Kevin & Minecraft!

After first meeting Kevin at Hawthorne I knew two things: I was working with an extremely gifted and intelligent 4th grader, and I was going to have a great experience helping him with his writing.  Somewhat timid and reserved, I could tell that Kevin knows (and thinks) a lot more than he sometimes puts out.  My goal will be to help him express all of his thoughts on paper through his writing.  Luckily, he has chosen a topic that he is passionate about and that will help him in developing ideas (this topic also happens to be something that I am somewhat passionate about).  The topic is none other than the widely popular video game Minecraft!

An open world game that allows players to create their own world using hundreds of different materials and resources, Minecraft is fantastic game that can be useful in many content subjects.  For Kevin, it will allow him to use his background knowledge and personal experience to help in the creative process of his own writing.  I am excited to be working with him, as it will allow me the opportunity to find out more about this great tool and how I can use it in the future.

Below I have already found some helpful links explaining how Minecraft can be used to help in the writing process, and have included a couple of ideas of my own:

Minecraft Writing Prompts - This useful website has a list of prompts that relate to options that the player can make within the game.  Would you rather play the game on survival mode or creative mode?  Write your answer and explain why.

Writing and Literacy Through Minecraft - This website explains how to structure journal entries around playing the game, having students keep record of their progress through written entries

How to Make Letter and Numbers in Minecraft - Exactly what it's title says, this website is somewhat elementary, but still extremely helpful, for teaching students how to write the letters of the alphabet.

"How to" Project (own idea) - We have all had to do this project at sometime throughout our schooling: write detailed instructions telling a reader how to do a certain task.  Why not make it fun and have students write list about how to do certain actions in Minecraft?  How to survive the first night in survival mode.  How to create an enchanting table.  How to create a nether portal, etc.