Ahh day 2! Is it really over already? Time flies when you’re working with the littles! Today 12 of my 14 students showed up and were ready to work. Minus a few early morning bumps
As I mentioned yesterday, I really wanted to work with the graph paper and getting students to design their layout on it first. In order to accomplish this, I utilized the room next to our lab. It had been set up for a CSI Workshop last week, so we only had to roll the tables to the front of the room and then use the projector. The tables were the perfect height for my littles to stand behind, so I did not put out the chairs. I downloaded blank graph paper onto the projector so that I could draw on the board at the same time.
During morning meeting, we discussed the day’s plan- learn to do a layout together on graph paper, build that house together in Minecraft, and then students would design their own layout and begin building that house in Minecraft. Students were taught how to carry their pencil to the next room, and then we headed next door.
Once students were given their graph paper, I demonstrated on the board how to outline a starting square. Since yesterday had led to a variety of ways students had highlighted their own squares, I made a loop around to correct any mistakes, and there were quite a few. Once that was corrected, we started building one side of the wall. I would add a few squares and then wait for the students to do the same. For the space where a door would be built, students made a \ on the square. It was a very basic square house.
With our goal accomplished (and correctly!), back to the computer lab we went. The majority of the students were able to replicate their design within Minecraft, or with very few mistakes. I was pleased. I know how hard it can be to replicate a design from a graph paper drawing, so I definitely don’t fault these kiddos for having trouble with it. I had a few kids who had trouble sticking to task, so they got a little one on one attention and we worked through it together.
Every so often, I would make sure they did the next step. Do the floor, do the walls, do the roof, decorate the inside… I built my own dummy house as we did each step. I showed a simple roof design with stairs. For the record, here is the dummy house:
Very flat, no depth, but it got the point across to the students and it was simple enough for them to look at and design theirs. Some of the students did their own thing, and made it their own. You’ll notice in the images that I post at the end of this post that the houses do not have any kind of color coordination at all. Some are very, very brightly decorated. Some use the most random blocks, but they all show one thing: the kids have been learning! I’m so proud of them!
When most had finished their design based on mine, we went back to the other room and they designed their own layout for their homes. They were excited to try their hand at their own creations. This was harder for some of them to replicate, but for others, not so much. For all students though, I saw a big improvement from when they started yesterday. We are making progress!
Tomorrow we will be working on designing animal homes/pens, as well as attempting some basic layering of a wall. I’m not sure how the second part will go, but we will try it and see. I would at least like to introduce them to a few different blocks for it. I will definitely be using the graph paper again for animal homes, as well as utilizing the second room again. It worked out way better than I thought it would.
Here are some shots from today’s building: