Comment

Wow! This is a really authentic lesson. I really like how you played on students’ natural curiosity of the gaming world to teach the methods of virtual construction. This is a great lesson because it allows students to relate their learning to something they know about and often use every day. I was wondering about a few things:

1) Collaboration: Perhaps do the prewriting for this assignment in language arts class. For example, allow them to write a short story in their language arts class. Drawing on ELA 4.3.2 **(** Identify the main events of the plot, including their causes and the effects of each event on future actions, and the major theme from the story action), have students write a story that evokes a possible theme. You might collaborate with the LA teacher on fables. Have students choose a certain moral and write their own fable to it. Then, have them tell their fable via the Alice program. You could use the rabbit animation as modeling and guided practice, allowing students more time to do their own. Then, have them present their stories to the class. This might be too advanced for the 4th graders, but the 8th graders would do wonderfully.

2) Choices: I really like the skateboarding animation, but don’t you think that mandating students do the skateboarding task might alienate some? After looking over the website, there seems to be loads of possibilities. I would suggest adapting your rubric and making it two parts. One, students have to show their understanding of the basics by manipulating the skateboarders. Two, allow them to branch out and do their own story with similar criteria. --Joshua