Using Learn Zillion during Daily 5

I am always looking for different activities my students can preform independently during daily 5. A few years ago, I introduced my fifth graders to the LearnZillion app. Because my fifth graders loved using the app, I decided to try using the app with my third graders.

LearnZillion is a website that contains videos that are based on common core state standards. There are videos in English Language Arts and Mathematics. I like to use the ELA videos during daily 5 because I can use the videos to review what was taught during the reading mini lesson. Sometimes the videos have worksheets that go along with the videos. These worksheets can keep students accountable during a time where they need to be independent. I could also see teachers using the videos to front load content for students. This could be a valuable resource for English Language Learners (ELL) or students in a special education program.

LearnZillion is a great resource that is free of charge and easy to use. In order to get started using the website, you must create an account. Luckily if you have a google account already created you are good to go. The next step to using LearnZillion is to enter your students into your classroom. If you have a copy of your class list, you can use this to quickly enter everyone in your classroom. Unfortunately for me, I didn't discover this feature until I manually entered in twenty-five names into the system.

Once you have students in your classroom, students must log into the website to create their own account. Students must have an access code to create the login. I printed out all the access codes for my students so that they were accessible and easy to find. I would recommend doing this step in smaller groups. I call four to five students to my table to help them get set up.

Once students have an account, you can assign videos to the students to watch. You could also differentiate your instruction by assigning different videos to different students. When I was a fifth grade teacher, there were some students who struggled with parts of speech. Instead of looking at the videos designed for fifth grade common core, I looked in the third grade videos. Because the videos were labeled by common core state standard, the students never figured out that they were watching a video designed for third graders.

Here is a link to the video I used in my classroom today. Try out LearnZillion out for yourself!