MinecraftEDUfor Assessment in

ELALisa Waxman & Erin Zaich @lasdk8

Twitter @lwaxman

ClosingTurn to a neighbor and discuss one way you might be able to use Minecraft to support literature.

Post here

Resources1. Rubric for using MinecraftEDU with The Giver

2. Creating MinecraftEDU Quicktime Video

3. Directions- Minecraft Tutorial

4. MinecraftEDU lesson in ELA day by day

5. MinecraftEdu Wiki

Step 2: SupportAccessibility to MinecraftEDU?

Find support for implementation if possible

Step 3: PurposeWhat do you want students to be able to do?

Do you want them to understand characters? the setting? The interaction between character and setting?

Step 4: Evaluate ExperienceEvaluate student experience

Assign mixed-ability pairs to complete MinecraftEDU tutorial

Step 5: Establish norms Ask students about tutorial experience

What happened?

What were the challenges?

With students, create a list of class norms and consequences for use of MinecraftEDU

Step 6: Gather Textual EvidenceAssign pairs a significant structure from the setting to study closely while reading.

As students read, have pairs gather details about the assigned structure (patrons, location, purpose, appearance) using a shared Google Doc.

Prepare to BuildHave class sketch out a map of the setting before

beginning to build in Minecraft

start to create their structure in a MinecraftEDU “flat” world.

Teacher creates a “flat” world for each class wit one identifiable landmark from the literature that students can recognize.

Step 7: BuildGive students time (I used 2 days a week over 4

weeks) to build structures.

Students place information blocks on the inside and outside structure to justify their design using evidence from the text.

Step 8: ScriptStudents play the role of a character interacting

with the Minecraft environment.

Students write a script that includes evidence from the text.

Step 9: Quicktime After rehearsing, each student creates a Quicktime

video as the character interacting with the environment.

Students are evaluated on the authenticity of their design and character tour compared to the text.

Step 10: AssessmentBased upon authenticity of the character & design

demonstrated in video

Based upon essay (with textual evidence) included in the info blocks

Self-assessment

Class vote on “most authentic world” with justification

Info BlocksStudents type the justification of their design using info blocks in front of their structures

Example