Myst - the beginning

After deliberating for weeks about what I could do to raise attainment in my literacy class (24 SEN and LA Year 3/4 children), I came across Myst through a friend and colleague. She told me how Myst had helped her children to achieve goals they never thought they could and directed me to several articles and a blog she had written whilst teaching Myst. On reading the information, I knew it was something I had to try.

My first point of call was the Internet. How much stuff could I find about Myst? What resources were available? What evidence had other teachers published about the use of Myst? My research had begun. I came across an inspirational man called Tim Rylands whose website was provided me with so much to work from.

I was amazed at the amount of information out there! From websites to articles in the Guardian to resources on various websites. I printed out as much as I could find and started to read through it. I had reservations at first. Would my children be able to access such a programme? (These reservations stayed with me until they started to write).

I set to work. I used all the resources I could find and started planning, soon I had planned a whole term's work.

Starting Myst
January 2011
Day 1 - Introducing the topic
I explained to the children that they were going to learning all about imaginary worlds this term. We discussed what an imaginary world was. This was difficult. They eventually understood that an imaginary world was made up. They then begun to list lots of different imaginary worlds.

Next I read them a short extract from The Wizard of OZ, where Dorothy entered Munchkin Land. We discussed the vocabulary - some quite challenging for my children. They closed their eyes and tried to build build a picture as I read it again (this time replacing some of the challenging vocabulary). We talked about they things they could see and how the author had used description to help us build a picture in our minds. We then watched the clip showing the same extract from the book. The children were silent! They watched as the events unfolded and Dorothy walked out of the house. We discussed the differences and similarities between them. At times they needed lots of prompts.

Day 2 - I asked the children to bring in any games, DVD's or books they had at home which had an imaginary world in (I also brought in lots). We talked about the different examples and how the worlds in them were imaginary. They love the word imaginary and keep on repeating it. After about 20 minutes of explores the examples we moved on to MYST Exile.

I started the game and showed the opening scene - Tomonha. We discussed what we could see, the colours, the animals, the scenery. The vocabulary was amazing! We made a list of key words and put them on our MYST display.

Day 3 - We recapped on the Tomonha scene, drawing out all the rich vocabulary they had used yesterday. I then game them a 'worksheet', titled In Tomonha, The children used their senses to describe the image.


Here are some examples :

I can see a wild cacti in the rocks.
I can hear a bird singing in the air.
I can hear the scorpions scuttling across the sand.
I can smell the scorpions roasting in the boiling, hot sun.
I can feel the scary bugs creeping all over my feet.

I can taste the cold, salty sand in my mouth.
I can feel rocky rocks crumbling in my silky hands.

They had completed their first piece of work based on MYST. I was amazed at the adjectives they had come up with. Many of these children find descriptive writing very difficult.