A Zillion Ways to Teach and Assess in Math and ELA!
Community Review for LearnZillion
My Take
There are some videos that are not as engaging to the students, but as stated before, they do not need to be used. It is important for teachers to VIEW the content prior to showing it to students. You know what will work or not work for your students.
This resource is especially great for students that benefit from visual and step-by-step instructions. I would not recommend using this as your primary instruction for gifted students/advanced learners.
Overall, I feel that this is a great resource for both students and classroom teachers. Teachers often need to find multiple approaches to teach one math standard, and this resource offers those ways to help target all learners. From detailed lessons to supplemental resources, Learnzillion has it all!
Although it is a great resource, teachers should be aware that the videos should not be their only strategy to teach the lesson. When utilized too much, students are subject to lose some engagement as the lessons can be repetitive. I recommend only using the videos for those students that are having difficulty with the concept/skill after the lesson has been taught. You don’t want half of your class that “gets it” to sit through the direct instruction.
As stated before, this resource benefits students because it gives them the step-by-step, visual instruction they might need to make meaning of the skill. They also have the option to view these videos at home if they are confused or missed class.
How I Use It
Learnzillion is an online resource that assists with both teacher planning and student learning for ELA and math. This FREE, easy-to-navigate website has lessons listed in an organized format along with supplemental resources that align to the Common Core Standards.
At this point in time, I am utilizing the math component of Learnzillion to support my students during instruction. Teachers have the choice of using full lessons which include authentic, real world tasks to engage students in the lesson, step-by-step video instructions that model the desired skill, formative assessments, and differentiated task options for a variety of learners, or just using video lessons that demonstrate/model skills.
If teachers choose to use the full lesson in the classroom, a downloadable pacing guide is available that assists them in breaking up the instruction. The lessons also give teachers an option to print work that directly relates to the skills from the lesson (gradable options!).
I usually use the beginning tasks as an “opening” to my lesson, and use the video as needed to support student understanding. As the video plays, I create classroom anchor charts that outline the steps to perform the skill.
Teachers can also create class lists on this website which gives students a username and password to access class content on computers (school and home connection).
Teachers have the option to “assign content” to students. This ABSOLUTELY comes in handy when students miss class. They can view the instructional videos at home and complete any missed work through this website.
Teachers also have the option to assign work on this website in order to assess students. Teachers can monitor and see if students opened the assignment as well as check on their answers for different assignments. Reports are automatically generated for teachers to view.