The World of MOO's - A Virtual Language Learning Opportunity

Nieves M. Reynolds


Activity for visiting: MOOSE Crossing - *URL http://mose-crossing.cc.gatech.edu

"MOOSE Crossing is a place where kids 13 and under can come to meet other
kids from around the world, build new places to hang out, and program
cool objects to play with. You could build a swamp next to the forest, a
pet store in town, or maybe a disco in The Emerald City. You could make
an elephant that tells elephant jokes, or a robot that asks people what
they think about nuclear power. The world of MOOSE Crossing is built by
kids, for kids."

*Requires pre-registration for use. It is recommended that teacher's using this activity beginning planning connections and registration two weeks in advance to activity date.

Student grade/ Proficiency level: Kindergarten through 6th/Beginner/ Intermediate

Student Language Goals: Students will be able to communicate in a synchronous (real time) authentic task of building a McMOO restaurant at MOOSE Crossing .

General Task Procedure: (Allow students plenty of time to practice and become accustomed to the MOO environment prior to the actual task. A MOO Teacher's Tip Sheet is available at http://www.daedulus.com/net/MOOTIPS.html)

Students will communicate on-line to create a McMOO restaurant at MOOSE crossing that specializes in nutritionally balanced meals. Students will work with MOOSE rangers (help operators) to build their restaurant and develop a menu that will include at least three nutritionally balanced meals (one item from each of the five food categories: Grains, Protein, Dairy, Fruit and Vegetable) for under $5.00.

Task Evaluation: Students will have met the objective when they have built the McMOO Restaurant and created a menu to include at least three nutritionally balanced meals while communicating with their classmates and MOOSE rangers on-line.

Additional Web Resources on MOO's:

Rachel's Super MOO List , http://aliceweb.ingenia.com/rachel/list.html

MOO An Educational Tool http://mbhs.bergtraum.k12.ny.us/moo.html

MOO Central
http://www.pitt.edu/~jrgst7/MOOcentral.html

CLN WWW Home Page
http://www.etc.bc.ca/tdebhome/cln.html,

ILTweb:Live Text: OnLine Text
http://www.ilt.columbia.edu/k12/livetext-nf/online.html

A visit to the world of SchMOOZe University helped shaped my design of this activity. While on campus at SchMOOze I was immediately captivated by the possibilities of exploration that awaited me. While conversing with another visitor to the University I was informed that MOO's allowed one the capability to "build" things in this interactive environment. Knowing that young children are captivated by their ability to create and build places through their use of imagination I set out to find a MOO that would enable my young students an opportunity to communicate with others in an "imaginary" world, thereby increasing their language proficiency, while at the same time allowing them the opportunity to use their imagination to create a restaurant that they themselves, and their peers, would enjoy visiting again and again.
While much exploration of MOOs is still forthcoming by me, I felt that this activity would provide my students with a fun starting off point to enjoy their introduction to the world of MOOs. MOOSE Crossing is geared to young children and will facilitate their learning, with on-line guidance if necessary, an attribute I found most helpful as a novice user of MOOs during my visit to SchMOOze U.

Other lessons and areas of possible interest:

Key Pal Connections
Action Maze Language Lesson
Action Maze
Authentic Task Language Learning Lesson
Learning Community Members - Intentional Cognition and Learning Styles
Software Review: Rosetta Stone
Reflections on Assessment
Keypal Project Review
"Decision, Decision"; Reflection and Adaptation
Test Specification Table
NReyno's Portfolio Intro.
Resource Page:Software Reviews

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