top of page
Search

Choose Your Own Adventure in the Classroom

  • Writer: Tridib Misra
    Tridib Misra
  • 6 minutes ago
  • 4 min read

As a child, I loved reading Choose Your Own Adventure books. They were exciting ways to take control of a story and discover how different decisions shaped different endings. That excitement of choice stayed with me — and recently, I found a way to bring it into my teaching.


I’m currently teaching prehistory, and right now my students are exploring the Stone Age. Many of them are English Language Learners (ELLs) with varying levels of proficiency. I wanted a lesson that wasn’t just another reading exercise, but one that could:

  • spark curiosity,

  • build vocabulary with key terms like hunter-gatherer, paleolithic, or flint tools,

  • practice reading comprehension, and

  • keep students genuinely engaged.


That’s when I thought: Why not create a Choose Your Own Adventure story for them?


ree

Turning History into an Adventure


The idea was simple: let students step into the shoes of a Stone Age leader making real survival decisions. Should they follow the river, or cross the savanna? Hunt gazelles, or gather roots? Every decision would lead to a different outcome, just like in those childhood books — but now tied directly to our history content.


With a tool like ChatGPT, I was able to go back and forth, refine the story, and eventually produce a Stone Age adventure that wasn’t only fun but also embedded with historical vocabulary and decision-making. Even better, I could generate web-based versions of the stories, complete with code that made them interactive and playable in the browser.


This first experiment quickly led me down a new path: creating more and more Choose Your Own Adventure stories set in different time periods and historical settings. Ancient Rome, the Age of Exploration, the Industrial Revolution — any unit could become interactive.


Why This Works for ESL and History


This approach works across subjects because it:

  • Engages learners: Students feel ownership when they make decisions that matter in the story.

  • Builds language naturally: Vocabulary appears in meaningful context, and comprehension is tied to consequences.

  • Supports multiple levels: Stronger readers can dive into the full narrative, while emerging readers can focus on the decisions and key words.

  • Promotes critical thinking: Students must weigh risks and rewards, just as historical figures did.

  • Adds replay value: With multiple endings, students often want to try again — revisiting language and content without it feeling repetitive.


How to Generate Your Own Adventure


Here’s the exact prompt I now use to get ChatGPT to create a story and code it into a playable web app:


Please create a Choose Your Own Adventure story set in [TIME PERIOD] with [CHARACTERS] based on this plot: [PLOT].

 

Requirements:

• Code it as a single, self-contained HTML file (all CSS and JS inline).

• I should be able to copy the code, save it as index.html, and open it directly in a browser.

• Features to include:

  - 📊 Progress bar showing steps

  - 🔤 Text-size toggle (normal/large)

  - ☀/🌙 Theme toggle (light/dark mode)

  - 👁 Teacher view (shows the chosen path)

  - ⬅️ Back button (go back one step)

  - ↺ Restart button

• Each decision point should have two options leading to different outcomes.

• Endings should include a title and a short summary.

• Return the complete HTML code only (from <!doctype html> to </html>). No extra explanation.


From Prompt to Playable Story


Once ChatGPT gives you the code, here’s what you need to do:

  1. Copy everything in the code block (starting from <!doctype html> to </html>).

  2. Open a plain text editor (Notepad on Windows, TextEdit on Mac in plain text mode, or VS Code).

  3. Paste the code.

  4. Save the file as index.html (important: make sure it ends with .html, not .txt).

  5. Double-click the file — it will open in your browser and run the game instantly.


A Simple but Powerful Tool


This idea started with my Stone Age unit, but the applications are endless:

  • English teachers can adapt classic novels into interactive adventures.

  • ESL teachers can use it for vocabulary practice with meaningful context.

  • History and Social Studies teachers can transport students into critical moments of the past.


The beauty is that it blends storytelling, interactivity, and learning outcomes in one simple package. And the barrier to entry is low: all you need is a story idea, one good prompt, and a little copy-paste.


I know this is just the beginning. I’ll keep experimenting with different prompts and refining the process. My next step will be to design prompts that let teachers target specific age groups and proficiency levels, so that the stories are just right for their learners. I also want to build prompts that emphasize key vocabulary from a unit, highlight essential historical concepts, and even allow for different skills practice — from reading comprehension to critical thinking and decision-making. In a future post, I’ll share these more refined prompt structures, along with examples of how they can be tailored for English, ESL, and History classrooms.

 

In my next post, I’ll dive deeper into creating prompts tailored to different levels, key vocabulary, and learning goals.

bottom of page