you get in response depends a lot on exactly what you ask. Consider how the students (and even you) would respond to a question in Korean about a movie. It would probably be limited to the sorts of general comments you cited from your students, and those responses are perfectly acceptable. If you want them to go further, you have to facilitate that, and do so in a way that feels genuine to the purposes of the task.

As an example, instead of just asking them to write down their feelings about a movie, ask them to write up a full movie review similar to what would appear in a teen magazine. Give them headings that spur their minds to come up with a variety of things to say, for example:

Movie Title
General storyline (start, climax, finish)
Main characters and their characteristics
My favorite character and why
Best part of the movie
Worst part of the movie
Star rating (1-5)
Would you recommend it to other kids? Why or why not?


It's really great to hear you're enjoying the class, and thank you for being such a willing participant in it!

See you next week,

~ Jason


***

Kim Jin-Young wrote:These days I'm absorbed in american dramas such as Prison Break and Sex and The City. One of them, Prison Break, was so impressive that I could't stop watching it even if many scene were so brutal and immoral. Howerer, I didn't care about how it was fit to morality.

You know why I said about those stroies? The moment you described the sitation and made us guess how it happened, I thought that that scene was exactly like that in Prison Break. It reminded me of that brutality shown in Preason Break.

After one smart woman found the answer, I have thought my hackneyed ways of thinking. Actually I'm not creative or ingenuous person. I felt I have to try to be a open-minded person that mentioned in Nam-suk's writing.

And also I would applaud your effort to make us enjoy energetic classes on every Thursdays.

thank you.

Hi Jin-Young,

Great to hear from you. You know what? My wife likes those same series you talk about! She's mad about them. I can put myself in mortal danger if I attempt to interrupt her while she's watching those shows... I think even if the apartment complex was on fire, she would remain glued to her television set to catch the end of one of these programs before even considering trying to escape.

I don't really agree with your self-analysis, by the way. I think instead of "Actually I'm not creative or ingenuous person" it might be more accurate to say "Actually, I need to allow myself to be more creative"... You have it inside you, trust me.

I'm also very happy to hear you enjoy and appreciate the Thursday classes. That's extra motivation for the teacher to try harder!

Take care and see you in class,

~ Jason


***

In these days, I'm waiting for Thursday because of your class. Everytime you are giving us various example of fun and educational class. This year, I'm teaching creative discretion class. (In this class, I can do whatever I want as long as it's educational.) Frankly speaking, I've been mimicking your class. ^^;; So far I used 'riddle about myself' and 'mystery riddle'. Thank you for giving me such a great example. By the way, where can I get more of 'mystery riddle'? Ss really liked it, so I want to do it one more time later.

Liz wrote:In these days, I'm waiting for Thursday because of your class. Everytime you are giving us various example of fun and educational class. This year, I'm teaching creative discretion class. (In this class, I can do whatever I want as long as it's educational.) Frankly speaking, I've been mimicking your class. ^^;; So far I used 'riddle about myself' and 'mystery riddle'. Thank you for giving me such a great example. By the way, where can I get more of 'mystery riddle'? Ss really liked it, so I want to do it one more time later.

Hi Liz,

It's wonderful to hear you're enjoying the class and finding practical uses for the activity models in your own classroom.

"Creative discretion class"? It's an interesting name, but I really like the idea of it. Is this a public school you are talking about? How many learners, how old and what level are they? It would be great if schools would allow more classes like the one you talk about. I think it would do wonders for both teacher and student morale, allow for much more creative and practical English instruction, and in the end really boost English proficiency.

As for the mystery riddles, to be frank they come from my own experience with friends around campfires when I was younger. It's a fun way to pass time and enjoy a group challenge. A friend of mine used to have dozens of them. I can only remember a couple of others, a little vaguely:


A. There is a man living in a 14-floor apartment building. His apartment is on the 12th floor. Every morning he comes out of his apartment, steps into the elevator, goes down to the bottom floor, and goes to work. Every evening he returns from work, gets into the elevator on the ground floor and goes up to the seventh floor. There, he gets out and climbs the stairs for another 5 floors to get to his apartment.

The man does this every day. The question is, why does he use the elevator to travel all the way down each morning, but in the evening only goes up to the seventh floor and then uses the stairs.

Solution: He's a dwarf (a very short person). The elevator floor buttons start from the bottom and go up. He can only reach the buttons for floors 1-7!


B. A man is driving along a highway in the desert late at night, and starting to get quite sleepy. A motel appears beside the road and he pulls off the highway. As he gets closer to the motel, he sees that it is on fire. He stops the car, gets out, and starts shouting and crying.

Why is the man so upset?

Solution: It is his motel (i.e., he owns it).



I'm sure a search around the Internet could reveal more. These two plus the original one I used in class are all that I can really remember off the top of my head. They are excellent for creating volumes of questions (for the purposes of English development, especially the full range of Yes/No questions) and abstract thinking. They've never failed with my own classrooms, and as I told you in class, you'd be surprised how much quicker younger students seem to be at happening upon the solutions.

Thanks for the feedback, Liz, and I hope the future lessons inspire you in new ways for your own bank of practical classroom English activities.

Enjoy your weekend!

~ Jason


***

Of course I know that everyone is winner ^__^ And I enjoy every class without rewards.
Don't worry about that! It was just for fun to ask you a candy!!

Thanks for your advising. Actually I didn't know how to handle that big class with video watching very well.
Your advice is very helpful. Next time when we have time for watching video, I will try this way and find out
more effective way to my students. Then I will tell you about this.

