Holly Day, an ESL teacher at East Rowan High School, attended NCCAT's "Gamify Secondary Literacy" program in June.
Following the week of game mechanics, literacy strategies, and adrenaline-driven learning, Holly returned to her classroom, inspired. She used the tools she learned in Cullowhee to form an immersive fantasy world for her students, called Fluencia.
Learn more about Fluencia from this overview Holly that shared with NCCAT Senior Literacy Specialist, Kendra Cameron-Jarvis.
The Story of Fluencia:
The Fluencians are waiting for the one true monarch who can bond with the most powerful dragon. Until that monarch is revealed, they choose an interim monarch each week based on points earned in the four sacred domains of language: Listening Caverns, Speaking Tower, Reading Ruins, and Writing Forge. They do this because they want to bond with the dragons that live in their land, and the dragons only speak English.
How we launched the world:
To start the experience, students read the story of Fluencia and studied a map of the land. From there, they:
- Played a Dragon Egg Hunt game, where they matched questions hidden in eggs with answers on their papers to review the story (inspired from your class!)
- Took part in a dragon adoption interview to ensure they were matched with the right dragon.
- Officially adopted a baby dragon (a dragon sticker on a notecard) that they now bond with over the course of the year by completing tasks in each language domain. If they completed at least one task in the sacred domains that week (the minimum expectation/requirement), then their dragon gets posted on the "happy dragons" board. If nothing was completed, their dragon gets posted on the "sad dragons" board.
How it works now:
Although it took a lot of effort to set up, it’s surprisingly simple to maintain. Each week I create short, curriculum-aligned mini-tasks for each domain. When students finish their regular classwork, they choose a domain, complete a task, and earn Fluencian points. Whoever has the most points at the end of the week is the new interim monarch!
We just held our first coronation ceremony last week, and it was such a great moment! I spray-painted a Burger King crown, added Dollar Tree beads, and played fanfare music. The crowned king received candy to share (or keep!) and chose a weekly law from a list I created. The first law selected by our new king was that whenever someone leaves the room, they must say to the monarch: “With your leave, your majesty.” This has caused giggles and laughter every single time- some even getting really into it and bowing to him before leaving!
To balance it out, whoever earns the least points wears the Jester’s Hat and reads a silly proclamation before announcing the new king or queen.
At the end of the year (sometime in May) whoever has their name on our "Fluencian Queens and Kings" board the most (meaning they were most frequently the interim King or Queen throughout the year) will be the one true monarch and will bond with the strongest dragon of all, Velareth. I'm planning to purchase one of those cool 3D printed dragons to give to the one true monarch and have a whole Fluencian ceremony with games and music etc. It should be a good time!
This has truly transformed the atmosphere of my classroom. It’s fun and motivating, giving students a meaningful way to practice English each day while staying engaged from start to finish. Because everything ties directly into what we’ve been working on, it never feels like busywork, it feels purposeful!
