Using MINECRAFT in English is an amazing excuse to use the content it provides as an excuse to develop the competencies laid out in the curriculum. Since English is such a broad subject in terms of actual content that needs to be covered, teachers can be creative and use the game according to the skills and abilities they are teaching their students. Below is a list of examples of the ways MINECRAFT could be used in an English class.
“How To”: MINECRAFT Edition
We have all heard of the “How To” project in English class (I did mine in Grade 10). This project typically involves students writing and presenting detailed instructions on how to perform a certain task. Why not change it up and have the class do a “How To” project using MINECRAFT? In doing so, you can ensure that all of your students are in the same space and have ability to actually test out the instructions that are being given. Some examples of ideas that you can ask the students to write instructions for are:
- How to survive the first night in Survival Mode
- How to build a Nether Portal
- How to create a Diamond pickaxe
- How to domesticate an Ocelot/Wolf
- How to build and maintain an effective garden
Although you will not be evaluating the students’ ability to actually perform these tasks in the virtual world of the game, you will be evaluating their ability to clearly communicate through language a series of clear and coherent instructions.
Dioramas
For this project, students will use MINECRAFT to recreate the setting of a novel that is being studied. This is a great idea for students that don’t typically consider themselves artistic, as it gives the same abilities and opportunities to each student.
Say I was doing a novel study on William Golding’s The Lord of the Flies. Instead of having students build a physical diorama of the island, or perhaps even draw it, I could invite the class to a server in which every group is responsible for recreating a section of the island. This is a far more interactive way to approach the novel, as it allows students to feel as though they are in the setting themselves. I decided to make each group responsible for only a small section of the island (ex: the meeting spot, Castle Rock, the scar, etc.) so that they could focus on adding as much detail as possible to the setting. I would ask that each group include at least 4-5 specific details from the novel and write out a paragraph justifying their creative choices in creating their location. Again, I am not evaluating their abilities in MINECRAFT as I am their abilities to understand setting and justify their choices in writing.
Short Stories
MINECRAFT can serve as the topic for creative writing pieces. Students can take the perspective of a player in the game and create a story around what they encounter and how they survive.
I saw this example being done firsthand when I tutored a 4th grader over a month-long period. The student had the option of writing about a topic of his choice and decided to write about his favorite pass-time activity: playing MINECRAFT. His story involved a boy like himself getting sucked into a MINECRAFT server that was set-up like a Hunger Games styles tournament, and he needed to win the game within a 30min time frame so that he could return to his room where his dad was going to check up on him. If he did not make it back on time, he would be banned from playing video games forever.
One aspect of this project, similar to the “How to” project, is having students describe the MINECRAFT world to someone who has never heard of it. Asking them to do so encourages them to use descriptive adjectives and rich information. Again, MINECRAFT is only the excuse for the actual competency, which is writing.
This project can be done in a variety of other fashion, including keeping a diary of the player’s exploits and even using the book and quill items from the book to type a story in game.
“How To”: MINECRAFT Edition
We have all heard of the “How To” project in English class (I did mine in Grade 10). This project typically involves students writing and presenting detailed instructions on how to perform a certain task. Why not change it up and have the class do a “How To” project using MINECRAFT? In doing so, you can ensure that all of your students are in the same space and have ability to actually test out the instructions that are being given. Some examples of ideas that you can ask the students to write instructions for are:
- How to survive the first night in Survival Mode
- How to build a Nether Portal
- How to create a Diamond pickaxe
- How to domesticate an Ocelot/Wolf
- How to build and maintain an effective garden
Although you will not be evaluating the students’ ability to actually perform these tasks in the virtual world of the game, you will be evaluating their ability to clearly communicate through language a series of clear and coherent instructions.
Dioramas
For this project, students will use MINECRAFT to recreate the setting of a novel that is being studied. This is a great idea for students that don’t typically consider themselves artistic, as it gives the same abilities and opportunities to each student.
Say I was doing a novel study on William Golding’s The Lord of the Flies. Instead of having students build a physical diorama of the island, or perhaps even draw it, I could invite the class to a server in which every group is responsible for recreating a section of the island. This is a far more interactive way to approach the novel, as it allows students to feel as though they are in the setting themselves. I decided to make each group responsible for only a small section of the island (ex: the meeting spot, Castle Rock, the scar, etc.) so that they could focus on adding as much detail as possible to the setting. I would ask that each group include at least 4-5 specific details from the novel and write out a paragraph justifying their creative choices in creating their location. Again, I am not evaluating their abilities in MINECRAFT as I am their abilities to understand setting and justify their choices in writing.
Short Stories
MINECRAFT can serve as the topic for creative writing pieces. Students can take the perspective of a player in the game and create a story around what they encounter and how they survive.
I saw this example being done firsthand when I tutored a 4th grader over a month-long period. The student had the option of writing about a topic of his choice and decided to write about his favorite pass-time activity: playing MINECRAFT. His story involved a boy like himself getting sucked into a MINECRAFT server that was set-up like a Hunger Games styles tournament, and he needed to win the game within a 30min time frame so that he could return to his room where his dad was going to check up on him. If he did not make it back on time, he would be banned from playing video games forever.
One aspect of this project, similar to the “How to” project, is having students describe the MINECRAFT world to someone who has never heard of it. Asking them to do so encourages them to use descriptive adjectives and rich information. Again, MINECRAFT is only the excuse for the actual competency, which is writing.
This project can be done in a variety of other fashion, including keeping a diary of the player’s exploits and even using the book and quill items from the book to type a story in game.