Making Connections 9-12 Lesson Overview

Title: Texas Reading Skills Roundup: Making Connections

Short Description: Make a connection to personal experiences, other texts, and society when
reading a text in Minecraft.

Introduction: During this lesson students will experience The Legend of the Bluebonnet story
from the first-person point of view. During their experience students will be led to make
connections to real-world issues by identifying problems, causes, and solutions both in game
and in real-life.

Student Grade Level: 9-12

Subjects: Reading and Writing

Skills: Creativity, Critical Thinking

Experience Level: Beginner

Estimated Time: 60 minutes

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Lesson Plan
Lesson Objectives

 Students will be able to make connections to their personal experiences and society
while reading.
 Students will be able to identify problems, causes, and solutions.
 Students will be able to write about the connections they are making to the text.

TEKS Strand 2
Comprehension skills: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts.
The student uses metacognitive skills to both develop and deepen comprehension of
increasingly complex texts. The student is expected to:
 9-12 (E) make connections to personal experiences, ideas in other texts, and society.

Guiding Ideas and Questions

 What skills are being used when making connections while reading?
 What are the different types of connections that can be made while reading?
 Why is it essential to actively make connections while reading?

Lesson Steps and Student Activities

Introduction
 Ask students what skills they are actively using when making connections while reading.
Guide students to identify different forms of connection they can make when reading:
text to self, text to text, and text to world/society.
 Ask students why it is important to make those connections when they are reading.
Explain that making connections is an important thing to do when reading because it
helps us better comprehend what we are reading and think more critically.

NOTE: If your students have previously read The Legend of the Bluebonnet by Tomie De
Paola, they will be able to connect what they experience in the game directly to that
story.

Guided Learning

 Explain to students that they will be playing a Minecraft game about making connections
using a story that they have likely read when they were in elementary school.
 Guide students to the world and let them know that while in this world they are going to
play as if they are a character inside a story and make real-life connections to what they
are experiencing in the game.

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 NOTE: Students will be able to work through the in-game experience on their own. There
are designated stopping points in the game that will direct students to complete an out
of game activity. Depending on your preference, you can have students work through the
activities at their own pace, you can have groups stop at these points together, or stop at
this point as a whole class if you prefer to have everyone working at the same pace.

Activity 1: Identifying a Problem

 Students will need to walk forward and will see directions that instruct them to visit
the Shaman. The Shaman will instruct students to explore the world to find out what
happened to the land.
 Students will need to find five details in the game. There are shiny gold particles
guiding students to each detail. Once students find all five details, they are prompted
to go to the Shaman again.
 After students interact with the Shaman, the Host will appear guiding them to visit
Part A on their task card.
 Part A: Now that students have identified the problem in the game, they will use the
task card and write about a real-world problem. The real-world problem should be
one that the student has experienced and connects to the problem within the game.
 Once finished with Part A, guide students back to the game and instruct them to
interact with the Host by clicking “Activity Done” so they can move on.

Activity 2: Reflecting on the Problem

 Students will interact with the Shaman and will then be prompted to find someone
willing to make a sacrifice.
 Students will interact with NPCs (non-player characters) around the village. They will
need to speak to all five. Once they speak to all five, the Shaman will appear and
instruct them to return to him to reflect.
 Once the students return to the Shaman and reflect, the Host will appear again
instructing students to work on Part B of their task card.
 Part B: Now that the students have learned about the cause of the problem in the
game, they will use the task card to identify potential causes for the real-world
problem they wrote about earlier.
 Once finished with Part B, guide students back to the game and instruct them to
interact with the Host by clicking “Activity Done” so they can move on.

Activity 3: Identifying a Solution

 Students will interact with the Shaman and be introduced to a doll that they learn is
important to them. Then, they are instructed to go back to the village with the doll.

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  Students will see the gold particle effects leading them to various locations where
they will learn more about the significance of the doll they hold.
 Once students visit all six locations, they will be prompted to visit the Shaman on the
hill.
 Students will be prompted to say they want to help and be given the option to either
sacrifice their doll or not.
 Once they make the choice to sacrifice the doll, the world changes, and is restored to
its original beauty.
 You can direct students to explore the land or have them immediately go to Part C of
their task card. Part C will lead students to research and identify a solution to the real-
world problem they have been writing about.

NOTE: If students are working at their own pace and there are early finishers, you can
have them go back into the world and build the solution to the real-world problem they
had identified.

Closure

 Have students share out the real-world connections they made and the solutions they
identified.
 Have students discuss how the real-world problems are similar to the problem within
the game.

Performance Expectations

 Students will correctly identify problems in the game and connect it to a problem in the
real world.
 Students will correctly identify the cause of the problem in the game and connect it to a
problem in the real world.
 Students will correctly identify the solution to the problem in the game and connect it to
a problem in the real world.

Supporting Files

 Making Connections Presentation

 Making Connections 9-12 Student Task Card

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 Making Connections 9-12 Student Task Card
Part A: Identifying a Problem

At this point we should be making connections between what we have read in different
texts, what we have experienced in our lives, and our experience and knowledge about
society. We have identified the problem in the story in the game. Now it is time to identify
a problem that exists in the real-world. Follow the directions below.
Think about a
problem that exists in
the real-world,
specifically a problem
that is societal or
even global.

Write a paragraph
explaining what the
problem is and how it
compares to the
problem in the story
being told in the
game.

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 Part B: Reflecting on the Problem

At this point we have learned more about the cause of the problem we are experiencing in
the game. We have learned that this problem involves a lot of people and was caused by
the people’s actions. Now it is time to reflect on the real-world problem you have
identified. You may need to do some research to effectively answer the questions below.
Be sure to answer in complete sentences and cite the sources you are using.
1. Who is involved in
the real-world
problem?

2. What actions
caused your real-
world problem?

3. When did your

real-world
problem happen
(or is currently
happening)?

4. Where did your

real-world
problem happen
(or is currently
happening)?

5. How does the real-

world problem
impact you or
other people?

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 Part C: Identifying a Solution

We have identified the solution to the problem within the game. Now it is time to wrap-up
our connections and think about viable solutions to the real-world problem you have
identified.
For this activity you
will need to do some
research. Like the
character in the
game, you will need
to go out and
discover solutions to
your problem.

Write a short
response to explain
how your real-world
problem could be
solved. Be sure to use
evidence to support
your solution.

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