Minecraft Building History - Building and Presenting a Timeline in Minecraft

Imagine a Living History Museum Event.  Everyone dressed up in costume depicting the time period or person that they studied from history.  Look over there is Genghis Khan.  Over there Abraham Lincoln. Over there Rosa Parks.  Over there Nellie Bly.  Why is that person dressed up like a cow and making a presentation about the Great Chicago Fire?  This history fair though is different.  Students will be creating their poster board in Minecraft!  A virtual history fair in Minecraft!

We will meet three times.  
During the first class, students will meet with me to discuss what materials will need to be presented.  I will show them examples of poster boards that normally would be created for an in-person history fair.  If they haven't already selected a person or time period for their presentation, I will offer suggestions for them.  We will discuss how to do research on their selected topic.   There will not be much building during the first class.  But we could definitely get some started.  I will start covering the basics of starting their presentation building in Minecraft.  

During our second class, I will check the student's progress on their research and their building.  We will work on their builds, and each student will have the opportunity to ask questions.  We will verify technology issues to ensure a smooth history fair.  I will also assign each student to have a question or two to ask students at our presentation.

Our third class will be the presentation portion.  Students will each get up to 5 minutes to present the lives and events of their chosen history topic with their Minecraft builds.  I will give time for questions by other students.  

For this to work, students MUST turn on their cameras and be able to share their screens.  ****If you have questions about this, please contact me.****. This will be addressed during Week 2.

I will be available for questions by students through Outschool classroom message service while they are creating their build/presentation.  I love hosting history fairs each year with our local homeschool co-op groups.  I am missing this part of life during the pandemic.

This project is meant to be fun and educational.  Learning history and building it in Minecraft!!!  The best of both worlds.

I will post learning materials and examples in the classroom.  These extra resources include outside websites for age appropriate research.

We do offer a Java whitelisted Minecraft Server or a Bedrock Edition server students are welcome to join during class.  Students will have continued access to a whitelisted Java game server if they would like to play continue to play on there.  A whitelisted server is a security feature with Minecraft.  This means that if your user ID is not registered with us, you cannot play on the server.  This makes it a safe place for your child to play and build and meet other students from around the world.  SERVER ACCESS IS NOT REQUIRED.  I have that in caps to emphasize that we DO NOT require server access.  Some game systems will NOT connect to servers.  Students are able to build inside of their own worlds while being in Zoom with the class.  

If your student is brand-new to Minecraft, they may not enjoy this class.  It will require outside work and prior building knowledge to create their presentations.  I do not give instructions on how to build the various projects.  I will have examples for them to look at, but I do not give a step by step process.  Students in elementary/early middle school level students or students with special needs can complete this course.  I am always here to help.  

I have been teaching using Minecraft for over 8 years now.  My experience includes teaching for almost 12 years both in classroom, but also as a homeschool parent of four kids with special needs and learning disabilities.  I studied History and Elementary Education through IPFW and love using Minecraft as a tool to reinforce with students the information they are learning about.  Minecraft is a great learning tool.  It helps to build critical thinking skills as students re-create projects in their game platforms.  Creating in a cube world takes a lot of work and a lot of thought.