MinecraftEdu Parent Letter

I send home a letter at the beginning of each trimester to explain to parents what we are doing, and why. Here's the text of that letter-


Dear Parents / Guardians,

Congratulations! Your student is enrolled in our new Minecraft class! You might be wondering why we are taking what you know of as a game and making it into a class. There are many ways this class is going to meet educational goals.

The idea of "gaming to learn" has been around for close to a decade. In a 2003 article from Stanford University titled, “Playing to Learn”, the authors write “games help us develop non­cognitive skills that are as fundamental as cognitive skills in explaining how we learn and if we succeed.” According to the article, these non­cognitive skills include skills such as patience and discipline. These skills have been proven to correlate with success better than IQ scores do.

Minecraft is uniquely suited to developing both the non­cognitive skills that many other games teach, as well as allowing for teacher generated worlds and environments that can be specifically tailored to teach specific educational and curricular outcomes.

Some of the ways in which Minecraft develops non­cognitive skills include facilitating collaboration, teamwork, creativity, innovation, problem solving, communication & social skills. Your student will develop these non­cognitive skills as they complete units of study that include Ancient civilizations and mapping (Social Studies), graphing, area, and volume (Math), Ecosystems­ biomes, conservation and balance, water conservation, speed, and motion (Science) as well as researching and writing (ELA).

Yes, your student will have fun, but they will also be learning essential curricular materials as they develop essential non­cognitive skills.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. I have also included some websites you can look at for more information about how Minecraft is being used in education.

Mrs. Stetson (Ms. K­M)

http://news.stanford.edu/news/2013/march/games­education­tool­030113.html http://www.edutopia.org/blog/video­games­learning­student­engagement­judy­willis http://minecraftedu.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page