Class Information
Grade: 9–12, Social Studies (students must be 13 or older to participate in this class)
Lesson timeframe: 2–8 hours, depending on student familiarity with Fortnite Creative
Featured tool: Fortnite Creative
Class / learning environment: A Fortnite-capable device with a one-to-one device-to-student ratio, and with internet connectivity. A computer lab or mobile laptop cart should provide the ideal environment.
This activity can be done as either an individual assignment or a group assignment. The lesson is device agnostic, meaning it does not matter which Fortnite platform is used.
Author Contact
Author: Mike Washburn
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @misterwashburn
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mwashburn1979
Lesson Overview
Let’s get visual! Breaking down historical events and understanding how history plays out can be complicated.
Have you ever wanted to be a historian? How about a historian that uses Fortnite to create artifacts for a virtual museum? Here’s your chance!
By creating a timeline and laying out events as they happened, you can make understanding history a lot easier, and more fun too!
In this lesson, students will create a historical timeline for any event. Fortnite Creative has amazing tools for building and creating that students will be able to use to make their timeline not only visually appealing but creative and fun.
By using the whole space, students can create timelines with amazing depth and detail. Encourage them to take advantage of the physics in Fortnite to add a wow factor to their timelines.
In this activity, students will have an opportunity to research a historical time period and provide a visual timeline using the incredible building tools in Fortnite Creative. Imagination meets history!
Essential Questions/Big Ideas
How can we make a historical period or event easier to understand and remember? A timeline will help us visually lay out the details and facts in a way that helps us see clearly how an event played out in history. This is a fun way for us to see the complete picture, and even memorize dates and places.
Using Fortnite to create this timeline will give us a level of realism and detail we haven’t been able to have before. We’ll also be able to stretch our creative abilities by building the timeline using the entire space of the world, and taking advantage of pre-made objects. The physics of Fortnite could add a whole different level of complexity to our timeline, making it a fun way to learn!
Learning Outcomes/Objectives
By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:
Explain in some detail a period of time or an event in world history.
Describe the key dates, places and times events occurred.
Use a digital medium (Fortnite) to create a detailed timeline of the event or period of time.
Standards Mapping
Common Core
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.2 Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of how key events or ideas develop over the course of the text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.3 Analyze in detail a series of events described in a text; determine whether earlier events caused later ones or simply preceded them.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.2 Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary that makes clear the relationships among the key details and ideas.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.7 Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media (e.g., visually, quantitatively, as well as in words) in order to address a question or solve a problem.
ISTE Standards
3 Knowledge Constructor
3a Students plan and employ effective research strategies to locate information and other resources for their intellectual or creative pursuits.
3c Students curate information from digital resources using a variety of tools and methods to create collections of artifacts that demonstrate meaningful connections or conclusions.
4 Innovative Designer
Students use a variety of technologies within a design process to identify and solve problems by creating new, useful, or imaginative solutions.
4a Students know and use a deliberate design process for generating ideas, testing theories, creating innovative artifacts, or solving authentic problems.
4b Students select and use digital tools to plan and manage a design process that considers design constraints and calculated risks.
4c Students develop, test, and refine prototypes as part of a cyclical design process.
6 Creative Communicator
6a Students choose the appropriate platforms and tools for meeting the desired objectives of their creation or communication.
6b Students create original works or responsibly repurpose or remix digital resources into new creations.
6c Students communicate complex ideas clearly and effectively by creating or using a variety of digital objects such as visualizations, models or simulations.
6d Students publish or present content that customizes the message and medium for their intended audiences.
7 Global Collaborator
7c Students contribute constructively to project teams, assuming various roles and responsibilities to work effectively toward a common goal.
Learning Activities
Lesson 1 (1 60-minute period)
Hook: 15 minutes
Following up on lessons that explore prior learning about an event or period of time in history, engage students in a discussion about the key events or dates in the time period being studied. Following the discussion, introduce the concept of creating a timeline to help add a visual element to learning.
Timelines add visual coherence to a situation, problem, or event. By arranging key events graphically on a timeline, they can begin to make connections they otherwise might not have seen in the data alone. Additionally, by arranging information in an alternate way, they can further retain the information being discussed.
For example, a timeline of the major battles of World War I would provide a clear picture of the war of attrition that occurred, with little movement between the major lines on the Eastern Front between fall of 1914 and mid-1919.
A timeline of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States would be a striking visual addition to the powerful narratives of that time.
Brainstorming: 15 minutes
Introduce Fortnite as the medium they are to use for creating their timeline. Explore the prefabricated buildings, and discuss the advantages of using the whole space (including vertical space). Refer to the pages under Starting Out in Fortnite Creative or the videos under Video Tutorials if needed.
Planning: 30 minutes
Have students use a tool of their choice to sketch out a plan for their timeline, with the key events, dates, and times included. Review this with students prior to moving them forward to in-game production as a formative assessment to ensure they are thinking through the project appropriately.
Lesson 2 (1–6 60-minute periods)
Getting Started: 15 minutes
Have students refer back to their notes and sketch of their timeline.
You should not spend considerable time teaching students how to play Fortnite. Refer students to resources online that may help them in their building experience.
Construction Phase
Provide considerable time for students to build and create their timeline. Circulate around the class, offering help and guidance as needed. Ask questions to confirm understanding of prior learning.
This period can be extended to provide more building time as needed.
Lesson 3 (1 60-minute period)
Documentation: 30 minutes
Have students document their creation and the process in some way. Options could include:
Writing a blog or a note in a notebook.
Taking screenshots and annotating them using a note-taking application.
Making a video walkthrough of their Fortnite Creative timeline.
If possible, have students record their Creative island codes so they can be explored at another time or reviewed for assessment.
If that is not possible, encourage students to create short screen-capture videos of their world as they are creating it. These videos can then be embedded in a documentation platform to add depth to their journalling.
Gallery Walk: 30 minutes
Have students circulate around the room, spending 3–4 minutes exploring other students’ timelines. Encourage students to ask questions and provide feedback.
Teachers should also circulate around the room, spending time with each creation, asking questions, and providing encouragement.
If time allows, this could be done multiple times throughout the building process as an opportunity for students to give formative feedback to each other on the status of their builds.
Interdisciplinary and 21st-Century Connections
Students are encouraged to collaborate throughout the planning phase of this lesson. Teachers should also encourage students to help and encourage each other throughout the building process.
There will be students who excel at building in Fortnite. Those students should be encouraged to be class leaders who provide their expertise to students who struggle with building.
Students should be pushed to express themselves creatively. Fortnite Creative is a powerful building tool with incredible potential for amazing designs. Students who are creative will do amazing things.
Modifications and Accommodations
Students who excel at the building aspects of Fortnite and finish quickly can also be given the opportunity to screen capture a walkthrough of their community in game, and provide voiceover for their video.
Extra time or guidance should be provided for students who have never played Fortnite in order to allow them some time to become accustomed to the controls.
Be flexible. Students may need an extra class to complete their city.
Provide game controllers or adaptive controllers, based on individual student needs.
Assessments
Through conversation and interaction, students will demonstrate their understanding.
Throughout the building process, students will document their learning in a portfolio style of their choosing to provide formative evidence of understanding.
They will create their world in Fortnite Creative as a way of showing a summative grasp of the topic.
They will also disseminate what they know to their peers and teachers verbally as part of a demonstration either in person or through video.
Use the downloadable rubric associated with this lesson to evaluate the student work.