In the webinar Mathcraft: How to Use Minecraft to Teach Common Core Math (53 minutes), third grade teacher Jim Pike demonstrates Mathcraft, a Common Core Math curriculum he developed that is centered around the popular video game Minecraft.
How much did Jim’s curriculum impact student learning? Jim's Mathcraft curriculum helped increase the math performance of his class from 18% correct at the beginning of the year to 84% correct at the end-of-year. Two areas in particular that saw immediate improvements were area and perimeter and multiplication.
This is a pretty interesting approach. The webinar does a great job explaining the activities. Do take some time to check it out.