Getting Started

bit.ly/mcee22

Welcome to our session, Making Minecraft Meaningful: More than Monsters. To Get started, access our website using the bit.ly or QR code and log in to Minecraft Education Edition.

If you do not have Minecraft Education Edition, follow these steps to set up your account and start a free trial.

First Minecraft Lesson

The first lesson is installing Minecraft, establishing expectations for using it at school, agreeing to those expectations, and exploring how to navigate and create in a world. We use Marzano's strategy of identifying similarities and differences between using Minecraft at school and Minecraft at home to begin to set classroom expectations. Below are two examples of introduction slides to use with students.

New Minecraft Introduction 10/2022 v2

Minecraft Introduction 10/2021

Here are several examples of Minecraft Contracts

Simple MC Contract Shaffer Version

2022 Minecraft Contract Shaffer Version

Controls and Tips

This front and back page can be given to students as they sign into Minecraft. The second page has the last part of their email address spelled out for ease of use. It also has tips for removing the agent and replacing the hotbar if it goes missing.

It's important to be clear about the expectations for MC use at school because students are used to doing whatever they want with MC at home. The teacher(s) in the room need to see student screens, circulate, and pay attention to what students are doing on their laptops. This is especially important if students are hosting worlds.

Intro Lesson Settings

This video shares the things students will do in the first MC lesson like change their skin and set world settings.

Second Minecraft Lesson

Now that students know how to build and move in MC, it is a good idea to facilitate a design challenge in which students can practice navigating and creating, have fun, and adhere to some kind of design criteria in order to practice having some accountability within the game. This helps them be ready for the integration of content in which the focus is on learning.

MC Treehouse Challenge- 3 Levels

Treehouse Challenge Introduction Slides

Treehouse Challenge- 3 Levels

Treehouse Challenge Criteria

There are many design challenges on the Minecraft Education Edition website in their library. You can add design criteria to them or use them as they are.

MC Build Challenges (Website)

Third & Subsequent MC Lessons

Remind students about the rules and expectations at the beginning of each lesson that uses MC as a learning tool. Now that students are familiar with navigating the world and have had some creative fun, it is a good time to start focusing on content. This can be any content area. There are many lessons and worlds already created on the Minecraft Website.

Some things to consider when integrating content are:

What do you want students to know, understand, or be able to do by the end of the lesson?
Will students work in an individual world or a shared world?
If it is a shared world, will all students be in one world, or will one person in a small group host the world for their group?
What external-to-Minecraft tools will help hold students accountable for the work they are doing? This might be a checklist, rubric, or graphic organizer of some kind.
How will worlds or work be shared with students?
How will students share their work with you?

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