Today is so cloudy. But Don't be sentimental and be happy~~~
Have a great day!! See U on Thursday !!

jihyun wrote:Of course I know that everyone is winner ^__^ And I enjoy every class without rewards.
Don't worry about that! It was just for fun to ask you a candy!!

Thanks for your advising. Actually I didn't know how to handle that big class with video watching very well.
Your advice is very helpful. Next time when we have time for watching video, I will try this way and find out
more effective way to my students. Then I will tell you about this.

Today is so cloudy. But Don't be sentimental and be happy~~~
Have a great day!! See U on Thursday !!

Hi Jhyun,

Don't worry, I completely realize you are a good sport and weren't boasting at the expense of your classmate's efforts. I see you close to the front of your class, contributing so much to discussion and activities with the students around you. They are lucky to have you as their classmate! You were a worthy final winner for the riddle activity we did. Several other students have commented that they envied your ability to put all the pieces of information together in the right way to find the answer quickly.

I think I may have misinterpreted slightly what you meant by 'video'. The advice I gave was relevant to watching story-based videos. If you are using news videos or documentaries, I think the follow-up information we provide to them to encourage them to be more productive would be a little different. In that case we could ask them to take on the role of cadet journalists or anchors and commentators for a talk-back program or something. With a check-list of things to ask or talk about, that might encourage them to be more productive and interactive with the input.

Keep up the great work and see you on Thursday.

Take care,

~ Jason


***

It was really funny activity~ I really enjoyed writing the story~
I am expecting to read all of them, especially the one that superman story and island one. Because those are very interesting~~. I felt I became a children book author(is this expression right? anyway~)Whenever I have practical class, I am expecting which activity we are going to have. ^^

Last class, I really enjoyed your class!! Everytime I am nervous but excited and interesting. And I am also expecting you.
Actually, in my private tuition I mimicked your mysterious riddle. My students are younger, so ... ,as you said, they caught the answer much quicker than we did last class.
In the reply to Liz, I saw another two riddles that you gave, it will be helpful for my tuition and thank you, too.

Take care, ^^

young

I actually used it to my brother.
He said it could be a billiant way to start the lesson.
Teachers always need to find new and innovative way to stimulate students' interests.
Besides using various media and visual materials, we need to adapt various methods to present the content.

Mistery riddles would be one of our young students' favorites.
I think it will really work in the real situation.

Jason Renshaw wrote:

jihyun wrote:Someday, I wish my students can also have this much fun during the class!!
Yesterday~ It was so fun and exciting!! Of course that I got the answer is also one of the reasons.
More and more, I am expecting the class.
Already, I am afraid of finishing this class someday.

Right now, I am thinking how to apply this enjoyable writing skill to my students.
I hope they have very basic writing skill, then I can apply this somehow.
But I'm just worried that they can't write even just one sentence.
sometimes when I asked them to write down their feeling about watching video, they just said
"it was fun, or the guy was handsome or I like the guy." that's all.

But I will try to make them write some sentences and express their thought willingly.
Wow~~ Such a great time !!

Everybody~ HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!!

Hi Jihyun,

Thanks for your very positive posting - I guess teachers always like to hear these things from their students... Also, congratulations on solving the riddle. I hope you can enjoy that and other activities even when you're not winning them (in the case of the riddle, I think the whole class was the winner, as it was the insightful questions from your classmates that in the end helped you come up with the solution, right?).

I was interested to read your thoughts about applying writing with your students. Remember that Korean secondary school students have English that resembles icebergs, with much more hidden under the water than we can see poking out into the air. It's your job to find ways to make more of the whole ability emerge.

Also remember that what you get in response depends a lot on exactly what you ask. Consider how the students (and even you) would respond to a question in Korean about a movie. It would probably be limited to the sorts of general comments you cited from your students, and those responses are perfectly acceptable. If you want them to go further, you have to facilitate that, and do so in a way that feels genuine to the purposes of the task.

As an example, instead of just asking them to write down their feelings about a movie, ask them to write up a full movie review similar to what would appear in a teen magazine. Give them headings that spur their minds to come up with a variety of things to say, for example:

Movie Title
General storyline (start, climax, finish)
Main characters and their characteristics
My favorite character and why
Best part of the movie
Worst part of the movie
Star rating (1-5)
Would you recommend it to other kids? Why or why not?


It's really great to hear you're enjoying the class, and thank you for being such a willing participant in it!

See you next week,

~ Jason


***

I have simmilar difficultes when i let the students write about the movies they've seen. Whenever I asked them to write down their feelings and thought about the movies or even stories, they had a lot of difficulties. At that time the reason why the students had difficulty, i thought, is that their language proficiencies were not good enough to expresss their feelings. But now i realize that the reason was that my direction was not appropriate and also not so specific enough. I should have been a facilitator but i was not. When it comes to the tasks that students have to complete we, the teachers should provide the students with clear direction and guidelines.

Nowadays, I try to imitate you.
After your class, I used the material you told us.
Especially, The riddle time was so popular among students.
On starting class, I asked the students some riddles.
They try to find out the answer actively.
And then their concentration during the calss is higher than usual.
My students as well as I cna enjoy the riddle time.

I use this activity for my students who are high school students of low level.
They felt uncomfortable to ask me questions in English so I let them ask in Korean.
After listening to their questions, I tried to translate the questions into English and answered "yes" or "no" like you did.
Though they couldn't freely express what they want to say, I'm quite sure that they really enjoyed the activity itself very much.
So I want to say thank you for providing us a lot of interesting activities and tips for using them.