Middle School English Language Arts ELA Writing With Minecraft

This is a course, and is academic in nature, but weeks do not build upon each other. New learners can join at any time, with no worry of needing information from previous weeks. 

In this English Language Arts (ELA) Minecraft class, students will learn about an ELA writing topic in the form of an approximately 15 minute mini-lesson. They will then produce a paragraph or story focusing on the daily topic. We will practice expository, creative, and narrative writing in addition to focusing on smaller writing aspects, as described in the schedule below. We are able to do this in a semester because the material only covers writing. Reading skills will be practiced, but are not the focus and will not be taught explicitly. 

Throughout each meeting, I will model how to complete the task and provide examples. We will discuss prompt responses together, then begin writing. We will follow the "I do, we do, you do" method where I demonstrate, then we work through an example together, then learners create their own. I will check in with each student multiple times and provide feedback. Writing time will be done independently, though learners are more than welcome to discuss their paragraphs with each other. There will also be an opportunity to share at the end of class. 

If learners do not finish their paragraph in class, it is expected they will finish it prior to the next meeting so I can review it and provide feedback. Learners can submit their writings in a private message to me, or as a comment in the classroom. It can be typed or a photo attachment of what was written on paper. Whatever works for you, works for me :).

Learners will not be required to produce full stories, but do have that option. Some of my learners have even used class time, focus, and feedback to write chapters of their own novels. 

Daily  skills practiced: grammar, cohesiveness, spelling, punctuation, clarity of expression, sentence fluency, constructions of sentences, paragraphs, and essays, and critical thinking.


Fall Schedule
Week of August 11: Clauses, Sentence Types, & Conjunctions
Week of August 18: Writing Concisely
Week of August 25: Quoting and Paraphrasing
Week of September 1: Transitions and Prepositions
Week of September 8: Revising and Editing
Week of September 15: Opinion Writing
Week of September 22:   Persuasive Writing (bring paper and markers/crayons/drawing software for this one :) ) 
Week of September 29: Argumentative
Week of October 6: Informational Writing 
Week of October 13: Review Writing
Week of October 20: Prewriting/planning with an outline
Week of October 27: Introduction and Thesis 
Week of November 3:  Body Paragraphs- topic and concluding sentences
Week of November 10: Supporting Details
Week of November 17: Conclusions
Week of November 24: Plot devices with Story Mountain
Week of December 1: Descriptions and Imagery, Tone & Mood
Week of December 8: Word Choice
Week of December 15: Voice
Week of December 22: Plot Twist!