Using Minecraft to teach: There is/ There are, many/much, few/a little, Past continuous/Past simple

Juliana Vailões Zanardi – English tutor

Student: Pedro Henrique

Year: 6th grade bilingual school

Interests: online game (Minecraft)

Contents to reinforce for the test: There is/ There are, many/much, few/a little, Past continuous/Past simple

Methodology: Multiliteracy and communicative approach

1. The student likes to build things using the game Minecraft, so he will talk about one of his sceneries,  describing the materials he used and quantities using the correct determiners (many/much, few/a little). The tutor will take notes of the student’s choice of words. When the kid finishes describing the materials he used, the tutor will show him the notes and ask what he thinks is correct and why he chose that determiner. In the sequence, the tutor will correct what is wrong by showing the reasons for each use and congratulate the kid on his correct choices;
2. The kid will now visit another player’s scenery and describe it by using There is/ There are ( and possibly quantifiers too) and give his opinion on his friend’s work, make suggestions on how to improve it or saying what he liked best.

The tutor will show a tutorial video:

   

And then, the student will pay attention to it. Afterward, the tutor will ask some questions like:

a)     How were you going to build your house before you saw this tutorial?

b)    Did the video change anything in your knowledge about how to build houses in Minecraft?

c)    How did he get those materials?

d)    Where did he store them?

e)    In the end of the tutorial, he was going to add some material, but he changed his mind and broke it. What was the material? Why did he change it?

After the student answers the questions, ask him to read the questions and analyze how the tutor asked them and why he thinks each structure was used (Past continuous/Past simple). After that, the tutor can explain and exemplify the rules that are not clear and congratulate the kid on what he already got right.

2. As an ongoing process of learning, the student will report, orally by Whatsapp audio message to the tutor or recording a video of the game, what happened in the game in the following few days. He will have to describe what he was going to build and how he got the materials. Also, say the quantity of each material he used and why. And in the end, report his inventory by using there is and there are to describe his belongings.

 Reasons to use such methodologies: The multiliteracy methodology is used here to raise interest and help the student to get motivated. Also, the communicative approach will provide the student with the opportunity to discover how to use and practice such knowledge.