Minecraft Goes to School

W h y is th e h it v id e o
g a m e b e in g p la y e d in
so m a n y c la s s ro o m s ?
Eleven-year-old Kate
Teagarden looked at her
laptop. She had just
finished using glass
blocks to build a greenhouse on
Mars. To grow crops, Kate
needed water, so she grabbed a
pickaxe to mine for ice.
You might have figured out
that Kate was playing the
popular video game Minecraft.
But you’ll probably be surprised
to learn that she wasn’t playing
at home. She was in school! Her
fifth-grade class at the Fay
School in Houston, Texas, was
using Minecraft as part of a
science lesson on Mars.
“It was a lot more fun than
just watching a video or reading
a textbook,” Kate says.
Minecraft isn’t like most video
games. The goal isn’t to rack up
points or finish a quest. Instead,
it’s mainly about creating your
virtual (VUR-choo-uhl) adjective.
som ething th a t seems real but has
been created digitally
engaged (en-GAYJD) adjective, greatly
interested in or busy w ith something
own virtual world. Players
collect materials like stone and
wood and use them to construct
buildings and other objects.
(Learn more about the game in
"Minecraft Basics.")
The game has more than
100 million users worldwide.
A growing number of them play
in school. About 6,500 schools
in more than 40 countries use
the game to teach everything
from history to teamwork.
T e a c h in g Tool
Minecraft was introduced in
2009 and quickly became a hit.
Teachers soon started finding
ways to use Minecraft in their
lessons. In2011, aversion
called MinecraftEdu was
developed just for schools.
Today, classes from
kindergarten through high
school use Minecraft in a variety
of ways. In some math classes,
kids calculate the area of
Minecraft buildings they create.
Many social studies classes use
it to re-create historical places.
For example, at Village East
Elementary School in Aurora,
Colorado, kids build models of
early American Colonies.
Teachers who use Minecraft
say it helps students learn
COVER: ILLUSTRATION BYTOM GARRETT; PAGE 4: BLIGHTEDBEAK (BACKGROUND); CHUCK BERMAN/CHICAGOTRIBUNE/MCT/GETTY IMAGES (PLAYING
4 I SCHOLASTIC NEWS EDITION 4 "O cto b e r 5,2015

important skills. Kids often
work on Minecraft projects in
groups, so they practice
teamwork. They encounter
challenges as they play, so they
build problem-solving skills.
Teachers also say that the game
gets students excited to learn.
Joel Solomon, a teacher at
Village East, says his students
think Minecraft lessons are fun.
“Shouldn’t that be what
learning is all about?” he asks.
Too M u c h S c re e n T im e ?
Not everyone thinks playing
Minecraft in school deserves an
A, though. Some critics argue
that kids already spend too
much time playing video games.
They don’t think schools should
encourage more screen time.
Dr. Victoria Dunckley is a
mental health doctor. She treats
kids in Los Angeles, California.
Dunckley believes that some
kids are addicted to the game.
“On the surface, it seems
harmless. The child is building
This is Steve,
th e m ain
character
in Minecraft.
things and gets to be creative,”
she says. “But the child gets so
e n g a g e d in the game that it’s
hard to focus on the natural
world afterwards.”
Is there a way to use
Minecraft in school without
kids overdoing it? Like many
teachers, John Grube at the Lay
School thinks so. When he’s
using the game to teach about
Mars exploration, he also has
students read about Mars, write
in journals, and discuss the
topic in class.
“It’s important to find a
balance,” he says.
—by Karen Kellaher
Minecraft
B asics
To le a rn a b o u t Minecraft,
w e w e n t to a n e x p e r t: a
k id ! H e re 's a q u ic k g u id e fro m
1 2 -y e a r -o ld Jack K e lla h e r.
H e 's t h e s o n o f t h e r e p o r te r
w h o w r o te t h e a r tic le .
Minecraft is lik e a
v irtu a l LEGO® s e t
w ith an en d less
n u m b e r o f
b u ild in g b lo cks.
You can use y o u r
im a g in a tio n to
b u ild ju s t a b o u t
a n y th in g y o u w a n t. O n e o f th e
c o o le s t th in g s I'v e b u ilt is a
ro lle rc o a s te r.
A ll p la y e rs s ta rt o u t as a
c h a ra c te r n a m e d S te v e . B ut
m a n y p la y e rs c h a n g e S te v e
to a c h a ra c te r w h o b e tte r
re p re s e n ts th e m . I m a d e m in e
lo o k like a s h ark!
O n e e x c itin g p a rt o f
Minecraft is all th e c re a tu re s
y o u e n c o u n te r. T h e y 're c a lle d
m o b s. T h e y in c lu d e v illa g e rs
and a n im a ls lik e c h ic k e n s a n d
p ig s. S o m e m o b s a r e n 't
frie n d ly . C re e p e rs a re th e o n es
you re a lly h a v e to w a tc h o u t
for. T h e y e x p lo d e w h e n th e y
g e t clo se to yo u !
F in d o u t
o n o u r c o v e r a t:
www.scholastic.com/sn4

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