Inquiry into Early Societies

For the last few weeks the grade 4s have been learning about early societies. Kris and I used the following two questions to frame our inquiry:

• Why are early societies important to learn about?
• How similar and different was the life in early societies from the way we live today?

Through discussion with the students we decided to create a comparison of early societies and the way we live today in Minecraft. The students researched into Medieval Times, Ancient Greece and Ancient Egypt. As they began building their communities in Minecraft many questions came up around materials that were used to build houses and create tools. I heard kids talking back and forth about design and if that was historically accurate. I overheard two students talking about whether they would build a library. Asking each other if they had libraries back then, if they had books, what they were made out of and who would own them. They decided to do a bit more research and then started talking about who would know how to read, what they would read and how that impacted their lives.

At the end of the three days the students had to work on their builds, they took me on guided tours explaining their constructed society and comparing it to the community they live in. In the end they came to the conclusion that kids from back then were not that different than them in what they needed: to have a home and be happy. They were particularly concerned that many of the kids from ancient societies didn’t have the opportunity to go to school.

MinecraftEdu: Tech, Engagement, Purpose.

The next step in our Minecraft pilot is to set up MinecraftEdu. To do this we have been working closely with our IT department, who have downloaded the game and set it up to work on the school network. A very helpful Mike has helped troubleshoot too!

With the technology in place we focused our attention on the learning. This all begins with student engagement and using their excitement for the game as an advantage. The activities we plan need to be fun and linked to an academic purpose at the same time. We do this by designing lessons that have clear learning goals but are also open for kids to do what they do best: play the game, imagine, problem solve and create!