Module+3--Altering+the+avatar

Course Learning Outcomes (Level 1):
Ask yes-no and information questions. Understand and use simple commands (imperative). Understand and use prepositional phrases. Use possessive pronouns and possessive nouns. Write simple sentences with BE and HAVE plus an adjective or noun.

Notes for Teachers:
This lesson can be done in one or two stages, depending on your class and how much fun you're having with each stage.

The **first stage** involves **editing the appearance of the stock avatar**. When you right-click on the avatar (or, alternatively, select the "Edit" menu) you can choose to edit "Appearance." This brings up a box with a long list of categories relating to human appearance. Each category ("Eyes," "Body", etc.) is broken down into smaller parts including hands, ears, eyebrows with a **picture illustrating each one** and a **slider that adjusts the appearance**. This is a great source for vocabulary work and having students, for example, write simple sentences with BE-verbs about their avatar. For example, I had my student write a set of sentences about her avatar, with 3 versions of each sentence (as shown below):


 * My avatar** __has__ brown hair. **My avatar's** hair __is__ brown. **Her** hair is brown.

For a professional, somewhat more complicated, and far more detailed video by Torley Linden (one of the creators of SecondLife) on simple editing of appearance, see the video in the menu bar "Editing Appearance."

The **second stage** involves more substantive changes to the avatar, such as **changing into a non-human form**. This a more advanced trick and can be accomplished by visiting Yadni's Junkyard and "buying" (for free) avatars. This is where I found my free "angel cat" avatar that I got stuck in for a few weeks. My student and I had the good fortune to run into a generous wolfperson at Yadni's Junkyard who gave her a very nice blue wolf-person avatar and helped her put it on. (I'd encouraged my student to go up to this wolfperson and simply ask if she/he could help her get her hair back, which we had lost in the previous "editing your avatar's appearance" class session. My student got way more than either of us had bargained for--a pretty fine avatar and a great English conversation with a friendly stranger. Watch the video below to see how my student changed herself into a blue wolfperson!

Sample Video/Photos:
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