Class Information
Grade: 8–12 (students must be 13 or older to participate in this class)
Lesson timeframe: Two weeks (ten 40-minute class periods or five 80-minute blocks), 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: Steven Isaacs
Organization: Bernards Township Schools; Role: Teacher, Game Design and Development
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @mr_isaacs
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-isaacs/
Lesson Overview
In this lesson, students will have the opportunity to reimagine and rewrite the ending to a novel. They will be creating a machinima (video) in Fortnite Creative to share their alternate conclusion.
Students will analyze the text, come up with a different ending, and develop an island in Fortnite Creative to act out and record the ending as they envision it. The final product will be a machinima video produced with Fortnite Creative and screen recording software.
Essential Questions/Big Ideas
What literary skills can students learn from analyzing and adapting an existing work of literature?
What can students achieve when we put them in control of projects requiring creativity in an open-ended forum?
How can students demonstrate learning and understanding through content creation and production?
Learning Outcomes/Objectives
By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:
Analyze a literary work and develop an original ending.
Write a screenplay based on their original writing.
Use the tools in Fortnite Creative to create a virtual setting using:
Direct “actors” in-game based on a written screenplay.
Utilize screen recording software (and/or video editing software) to produce a machinima video based on their screenplay.
Standards Mapping
Common Core Standards - English
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.8. Analyze how differences in the points of view of the characters and the audience or reader (e.g., created through the use of dramatic irony) create such effects as suspense or humor.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.3 Analyze the impact of the author’s choices regarding how to develop and relate elements of a story or drama (e.g., where a story is set, how the action is ordered, how the characters are introduced and developed).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.5 Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to structure specific parts of a text (e.g., the choice of where to begin or end a story, the choice to provide a comedic or tragic resolution) contribute to its overall structure and meaning as well as its aesthetic impact.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.8.7 Analyze the extent to which a filmed or live production of a story or drama stays faithful to or departs from the text or script, evaluating the choices made by the director or actors.
1 Empowered Learner
Students leverage technology to take an active role in choosing, achieving, and demonstrating competency in their learning goals, informed by the learning sciences.
Students articulate and set personal learning goals, develop strategies leveraging technology to achieve them, and reflect on the learning process itself to improve learning outcomes.
Students understand the fundamental concepts of technology operations; demonstrate the ability to choose, use, and troubleshoot current technologies; and are able to transfer their knowledge to explore emerging technologies.
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.
Students know and use a deliberate design process for generating ideas, testing theories, creating innovative artifacts or solving authentic problems.
Students select and use digital tools to plan and manage a design process that considers design constraints and calculated risks.
Students develop, test and refine prototypes as part of a cyclical design process.
Creative Communicator
Students choose the appropriate platforms and tools for meeting the desired objectives of their creation or communication.
Students create original works or responsibly repurpose or remix digital resources into new creations.
Students communicate complex ideas clearly and effectively by creating or using a variety of digital objects such as visualizations, models, or simulations.
Students publish or present content that customizes the message and medium for their intended audiences.
Learning Activities
Hook
Watch the The Arrival ~ Adventures In Neverland (Machinima) Part 1 Machinima.
introduction
What is Machinima?
Each student should read one of the following articles to prepare for the class discussion:
Machinima Facts for Kids via kids.kiddle.co
The complete guide to using machinima in the classroom via iste.org
How Machinima Works via howstuffworks.com
Students will write a reflection on Machinima and provide an example from their research. This will help students prepare for the class discussion.
Class Discussion
What is Machinima? Students construct knowledge of Machinima by reporting back and discussing the content of articles reviewed.
Exploration
Experiment with Fortnite Creative to get a sense of the different devices and how they work in order to automate functions in the game.
Introduce Project Guidelines: How the Novel SHOULD Have Ended...
Students can work in groups or individually.
Students will reflect on a novel read in class or assigned as an outside reading.
Students will reflect on the ending and consider/write an alternate ending to the literary work.
Create a storyboard to visually design and lay out the story ending.
Build the setting in Fortnite Creative including:
Prefab buildings
Building using galleries
Devices
Items
Rehearse the Machinima with the required number of actors and with a student controlling the camera in the game.
Record the Machinima with screen-recording software. Voiceover acting can happen during recording or during post production.
Edit the video with video-editing software, and publish the final video!
There are a variety of screen-recording options, including downloadable software and online recording tools. Some are free, including Screencast-o-matic, an online screen-recording option. Other options include OBS Studio, Camtasia Studio, and the Windows 10 Game Bar or the Windows 10 video editor (both included with Windows 10). It is suggested that the teacher seek guidance from their IT department to ensure district guidelines are followed.
Culminating Activity
Machinima Viewing Party! Allow students to present their completed video to the class, or participate in a Gallery Walk where others can walk around and enjoy the completed projects of their peers.
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 as well.
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.
Interdisciplinary and 21st-Century Connections
This lesson covers areas related to English language arts, literature, video production, and multimedia design.
21st-century connections:
Critical thinking
Creativity
Collaboration
Communication
Technology literacy
Flexibility
Leadership
Initiative
Social skills
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.