Middle Schoolers Recreate History, Block by Block

When thinking of new projects to add to this year’s curriculum, Core teachers Liam Considine ’98, Alison Wedding and Howe Lin knew that they wanted to tap into students’ interests. Minecraft, a hugely popular computer game in which users design and build digital worlds using block-shaped bricks, seemed like the perfect platform to engage students in a collaborative history project that encouraged their creativity. 

After reading the Universal Declaration of Human Rights—a foundational text adopted by the United Nations in 1948—students analyzed texts and works of art crafted in response to world events such as the first use of atomic weapons in World War II, the Holocaust, the Great Depression and the Armenian Genocide. Works included short stories like “The Watch” by Elie Wiesel, paintings like “Guernica” by Pablo Picasso, and poems such as “Dulce et Decorum Est” by Wilfred Owen and “First They Came” by Pastor Martin Niemöller. 

Studying these texts in advance encouraged students to think outside the box when creating their visual essays, inspiring them to imagine the ways in which they could use art and symbolism themselves.

“This project really is unique, because everyone has a different way that they excel in class,” said eighth grader Leah Wikman. “I think this is really nice for people with a more creative mind who can exercise that part where they can see something visually.”

Students worked in groups to examine five to six of the 30 articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Leah and her group members Emerson Hagen, Holden Lin, Aubriana Jones and Balthazar Reznor focused on articles 22-27, which encompass rights to work and social security, education, rest and an adequate standard of living, as well as cultural and scientific participation. 

The group illustrated these principles in Minecraft by designing two buildings to represent the households of the lower and upper class, showing the disparity between the two and the ways in which unemployment during the Great Depression led to a shrinking middle class, with many people experiencing poverty. The group also recreated the Statue of Liberty’s torch as a symbol in their project to represent the liberties and freedoms often associated with coming to America, and the potential for economic prosperity. 

Despite some students’ unfamiliarity with the Minecraft platform, it provided a hands-on opportunity to reinforce concepts and discussions in class. The further students progressed in their visual essays, the more deeply they began to understand the impact of historical events on the development of each article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 

“It plays into creativity and helps us visualize what we're learning about,” said Harper Carey. “I think we're able to understand [the history]. If our teacher just tells us what it’s about, we aren't always going to understand specifically. But when we make it and we do the research, it just helps a lot being able to visually see it.”