Creating an Ancient Roman World in Minecraft (Fourth Class)
Lesson 1: Introduction to the project.
Explain to the children that they are going to create an Ancient Roman World in Minecraft which will teach visitors to their world about Ancient Rome. Then start the research about Ancient Rome.
Lesson 2: Continued research about life in Ancient Rome
Children will continue to learn about more aspects of the lives of Ancient Romans, including: origins, homelands, Roman army, work and technologies, weapons, cultural or artistic achievements, leisure and pastimes
Lesson 3: Brainstorm of Buildings and other ideas to include in the Class’ Minecraft Ancient Roman World
The class will work together to brainstorm the buildings and other ideas that they will include in their Minecraft Ancient Roman World. They will then draw up a plan of the world and divide it into sections, assigning responsibility for each section to a different group.
Lesson 4: Building of the Minecraft World
The children will build their Minecraft Ancient Roman World. Each group will have responsibility of building their own section. They will also include a blackboard to explain to their visitors about that particular aspect of life in Ancient Rome.
Summary: Curricular areas which will be covered in this project will include: History (Early People and Ancient Societies ~ Romans), English (oral language – discussion and feedback throughout the project; Writing – Explanation writing for inclusion on the blackboards); Geography (developing map and graphical skills); Visual Arts (drawing of buildings and plan of Ancient Rome); Maths (estimating and measuring); SPHE (developing self esteem; collaboration skills)
Collaboration will involve the whole class deciding on what to include in their world and planning on where the different buildings should go. Once broken up into groups of 3 each group will work collaboratively to build their part of the world, dividing the building up into parts, or taking turns as is appropriate.