Competitive and Engaging Rote Learning

Okay, I know, rote is a four letter word in education.  I wrote my master's thesis on the benefits of rote learning.  My instructor told me her view on it but I still thought it was important.  My study group that I used was sixth grade math students who had an F or D in math.  After eight weeks of rote learning their math grades went up to either a B or a C without any tutoring in their daily lessons from their math teacher.  I basically had them memorize their multiplication tables in a variety of ways.  Any math teacher that has ever tried to teach a student to reduce a fraction, find a common denominator or factor an algebraic expressions can tell you that if the student does not know his or her basic multiplication facts it turns into a frustrating lesson for both the student and the teacher.

The same could be said for reading.  Sight words are usually not easy to decode, sound out or figure out in context (whole language).  By third grade students that do not know their sight words really start to struggle in school.  Think about how important reading is in every subject.  A student that has difficulty reading will have a challenging time in middle school, high school and college.


One of my favorite sites for rote learning is Arcademics.  It is a free site to use if you don't mind the ads and let your students know that is not part of the site, or you can pay to use it ad free along with the benefits taken directly from their website are show below.

On the free version up to four students can compete against each other,  I also have done something the kids really love.  My students often complain about having to not only do grade level work, but become efficient in their basic skills (memorize them!).  I tell them if they can beat me in a race I will consider their complaints.  (Thank goodness in all my years teaching I haven't had a student beat me yet!).  So they line up at the SmartBoard to take turns racing me while I play on my desk computer. It is a lot of fun.  I do the counting coins or multiplication one.  Once the students see how fast I am they actually want to improve.  I think up until that point they really didn't see a need to memorize their basic facts or think that they could recall them quickly by memorizing them.  I even allow several students at the SmartBoard to help each other and occasionally allow them to have a calculator.  

Screen shot from www.arcademic.com

Besides math the site also has a typing, language arts, spelling and geography section.  And if you homeschool or have only one or two students playing, they can either play against the computer or students from other schools. Students use either an assigned player123 screen name or you can have your student create an appropriate fake screen name.  There is no chatting or texting while playing against students from other schools, which is really a nice safety feature.  I have used this website for almost a decade, and they continually improve it.  The site has won numerous awards in the past few years, and I can see why.  Take the time to try this site out, I know you will love it!