Ampplify Who Killed Edgar Allan Poe Quest

ELA QUEST Studio at

Who Killed Edgar Allan Poe? ELA QUEST Studio

Amplify’s ELA Quests leverage the power of digital technology to provide teachers

with a resource that they wouldn’t have the time, specialized knowledge, or technical

know-how to create on their own.

We brought together designers, developers, educators and playwrights to help students

tackle challenging texts by creating a prepackaged, collaborative learning experience

that sharpens critical English Language Arts skills for middle schoolers.

There are a lot of challenges in education. Today’s teachers have a precious little class

Introduction to ELA QUESTs


time to teach important skills, and use their off-the-clock hours everyday to prepare

lessons. To boot, they’re trying to teach a diverse room of students who all learn

differently: some by seeing, some by doing, etc. Most teachers, if not all, simply don’t

have the capacity to create an immersive, highly-curated multimedia lesson that appeals

to digital natives.


Imagine walking into class and being asked to solve a murder mystery—a murder that

you may have committed. But in order to solve it, you need to close-read texts for clues,

analyze evidence like a detective, and write persuasively to make your case.

As students begin the Quest, they learn that Edgar Allan Poe has been murdered –

IntroducingWho Killed Edgar Allan Poe?

Watch Intro Moviehttp://goo.gl/BhizjK

http://goo.gl/BhizjK








a scenario based on the famous poet’s mysterious death. Students choose among

peculiar, haunted characters from Edgar Allan Poe’s world, and play that role as they

work to find out who the killer is.

Each of them must interrogate the other characters in order to find and interpret clues;

if they want to catch the killer, they must collect evidence via a custom animation and

close-read a host of literature, from Poe’s stories (Such as The Raven) to primary source

documents (his actual obituary). At the close of the Quest they make their accusation

and defend it with evidence, practicing their analytical skills and descriptive writing.


We’ve tested this in classrooms across the country and have seen how students take

ownership over their own learning. The Quest empows them to read difficult texts and

helping them to teach each other what they’ve learned.

It takes teachers a lot of effort to create and coordinate elaborately crafted learning

experiences. At Amplify, we made this kind of engaging learning experience accessible

and scalable.

Combining design, technology, pedagogy and storytelling, we are empowering teachers

to create an amazing learning experience in their classroom.

EvidencePhotograph of a dead body

Students take on the role of one of Poe’s characters and work in groups to solve the crime by reading like detectives and writing like investigative journalists.

They are asked to read from character cards, which contain both information that is public, and information that they must keep to themselves until another sleuth comes along and asks about it.

Choosing yourown character



EvidencePhotograph of a dead body

Character Cards

Students read through primary source documents, Poe’s poems and short stories, and evidence materials over the course of several class periods until they reach the final chapter and have enough information to synthesize a cohesive accusation using evidence they’ve gathered in their detective notebooks.

Each class period is structured so that the students have time to go over their character cards, read through the documents they’ve been introduced to, and interrogate each other, all while taking notes on all the evidence they’ve gathered.

EvidenceNew Paper Scrap, Letter

Map of Poe’s HouseStudents use this map to understand spacial relationship

EvidenceOfficial Police Report

Chapter 1 Character Information Card Students use this card to answer questions during interrogation.

Detective Notebook Students take notes to gather information, analyze and write conclusions.

TimelineStudents track movementsof suspects

Students gather so much information throughout the Quest that it is impossible for them to figure out the mystery unless they write down as much information as they can.

See students in action during an interrogation roundhttp://goo.gl/VWclXo

http://goo.gl/VWclXo





Note for each characterStudents take notes for information they gather from interrogation.

The AccusationStudents write their final conclusions.

At the end of the Quest, students present their findings to the class, as an attorney, and accuse the character they believe committed the crime.

They’re introduced to concepts like conjecture, red herring, and with the guidance of the teacher, students learn to cite evidence in order to backup their claim.


This completely radical approach to learning entices students unlike anything we’ve

seen before. This allows them to retain the material at unprecedented levels. For the

teacher, it creates an incredible scenario where the students are actively coming to

them for information, rather than feeding information to the students.

The teacher guide is thorough enough that any teacher running a Quest for the first

time can quickly pick it up and make it their own experience. We aim to mentally remove

students from classrooms and take them on new experiences with all of our Quests.

In order to be successful in this venture,

students need to read thoroughly and

comprehend complex text. We add to that

an interactive and beautifully designed

experience that is otherwise unseen

in the classroom.


Innovation Summaries

functionality • User Interface is intuitive and easy to use.

• Implementation is easy for teachers with our teacher guide app.

originality • This completely radical approach to teaching reading comprehension and writing submerges students in these worlds so they feel personally vested in learning rather than feeling like it’s a chore.

beauty • Simple and intituitve User Interface

• Dynamic illustrations and spectacular sound design

• Beautiful Animation

sustainability • Digital format creates less waste while the storyline

sustains itself in students’ minds forever.

depth of user insight • We understand what teachers face today and

how difficult it is to create an elaborately crafted learning experience.

cultural impact • For the teacher, it creates an incredible scenario

where the students are actively coming to them for information, rather than the traditional model of feeding information to the students.

business impact • Scalable and accessible for ELA teachers

with the power of digital technology.

• This product is the first of its kind. The experience built into it would take teachers months to create on their own. The experience now comes in simple student-facing app and teacher guide app.


Credits

WritingAnna ZieglerCarrie HugesChris ComptonNiccolo Aeed MorettiPatrick Sheridan

EditingBarbara Crook

Art / Design &Design StrategyAlex Dreyshner (Sound) Chris KalbChris Leathers (3D)Daniel Barrett Ian Cinco (Film / Photography)Jean-Pierre DillardKathleen TobinMartin Collet (3D)Rosina BoscoSooji HanTakao Umehara

Tech DevelopmentClayton RabendaDaniel RussoEli BurminElisabeth Goebel Han-Ting (Tim) Lin Jeff Decker Mike Lynch Neil SambolNicole BieberRaquel BujansTe Yi Liu

Quality AssuranceMayank ShethSajjad Hossain

Technical WritingRobert Hill

User ResearchClaudia Aguilar Kendra BrewsterLauren GabrieleLauren CheslerWendy Pepper

Production ManagementCesar Parra Robin YeungSarah Smirnoff


Thank you