Zearn

Innovative combo of live instruction and adaptive online math lessons

Learning rating

Community rating

Based on 20 reviews

Privacy rating

Expert evaluation by Common Sense

Grades

K–8

Subjects & Skills

Critical Thinking, Math

Great for

Formative Assessment

Price: Free
Platforms: Web

Pros: Thorough scaffolding and reinforcement of learned skills, great resources for live instruction, and tons of useful data.

Cons: Could use more open-ended, multiple-solution problems.

Bottom Line: It's a great balance of online lessons, in-person instruction, and instructional resources, all for free.

Zearn is very clear about the intended use for the program: Students should begin class with whole-group instruction. Next, students get in-class time working independently on digital lessons, then work in small groups with a teacher to "deepen, extend, and remediate" based on reports of student progress. It's probably best to stick to this plan: There's not quite enough digital support available to expect kids to learn everything independently, and there's not quite enough content in the digital lessons to give enough practice or the multiple perspectives so critical to mathematical understanding. Zearn's independent digital component is very good, but relying on it too heavily will not result in effective learning and may cause students to burn out. 

Zearn is an online math curriculum (coupled with live whole- and small-group instruction) for grades one through eight (as of the date of this review, Zearn states that the grades seven and eight curriculum is in "Early Access"), with supplemental skills practice activities for kindergartners. Students open up to a dashboard with tasks to be completed; these include a variety of fluency warm-ups that promote general number sense and lesson-specific skills, as well as guided practice with interactive video lessons that feature diverse and enthusiastic human teachers and school-age children ("The Zearn Squad"). As part of the guided practice, the on-screen teacher will help students fill out paper-based worksheets, called notes. Students will also find an independent practice and formative assessment activity rolled into one (called the Tower of Power) and a summative exit ticket. Teachers have quick access to the curriculum from their own dashboard, the option to try out the digital student interactives, and a handy student report to help monitor and track student progress.

Should a school opt for the paid version, they'll have access to additional features. These include a math library of foundational lessons that teachers can assign to their students alongside the regular curriculum activities. Additionally, teachers and administrators will have access to more detailed student reports that recommend specific foundational lessons.

Full Disclosure: Zearn and Common Sense Education share funders; however, those relationships do not impact Common Sense Education's editorial independence and this learning rating.

Zearn has some big strengths that set it apart from other elementary digital math curricula. The first is excellent scaffolding: All lessons build from previous knowledge and spiral from accessing learned skills, from modeling new content to guided practice, independent articulation, and demonstrated mastery. This occurs at the micro level and in overall curriculum arcs. For instance, multiplication of two-digit numbers starts with already mastered single digits and adds multiples of 10, offering practice until students demonstrate mastery and before adding different values to the unit's place. Students are almost always locked into their zones of proximal development. If students are incorrect during guided practice, Zearn gives them several tries to get correct answers and helps students by doing things like narrowing down choices. 

The online independent practice will help teach conceptual understanding with digital manipulatives. Likewise, it will try to correct student misconceptions with feedback. Teachers can see which concepts students were having trouble with in any given lesson. Educators must then assess these students during whole-class and group work to provide the needed instruction to close gaps. The live instruction components of Zearn are necessary to ensure that both of these areas are addressed for students. So, while more open-ended and multi-approach problems and practice would be great, the quantity and quality of these free resources is excellent.

Learning Rating

Overall Rating
Engagement

The online content is engaging, with good scaffolding to keep kids motivated. It's designed to complement, not replace, the small-group live instruction and whole-group fluency warm-up.

Pedagogy

Extensive scaffolding drives the online student experience. Each lesson builds on previous skills, breaks work down into clear steps, and offers chances to go further. 

Support

There's rich data to support students. Whole-class and small-group lesson plans and on-demand PD are useful, while captions and Spanish-language materials help aid diverse learners.

Common Sense reviewer
Shaun Langevin
Shaun Langevin Technology coordinator

Community Rating

Great Resource for Learning!

I like this resource since it provides a lot of learning material and allows students to work at their own pace. Educators can also track a student's performance and see what they need help on or need to work on. There's also Spanish-language features that are beneficial for those who are diverse learners. The lessons build off previous ones and they are broken down into clear steps. Overall, a great resource to complement classroom instruction!

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Privacy Rating

Data Safety How safe is this product?

  • Unclear whether this product supports interactions between trusted users.
  • Unclear whether personal information can be displayed publicly.
  • Unclear whether user-created content is filtered for personal information before being made publicly visible.

Data Rights What rights do I have to the data?

  • Users cannot create or upload content.
  • Processes to access or review user data are available.
  • Processes to modify data are available for authorized users.

Ads & Tracking Are there advertisements or tracking?

  • Personal information is not shared for third-party marketing.
  • Unclear whether this product displays traditional or contextual advertisements.
  • Personalised advertising is not displayed.

Continue reading about this tool's privacy practices, including data collection, sharing, and security.

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