Lesson Title: Reactions to Our World
Introduction: Today's world is loud, chaotic, and confusing for your minds. With most children surfing the internet daily on their phones, they have access to an unfiltered news source and this can sometimes be scary. I kept that in mind as I prepared some lessons to help students practice engaging in real-life situations and constructing reactions thoughtfully. While constructing these reactions, it's important for students to put their feelings and/or decisions into writing focused on the State Standards.
Grade Level: 4-6
Content: English Language Arts
Objectives: Students will be able to virtually experience real-life situations, thoughtfully consider possible reactions and decisions, and effectively document these choices in writing summaries.
Essential Question: How do people respond to challenges or tragedy? How can you help, too?
Digital Games Included: After the Storm, Minecraft: Oregon Trail, and Cool School Game
Learning Activities:
Introduction: Today's world is loud, chaotic, and confusing for your minds. With most children surfing the internet daily on their phones, they have access to an unfiltered news source and this can sometimes be scary. I kept that in mind as I prepared some lessons to help students practice engaging in real-life situations and constructing reactions thoughtfully. While constructing these reactions, it's important for students to put their feelings and/or decisions into writing focused on the State Standards.
Grade Level: 4-6
Content: English Language Arts
Objectives: Students will be able to virtually experience real-life situations, thoughtfully consider possible reactions and decisions, and effectively document these choices in writing summaries.
Essential Question: How do people respond to challenges or tragedy? How can you help, too?
Digital Games Included: After the Storm, Minecraft: Oregon Trail, and Cool School Game
Learning Activities:
- Students will begin by viewing images and videos from Hurricane Harvey found here. Teacher will choose three or four images and show them individually. For each picture, students will write down their "notices" and "wonders" meaning what they notice and what they wonder about on a scratch piece of paper. Then, students will be allowed five-ten minutes of discussion within their groups. Teacher will guide their conversations with this essential question, "How do people respond to challenges or tragedy?" or "How can you help, too?" The teacher continues to show this map of cries for help that came in Houston. Students will again have some time to discuss with groups what they could do to help the situation.
- Students will write a summary of possible actions in their journal. This is to be used as a pre-test of their knowledge.
- Teacher will assign the After the Storm game. Students will go through the game, practicing their writing skills and other language arts skills, while working to resolve problems after a storm.
- Students will write a newspaper article style report of how they might have responded after the storm Hurricane Harvey.
- Students will learn about other reactions to the world through the Oregon Trail. The teacher will need to have a Minecraft Education Edition account, and downloaded and installed Minecraft Education Edition to all computers. The Oregon Trail world needs to be downloaded to each computer also.
- The teacher will first teach students how to properly write a letter with the date, heading, body, and closing. The teacher will show several examples of letters.
- Students will need Minecraft Education Edition accounts set up, then they can log into the Oregon Trail world. This is very similar to the old Oregon Trail Game.
- As students play the game either individually or in partners, they'll need to record at least seven days of letters to their family back East describing the situations they come across on the Oregon Trail in their journals. Again, they'll focus their thinking on the essential question: How do people respond to challenges or tragedy? How can you help too?
- Finally, students will begin to transfer these things into their own world. The game Cool School helps foster peaceful relationship building skills on an elementary level.
- Students will play through the game's levels and help solve problems peacefully. Students will complete a summary in their journal outlining the major events of each situation they helped solve. They will need to include what could have gone wrong if they choose a less-peaceful answer, and why their answer was best. Again, they can focus their thinking on the essential question: How do people respond to challenges or tragedy? How can you help too? Students will need to make sure to write complete summaries, with complete sentences.
References: Clem, F. A., & Simpson, E. (2008). Enriched learning with video simulation games. Connect Magazine, 21(4), 4-8.