Minecraft in my classroom

So this week I've just finished setting up a minecraft game server, running in Texas, for my class to use in English. I can already hear some of you say, "Gaming in English class? How does that work?"

One of the challenges I've had when teaching short story writing is getting all the students engaged in writing stories. Sure, there's always been a few students who are keen, mostly girls. I wanted to do something that would engage all of my students. I wanted to tap into something that many of them are excited about and interested in. A large number of my students enjoy playing minecraft and I had heard of other teachers who've been using minecraft in their classes. Check out one website here.

So how in the world does it work?

I'm going to use the game as inspiration for their writing.

Our story begins here:

This is the King's Throne room.

This is the King's Castle.

Here is the deserted island on which our settlers have just landed to build their new homes.

      "Wait a minute," you ask, "How does the King already have a castle if they just landed, who built the dock, and are those ruined buildings there amongst the trees?"

Well, I can't tell you those things because that's all part of the story we're going to tell in the game and my students will write about. You see, my students might read this blog and I don't want to give anything away just yet.

The first writing exercise my students do, will be to complete the character sketch of the character they will play in our story. This character sketch will then be included in the introduction they write about. Which they will then post on their blog for all to read.

Of course, the introduction has to end with an Inciting Action that reveals to the protagonist what the problem of the story is.

The King has summoned all of the townsfolk to the castle, a disaster has befallen the kingdom.......