Drill and Kill? Do Students Still Need to Memorize?

The words "Drill and Kill" refer to rote learning. 

They imply that rote learning will kill a student's motivation to learn.

With today's technology and all the improvements in the world, do we really still need to include rote learning in education. Don't we want to get the children thinking beyond the basic information?

Well, yes, we certainly do want them to think above the basic information! We want children to learn how to learn, and think beyond that learning! In fact, here's a little reminder of Bloom's Taxonomy:

 

Of course, we want our students to get to those upper levels of the triangle, but before they get there, they have to do some remembering and understanding. 

The remembering part is where rote learning comes into play. These are the building blocks for our learners.

Here are some examples of things that primary students need to learn by rote:

• the alphabet
• letter sounds
• numbers
• math facts
• sight words

Here are some example of things older learners need to learn by rote:

• A football players needs to learn the plays and drills.
• A musician needs to learn the notes and chords.
• An actor needs to learn his lines and movements.
• An airplane pilot needs to learn the purpose of all those buttons.
• A grocery store manager needs to learn what products are sold and where they are located.
• A pharmacist needs to know the names of the prescriptions and dosages.
• A physical therapist needs to know the muscles of the body.
• A member of the clergy needs to know the Bible.

I'm sure you can think of plenty more! 

But memorization doesn't have to be painful or miserable for the learner!

Here are some ideas that will help learning basic information be a little more valuable, as well as more fun and  motivating:

Five minutes each day is much better than a half hour, once a week! Research shows a little bit each day is best!

Saying it out loud really helps the memory! If it's a math fact, recite the entire fact, not just the answer. Remember when we learned spelling words we were told to "Say it, spell it, say it?" They were right on track! I've often told my students to say it "out soft." It's not a real expression, but my students know it means, "loud enough to hear yourself, but not loud enough to disturb others!"

Humans need socialization. Learning information tends to "stick" better when students are talking about what they're learning! Quite often, they share tricks that help the learning! 

If I want my students to remember something, I'll repeat the phrase over and over in a rhythm the children will remember. Most often, they will join in with me. The next time it comes up, I'll repeat the phrase with the same rhythm, and they'll remember it. If necessary, I'll add some movement as well. It never fails!

How many of you know all the words to The Brady Bunch theme song? Probably most of you! Now how many of you worked hard to learn those words? Probably none of you! Music is magical! If you put important information to a tune, it helps the memory! (Remember Schoolhouse Rock? it works!)

Working with information over and over until it is remembered isn't a whole lot of fun, but teachers know how to make it fun! I'm a big believer in playing games! 

Did you realize there are 200 basic addition and subtraction facts to be learned? You can't just give all 200 to the kiddos at once! Give a few at a time, then when those are learned, add a few more. We want them to have success, not be overwhelmed! 

Rote learning, or memorization, is an important part of learning, but please remember it is only the beginning. These are the building blocks. Once the basic information is learned, children need to  grow from that knowledge and develop a deeper understanding with motivation to learn more and process that information. Rote learning only covers the bottom step of Bloom's Taxonomy. It is our job to bring the children much further!

Here are a few resources to help with  some of that information that needs to be memorized:  

Addition and Subtraction Facts: Fact Fluency System for Addition and Subtraction: The Bundle 

Addition and Subtraction facts for distance learning:
Fact Fluency for Addition and Subtraction Boom Learning: the Bundle

Multiplication and Division Facts: Fact Fluency System for Multiplication and Division: The Bundle 

Multiplication and Division facts for distance learning: 
Fact Fluency for Multiplication and Division Boom Learning: the Bundle

Sight Words: Fry Sight Word Phrases The First Three Hundred Bundle

Sight Words: Dolch Sight Word Phrases Bundle

Spelling: Research Based Sight Word Task Cards for ANY Words

or you can get the whole bundle at a huge discount:

Practice, Practice, Practice Bundle

Wondering what will keep them engaged the last week before Christmas?

If you are already on vacation, congratulations for surviving! If you're still going, like I am, you'll be needing something extra special to keep those restless, overtired children engaged!

 

This week we did some STEM activities from this set: S.T.E.M. Activities for December.

The children had a great time creating face warmers for Santa!

And designing workshops for elves!

Every student was engaged, plus there was learning going on! Their reflections really showed they were learning about the Engineering Process, as well as learning to work as part of a team. I was proud of their achievements!

There's a lot going on this coming week. (Yes, we go through Friday afternoon at 3:30!) I'll be pulling out all the stops with some of my favorite holiday activities. 

We'll be painting, illustrating, and reading some of my favorite holiday stories. We'll also bring in a little Science and Social Studies with this resource: Science and Social Studies Activities for December.

 

They'll be reading informational text about the North Pole and about the Aurora Borealis, practicing their mapping skills with a map of the North Pole, sorting Christmas scents, and learning about laws by sorting elf laws.

 

Besides all this fun, I'll be pulled out of class on Thursday for an IEP meeting, so I'll be assigning some of the pages from this resource: Holiday No Prep Activities.

I can be sure the children will be getting fun practice on important reading, writing, and math skills with these! 

If all else fails, it's time to pull out the glitter! (Yes, I plan to!)

Of course, I hate to leave for vacation without being ready for that first week back! Here are a couple of resources I'll be pulling out at the beginning of January!

Beanie Toss to 100! (This one is a freebie!)

Thank You Cards

 

2020 Calendar of Fun!

Here's a little something extra they can do with these calendars!

Developing Writing Fluency

I was struggling with my Writer's Workshop time, thinking about how I had children with fantastic ideas, yet their writing wasn't flowing. I knew they had it in them, but I was struggling to get them past that hesitation... the fear of it not being "just right". A lot of writer's workshop time is being wasted because their writing isn't fluent. 

After much thought, I remembered a writing exercise I'd done in the past at seminars and training on writing. I also thought about how I believe in a need for a warm-up in all areas... reading, math, even singing and sports! 

I've used discussion as well as graphic organizers for a writing warm-up. Although these definitely have value, they didn't quite do the trick, so I made these booklets. They use these booklets and write anything they can think of for two minutes. The only rules: No erasing and they have to keep the pencil moving. If they can't think of anything, they simply write "I can't think of anything". The purpose is to get the thoughts flowing from their brain, through their fingers, onto the paper.

Here's a bonus: we have been finding that these booklets are helping the children come up with new ideas for writing!

See here: Writer's Workshop Warm-Up Booklet or explore the image to download the freebie or design your own booklet!

I've been noticing a difference in their writing fluency!