If your school opts for the paid version, you will have access to additional features. These include a math library of basic lessons that educators can assign to learners alongside regular curriculum activities. Additionally, educators and administrators have access to more detailed learner reports that recommend specific foundational lessons.
Zearn is very clear about what the program is intended to be used for. Learners should start the class with the instruction of the whole group. Learners then work digitally on her lessons individually in class and then “deepen, expand, and revise” in small groups with the educator based on learner progress reports. increase. It’s probably best to stick to this plan: there isn’t enough digital support to expect kids to learn everything independently. Also, the digital lessons don’t have enough content to provide the multiple perspectives that are so important for good practice and math understanding. Zearn’s independent digital components are great, but relying too much on them can lead to ineffective learning and burnout.
Zearn has significant strengths that set it apart from other primary digital mathematics curricula. The first is excellent scaffolding. Every lesson builds on previous knowledge and spirals from modeling new content to guided practice to independent articulation to demonstrated mastery, from access to learned skills. This happens at a micro level and across curriculum arcs. For example, to multiply two-digit numbers, start with the single-digit numbers you already master and add multiples of ten. This provides practice before adding another value in place of the unit until the learner demonstrates proficiency. Learners are most often locked into zones of proximal development. If the learner gets it wrong during the guided practice, Zearn helps the learner by trying several times to get the correct answer, narrowing down the choices, and more.
Online independent practice helps teach conceptual understanding in digital manipulation. Educators can see which concepts learners struggled with in a particular lesson. Educators should assess these learners throughout the class and during group work to provide the necessary direction to fill in the gaps. Zearn’s live teaching component is necessary to enable learners to address both of these areas. So while more open-ended and multi-approach problems and exercises would be great, the quantity and quality of these free resources is excellent.
Website: https://www.zearn.org/
User’s overall consensus about the app
learner engagement
Online content is engaging and has a great foothold to keep kids motivated. It is designed to complement, not replace, live instruction in small groups and fluency warm-ups throughout the group.
Curriculum and instruction
Extensive scaffolding facilitates the online learner experience. Each lesson builds on previous skills, breaks the work into distinct steps, and provides opportunities to go further.
customer support
We have a wealth of data to support our learners. Full-class and small-group lesson plans and on-demand PDs are useful, while captions and Spanish-language materials support diverse learners.
