Lesson 2: Choosing a Home

1. Ask your students what kinds of jobs were important in the Woodlands. What skills would inhabitants of the Woodlands need to survive and to build a thriving community?
2. Explain to students that in this class session they’ll be responsible for choosing a homestead and an occupation, either a cabin to live as a Woodsperson or a hut to live as a Fisherperson. Note that once the homestead is selected, it cannot be changed.
3. Project computer desktop onto a SmartBoard or projector screen.
4. Log in to the World of Naaya.
5. Demonstrate how avatars can pick up coins as they walk through the Woodlands environment. Explain to the students that coins can be used at the General Store and other shops in Town to buy goods.
6. Show students how to navigate to Town using the map.
7. Demonstrate how to enter the General Store. Mention that they’ll need to buy a sign here for their chosen homestead, once they’ve collected enough coins. Ask students if they can tell how much a sign costs by looking at the bottom of the General Store screen (answer: 10 coins).
8. Point out the Animal Rescue in Town and mention that they can adopt animals for silver coins here when they reach Level 2.
9. Tell them to navigate back to the Cabin. Give them time to explore the land as they go. (Don’t have them jump quickly by using the map.)
10. Answer any general questions students might have but try not to share too much information. It will be fun for students to discover aspects of the environment for themselves.

Give students an opportunity to log in and continue exploring the Woodlands. Circulate and guide any students who are having difficulty with any of the lesson’s objectives, particularly those who expressed frustration during the previous lesson’s class discussion.

Have students log out of the game and join you for a class discussion. Poll the students to see how many chose Cabins and how many chose Huts, as well as which pets they adopted (display results of your poll graphically somewhere in the classroom, if desired).

Ask students to write a paragraph (5-6 sentences) describing how they would care for their pet if it were real. What would they do to ensure the pets are happy and healthy? Encourage them to name their pets and give specific details about the care they would give their pets. Students can enter this into their journal if you’ve demonstrated this feature.

Today I adopted a dog and named him Spot because he has brown spots all over his body. To keep him healthy I will feed him dog chow and give him fresh water every day. I will take him on walks and play with him so he’ll have plenty of exercise. I’ll even let him sleep on my bed at night so he won’t be lonely.