Spanish Colonial Construction with Minecraft

I wish Minecraft was around when I was in school because I would have definitely enjoyed having the opportunity to create projects like this! Sandy Cipriani, the 6th grade Spanish teacher at Porter-Gaud, likes to give her students different options when completing projects for Spanish class. This project included either an option to use Minecraft or Legos. To no surprise of Ms. Cipriani, the majority of the students chose Minecraft. Below is her project description as well as rubric.

The students were given two class periods to complete the project. They started by finding Spanish Colonial architecture buildings for inspiration and then they designed their own town. Finally, using Flipgrid, the students had to orally describe (in Spanish, of course) the project to meet the given requirements.  

By using Minecraft, the detail the students were able to implement in their projects was just incredible! The buildings were showcased in 3D with options to go inside. It almost felt as if you were actually walking down the street or standing in the plaza. Churches had pews with books that flipped pages. The art on the walls mimicked original Spanish artwork. Roofs that were tiled and cobblestone streets were seen in every town. It was beyond amazing! There is no other program that can do what Minecraft does in regards to this type of design!

Check out this video showing a sample project: Minecraft Spanish Video

Project Description Created by Mrs. Cipriani:

Capítulo 6

Spanish Colonial Construction Project

Build a Spanish Colonial town either using legos or Minecraft. Include the following:

• Select a Spanish town or city that has examples of Spanish Colonial architecture. Have a photo of the buildings that you will build.
• Architectural details specific to the Spanish colonial style of building (roof, shape of buildings, details on the buildings, streets, balconies, etc)
• A street or plaza that includes at least 3-4 buildings that demonstrates the style (1 building should be the ‘focus’ of your design; church, cathedral, government office, etc)
• Build the inside of 1 of the buildings. Include 2-3 details within the building
• Additional details that will add to the overall aesthetic of your design

**If you choose to use legos, it may be difficult to create details on your buildings. You can make a sketch of your buildings with the details to supplement your legos creation.***

Record yourself describing your town (Flipgrid).

Include the following information:

• The town/city that you used as your inspiration (show the photo!)
• Describe each building and where they are located in the town (use prepositional phrases) and what they are for (El Mercado está al lado de la iglesia. Las personas compran la comida en el mercado)
• Show the inside of one of the buildings and describe what is in it
• Explain 3-5 details of your town/village

The Rubric Mrs. Cipriani created:

Capítulo 6: El Pueblo Colonial

Name:____________________________ Date:______________

Spanish Colonial Town Inspiration (photos) (5)	Has a clear photo and states the city and country (5)	Has a somewhat clear photo. Indicates the city/country (3-4)	No photo included and/or does not state the city/country (0-2)
Architectural details (balconies, cobblestone, arches, tiled roof, tiled floors, ironwork, etc) (15)	Includes several specific colonial details in the construction of the town (12-15)	Includes some colonial details in the construction of the town (7-11)	Includes minimal colonial details in the construction of the town (0-6)
Street or plaza (10)	Includes a colonial style street or plaza (8-10)	Includes some design of a street or plaza (5-7)	Minimal or no design of a street or plaza (0-4)
3-4 buildings (15)	Construction of 3-4 different buildings that demonstrate colonial style (12-15)	Construction of 1-2 different buildings that demonstrate colonial style (7-11)	1 or no buildings that demonstrate colonial style (0-6)
Details of 1 building (15)	Building has external and internal (2-3) details that add to the overall design (12-15)	Building has some external and internal details that add to the overall design (7-11)	Building has minimal or no external nor internal details (0-6)
Overall design (15)	Design is well planned and demonstrates Spanish colonial style throughout the city (12-15)	Design is somewhat well planned and has some Spanish colonial style throughout the city (7-11)	Design is lacking details that demonstrate Spanish Colonial style and is not well organized (0-6)
Total: _________/75 points
Comprehensibility (15) Can we understand you?	The audience fully understands (a native speaker will understand you!) 12-15	The audience understood most of your movie. Some hesitations/pronunciation errors 6-11	Several errors when speaking. Hesitations interfere with understanding the movie 0-5
Accuracy (10) Are you using the language correctly?	Use of correct and appropriate language control. Errors are minimal and do not interfere with meaning 8-10	Use of appropriate language control although errors may interfere with meaning 5-7	Use of inaccurate language control. Errors interfere with meaning (spelling, punctuation, pronunciation) 0-4
Vocabulary use (10) How much language are you using?	Wide variety of vocabulary, expressions and sentences that add detail to presentation 8-10	Use of some vocabulary, expressions and sentences that add a few details to presentation 6-9	Minimal to no  use of vocabulary, expressions and sentences to add details to presentation 0-5
Total: _________35 points
Final Grade: ___________/110