Minecraft in the Classroom
Constructing learning one block at a time
Matt Coaty @mcoaty
Tara Rittner @MrsRittner
http://bit.ly/Minecraft123
Hello!
"Minecraft is only limited by the creativity of the people who play it,"
Outside of the Classroom
Meet 'Minecraft' Builders Who Craft Impossibly Detailed Virtual Worlds - RollingStone 7/22/16
“This March, Warner Bros used a slice of its $165 million Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice marketing budget to hire several YouTube stars and a company called BlockWorks to create Minecraft renditions of both Gotham City and Metropolis – with the former including a Batmobile that players could drive around the virtual city. This was business as usual for BlockWorks, which is headed by Cambridge University architecture student James Delaney.”
Where did it start?
Here …. kind of
It started in July two years ago
We were stuck in information
overload zone ... not sure
where to start. Diane and Ted
gave examples and we decided
to start a Minecraftedu club for
the 2015-16 school year.
Click here for session document
How? Where?
Who do we call?
Involving Staff
Funding ...
September 2015
Yes! Funding is there. Now onto planning ….
Sign-up Process
Limit to first 25 that register
Parents signed up using a Google
Form
Parents were notified through email
Next year is a different story
Branding and Shirt
Fiverr/Talent CustomInk
Where to start …
School plans
Using the school blueprints
to create a foundation
Teacher created foundation
First Day Jitters
Guidelines
Anchor Chart
Learning .... on our end
First day - pictures
Rubrics
Rubrics
Rubrics
Teams were clustered and switched
Organizing the construction ...
Hiding the electric wires?
Expectations anchor chart
Communicating with parents
Third Session
After the last session
Green screen magic
Class video
Moving from the club to classroom
Getting approval?
Technology
Process
Worlds
Worlds
World Painter (free)
Attached to the Core
Common Core | MinecraftEdu |
Determine central ideas | Understand main objective |
Integration and evaluation of content | Game includes clues players must discover to proceed |
Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them | Students work to solve problems within game limitations. Fail → Try Again |
Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others | Game requires students to work together, make a plan, delegate, and create |
Use appropriate tools strategically | Students must determine what tools are available and use them accordingly |
Look for and make use of structure | Creating a structural plan benefits all involved |
Minecraft Edu - Part 2
Social Studies - Fourth Grade
Creating USA in Minecraft
Process...
Minecraft Edu - Part 3
Hogwarts - 3-5th Grade
Creating the magical world of Hogwarts
Process...
Ensure technology - Wednesday mornings
Create teams
Create expectations
About 45 minutes each session
11 sessions in total
Create basic foundations
Telling our story
Possible Examples
Math
Scavenger hunt using signposts
Teacher or student created
Math
Creating houses with volume, perimeter, and area
House has to have x, y and z.
Social Studies
Creating models of non-fiction or fictional locations
Washington D.C. ?
Hogwarts?
Middle Earth ?
Gotham City ?
Literacy
Creating library of books that kids create
Science
Models of cells
Social Studies
Historical perspectives
Social Studies
How to assess with Minecraft?
Checklist
Journaling
Paper/Pencil?
Blog?
Individual?
Team?
Fill in the blank scavenger hunt
8
Creation
Helpful links moving forward