Core Skills Analysis
English
Toby read story information and dialogue while playing Undertale, using written language to follow events and understand characters within an interactive narrative. He practised reading for meaning by connecting the words on screen with the game’s unfolding actions. The activity also introduced him to how a story can combine dialogue, choices, visual elements and gameplay. Toby’s engagement with the story suggested that interactive fiction helped sustain his attention and motivation to read.
Digital Technologies
Toby interacted with a computer game interface and followed its rules to progress through a digital environment. He learned through immediate feedback, interpreting on-screen information and connecting his actions with changes in the game. The activity showed how digital stories can be nonlinear or interactive rather than simply read from beginning to end. His enjoyment indicated growing confidence in learning through technology-based media.
HASS
Toby encountered characters, events and a fictional world while following Undertale’s story. Reading the narrative encouraged him to consider how people and communities may be represented through dialogue, relationships and conflict, although the specific themes he noticed were not described. He practised interpreting a constructed world and understanding that stories can communicate viewpoints through character actions and consequences. His interest provided a useful starting point for discussing how games can express ideas about choices and society.
Tips
Tips: Invite Toby to keep a brief reading journal describing one scene, character and important choice after each session. He could map the game’s setting and create a timeline showing how story events connect. Ask him to rewrite a short exchange as a traditional narrative paragraph, then compare how the two formats communicate information. A discussion about how player choices affect storytelling can extend his critical thinking while respecting that his exact choices and interpretations may differ from others.
Book Recommendations
- The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien: A quest narrative with a richly imagined world, memorable characters and unfolding challenges.
- Coraline by Neil Gaiman: A suspenseful fantasy story that explores courage, choices and an unusual parallel world.
- A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle: A science-fantasy adventure featuring family, unusual worlds and the consequences of personal decisions.
Learning Standards
- English – AC9E6LY01: Toby analysed a multimodal text that combined written language, visuals and interactive features to engage an audience.
- English – AC9E10LE01: The activity provided an opportunity to evaluate social, moral or ethical perspectives represented through the game’s characters and choices, if these were discussed further.
- Digital Technologies: Toby used a digital interface, interpreted on-screen information and responded to feedback while navigating an interactive system. No specific Digital Technologies code was supplied in the provided standards list.
Try This Next
- Create a character-profile worksheet using evidence from dialogue and actions.
- Write an alternative version of one game scene from another character’s perspective.
- Draw a map of the game world and label places mentioned in the story.
- Quiz prompt: How do dialogue, visuals and player actions work together to tell the story?