Setting: Students are placed in groups of 3 to 5. Each group is part of an Architectural firm
Materials: Students were given a worksheet with word problems to work through and a mud map to plan if they needed to plan out what they were to build.
Time: Students had 90 minutes to complete the task. Because this was the end of the year this turned into a week-long building task.
Setup: Set in, “creative mode,”, global mute was turned on, entity and mobs were disabled.
Reflection: Really happy with how this worked out. Students of all levels and of Minecraft comfort levels were engaged. The most difficult part of making a building challenge that can be graded is assigning a build that can be conclusively finished within the amount of time allotted for the content.
What worked:
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- compartmentalize the building assignment with three different building aspects of the hotel. Each building element had a separate math content application and skill level needed to build. This accommodation made the build assessable to groups with varying skill levels.
- The pool: low skill level to build using Volume,
- the sleeping quarters: were of low/medium skill using division
- the restaurant: medium/high skill level using lowest common Multiple.
- compartmentalize the building assignment with three different building aspects of the hotel. Each building element had a separate math content application and skill level needed to build. This accommodation made the build assessable to groups with varying skill levels.
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2) Creating a frame for the hotel with each section labeled according to the build tasks on their paper. This made the building process easier for the students. Students were encouraged to replace the wooden frame with blocks of their choice. I compared it to a construction site; they were to fill in the gaps and replace/cover what they wanted with the final product.
3) Using the structure block; while I had to do
some experimenting, using the structure block enabled me to replicate the
wooden frame of the hotel with the signs. Something that Amulet cannot do.
4) Having all grade levels and groups working in same world. Students were able to see what other groups and grade levels were doing, they felt more connected to other students they had never met.
What could be improved;
- Group selection; while I allowed some classes to choose their groups worked, I think I should assign groups to promote students working in teams with those they are not familiar with
- Bigger plots of land; I would like for students to add a parking lot next to the hotel, and while they will be able to build a parking lot in the plot next to the one they are in, it does not flow as smoothly as I would like.
- For 6th grade, more time would have been beneficial.
The worksheet I created had undergone several revisions by the time my last class started this project. This is the final version. No group made it to part 5.
A collection of this group’s work
